Pond fish ich disease can be a lethal illness for your fish. If you know what to look for regarding illnesses in fish you can help maintain a healthy balance in your pond.
When you are setting up your pond you will want to get a great pond care book to have on hand for any questions you might have. A good pond care book will be able to help you determine whether or not your fish have pond fish ich disease and what the best course of action will be to heal your fish. Look in local pet stores or pet care warehouses for great books or you can turn to the Internet. You’ll be able to find reviews of these books online as well.
When you notice that your fish are sick, test your pond water. Whether you are going to be treating pond fish ich disease or some other disease in your pond, you will need to ensure the quality of your pond’s water. Too much of one substance or another or the lack thereof can be symptomatic of greater problems than just the sickness. If you don’t figure out what the root of the problem is, treating the illness of your fish will be useless because they will relapse if the water or the pond are contributory to the illness.
The visible symptoms of pond fish ich disease are small white spots on the sides of the fish. They begin as spots which are about the size of a grain of sand. Long before the spots begin to appear, you may notice your fish behaving oddly. If you happen to see your fish rubbing up against the sides of your pond, this can be a symptom of pond fish ich disease. If you avoid treatment of the fish, they will eventually die.
The usual treatment for pond fish ich disease is salt. You will need to add the proper ratio of salt to the pond based on the volume of the pond. This can take quite some time to actually eradicate the disease from the pond. Expect to treat the pond for about three weeks. If the temperature of the pond is very low, you will have to treat the pond for a longer period of time. Seek the advice of professionals if you are unable to manage the problem on your own.
Pond fish ich disease can be a very disheartening occurrence for any pond owner.
