There are a lot of things that can affect your home aquarium and the fish that live within it. Ich is a common parasitic condition that can be devastating if it is not treated. However, for the most part, ich is something that can be easily treated. The problem is that once you have treated it, you don’t want it lurking in parts of your tank and returning. So, the question is does ich live in filter media?
The good news is that, once you have successfully treated ich, there should be no real reason for it to return. This applies to all areas of the tank including anything to do with the filter. There should be no reason that you should have to change sponges and other aspects.
Understanding what ich is and how to treat it will enable you to avoid further outbreaks and put your mind at ease where your filter is concerned.
What Is Ich?
may have heard ich being referred to as white spot disease as this is one of the main symptoms of the condition. This is a protozoan disease that is very widespread among freshwater fish. However, it would appear that the disease particularly affects fish that are kept in captivity. The reason for this is likely because of the closer living conditions and a lack of open space that fish might have in the wild.
This disease is caused by a parasite and as well as causing very visible white spots on the fish you may also notice the animals using things within the aquarium to scratch themselves and sate the irritation caused by ich.
In addition to this, ich can cause some other obvious symptoms such as bruising or loss of scales and apparent lethargy within the fish. If the condition is not treated, there is a very real risk that it could become fatal and the sudden death of fish is not uncommon. Moreover, you must consider that when you have multiple fish in a tank, ich will quickly spread infecting all of the fish and potentially resulting in the death of the entire community.
The problem is that a lot of tank owners believe that ich is just a minor inconvenience and do not see if for the real issue that it is. There are also many other conditions that might appear the same as ich and so a lot of people don’t assume that ich is the cause of the problem until it is too late.
What Is The Best Cure For Ich?
One of the first things you should do when you suspect a case of ich in your tank is to have it checked by an expert. They will be able to successfully diagnose the problem and give you advice on how best to treat it. Keep in mind the fact that there are other things that could look very similar to ich and these may require vastly different treatment so getting it right the first time around is imperative.
Your vet will be able to offer treatments via prescription that should have the problem cleared up in no time at all. However, a lot of ich treatments are also available in aquatic stores so it’s easy to get your hands on them. It is important though to ensure you buy a product that will work with the water temperature in your tank as some don’t and these can do more harm than good.
You should also remember that maintaining a consistent and healthy water temperature is one of the best ways to avoid ich in the future. There are lots of suggestions online that tell fish keepers to manipulate the water temperature as a way of speeding up the ich and while this may be effective, it will also serve as a way to stress out your fish and is not something that we would ever recommend. The problem here is that stressed fish become more prone to other diseases and while stress in itself will not kill the fish, any related conditions might.
Will Ich Remain In My Filter After Treating The Fish?
If you have recently had an outbreak of ich in your tank, there is some good news. After successfully treating the condition there is no need to replace or remove any of your current filtration systems. If the treatment has worked, it will have tackled all areas of the tank and there should be no sign of the parasite in your tank filter.
However, if you notice that ich returns soon after, you may wish to question why this is. The chances of it being to do with the filter media are very slim and it is more likely the case that ich has been reintroduced some other way. This is normally through the addition of new creatures or plants. When adding anything new to your tank, it should go through a quarantine period first. Not doing this is one of the most common ways of bringing ich to your aquarium.
Conclusion
Ich is a common disease that affects freshwater fish and while it can quickly spread through a tank, it is also easily treated. That is, as long as you get onto the case as soon as possible.
Once you have treated the aquarium, there is no need to worry about changing out your filter media as the treatment will have covered all cases. In future, you should ensure proper quarantining of new species and plants as well as maintaining a consistent water temperature.
