Does ich always have to be the typical little white specs or groups of white specs? Can fish act sick or even die without getting to that phase of the disease?

this is a typical oscar fish with ich/ick or white spot as its known in the UK.

it can start with few spots or break out in very large numbers. even more than in this picture. yes fish can die if untreated as it attacks the gill too. another common problem that some people miss is velvet. its not as easy to spot as ich and on some fish like clown loach is almost invisible. if you have a few spots its not likely your fish will die if you treat them. turning the temp up to 30c is the most common solution for treatment. I prefer 28c and use a white spot cure. I also keep my temp at 28-30c.

why the worries shannon?

shannon wrote:

as to the ick, marcus had posted one good example....
as to fish dying without passing that phase...yes...there are a lot of
things that causes fish to die without getting to that phase of ick.
sudden increase of ammonia could kill your fish too in short span of time

Iam worried because I have had problems with ich and fungus;but not in the last month. However,I have lost 1 Oscar with no outward signs of disease 2 weeks ago. Now my second O is doing the same thing(hasn`t eaten in 5 days,very lethargic).Again no outward signs of disease.Water is o ammonia o nitrites 20 nitrates ph 6.2 currently. I have had slight ammonia issues after upgrading filter 3 weeks ago; until this week(ammonia would get to 0-.25 depending on the the color card,It would be not quite yellow but not quite the yellow green on the .25)I have a dempsey and a jewel and a salvini that have never been effected by any disease,Just the Os. So I am kinda stumped even after looking at all of you guys info??

i get back to your old thread...and you said there was a lump on its chin...
that lump maybe an injury or a sign of sickness but so happen to die
immediately.... considering that your fishes refuse to eat...there must be
something wrong...perhaps those medicine you administered aggravated the
situation instead of curing...

OK. Any ideas on what else to do? I put more oxygen in the water with air stones 3 days ago with no real change.I am looking at this o every few hours still no signs of disease or injury. My other one did have a fuzzy bump on chin at the end. I feel like everything is fine in tank but O is not getting better.

looking at your waterquality, i suspect the meds made your fish off it's food.It's a common side effect of those meds.
Keep water in check,keep up with the waterchanges and fingers crossed!

shannon wrote:


I have had the same happen to me. I think it must of been a 1-2yr ago my large oscar got sick, no reason. I lost it too. sometimes there could be other problems that we just can't work out. i hope like noddy says its the meds and meds do usually stop fish feeding.

why don't you try to increase temp to 80-85 deg F.... it will make your fish
hungry but need to increase aeration to augment oxygen depletion due to
high temp.