Can ich disappear on its own?

[Amphibious]

I highly recommend you do the research mentioned above, follow the advice given and then add a UV sterilizer to your system. While a UV will not prevent Ich and it will not kill Ich on the fish it will kill the free swimming stage that passes through the UV. That prevents the outbreak from getting out of control. I've used them for 40 years.

Dick

[ScottT1980]

Re: temperature...

You can actually increase the speed of the pathogen's lifecycle and therefore, potentially decrease treatment time if you increase temperature in the tank. It pushes the pathogen to the theront stage, which is also the stage that is susceptible to CuSO4. However, I wouldn't crank up the temp, do it gradually if you choose to incorporate this into your treatment protocol.

Just some more tidbits for you...

[BigAl07]

Yes if you wish to increase temps do it very slowly.. no more than a 2deg increase over 24hrs... the LAST thing you want to do is add more stress to your tank which will only make matters worse for your tankmates.

Allen

[leebca]

The freshwater Ich (Ichthyophthirius multifilis) from which Marine Ich got its name is very heat sensitive and raising the temperature speeds its life cycle quite a bit. This is not the case with Marine Ich.

MI is found in waters from 50F to 100F. At higher temperatures its cycle only increases nominally and, the ranges of each stage can still vary quite a bit. Thus, the outcome can be that at higher temperatures, the entire cycle may only be shortened very little. Overall it is best to cure fish of the parasite using known traditional methods, sticking to the recommended times and keeping the temperature set for what is best for the fishes. To significantly speed the cycle of Marine Ich would take temperatures unsuitable to keep marine fish.

[ScottT1980]

My apologies, I should have added qualifiers instead of a blanketed statement. With that said, I knew the effects weren't significant, but I had no idea how ineffective it was with Crypto. Interestingly, according to Noga's "Fish Disease" text, it isn't even pathogenic beyond 86 degrees F. That leads me to believe it doesn't even go to the theront stage at that temp.

[leebca]

I spoke with Dr. Noga about that last September. It has been found to still go through its cycle near 100F and found in deep sea fishes (near volcanic vents), but for the tropicals, it just doesn't do much good to up the temperature. The tropicals would suffer before the MI. I wish it weren't so. . . Still hobbyists should count our blessings that it will at least die off in time without a host.