CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

I was wondering if someone could answer a question for me. I recently treated my 55 gallon for ICH....all is well. I was wondering....what exactly is this disease, and how do the fish get it? Is it a water quality thing? It came on very sudden, was actually bad due to the fact that it was the USD catfish that had it. So, with his juvenile coloring, we didnt notice it. Like I said, all is well, he is fine now. I was just wondering.

Basically - the short version :
Ich is a parasite.
99% of fish carry Ich.

Usually jumps in temperature and/or stress cause it to multiply to where we as hobbyists see it and it effects fish.

Otherwise it's present and held in check by a fish's immune system.

Cool...glad you gave me the "short" version....much easier to understand. (and no fun to try and get rid of!!)