Cryptocaryon irritans

Cryptocaryon irritans

Cryptocaryon irritans in Brackish and Saltwater Aquarium Fish is a ciliate an single celled external parasite and can be most stubborn to eradicate due to its multi stage life cycle, but its life cycle is predictable, so timing is key to success.

Lets paint this picture of MARINE ICH!

  • Find a host and hold on.
  • Burrow in and start constantly turning and churning between the skin and flesh.
  • Feeding on the remnants of the destroyed skin cells and body fluids,
  • Irritating the skin, thus stimulating it to grow and cover up to protect it,
  • Large pieces of skin and flesh hemorrhage and disintegrate as its eaten.
  • Once Grown the parasite lets go, swims away looking nest to reproduce,
  • Forms a protective cyst, then starts cell division for 6 to 9 days,
  • Once time is up and there are 200 swarmer cells ready in each cyst, then
  • They SWARM out hunting for a new host, they only have 24 hours or die.
  • Fish must be living for them to host, once dead they all leave and enter cyst stage,
  • Except the very young ones, they enter a permanent resting stage for many weeks,
  • They remain viable, lurking, waiting for a new host to come by.

BOO, got ya.

Below is the format overview we follow and how we present the information.

Identification

Covered with pale white to gray spots,
Singular or in groups
Rubbing, scraping, darting
Faded colors>br> Clouded skin

CLASS

Protozoa

Reproduction

3 stages, can only be killed in one of the 3 stages.
They can lay dormant in wait in your aquarium for many weeks.

Causes

Fish stress reduces their defenses allowing infection.
Bacterial infections soon attack the open wounds.
Poor water quality and poor husbandry foster the outbreak.
The fish are at risk from starvation, malnutrition, improper diet, incomplete diet, cold, stress from transport and when unsanitary condition in the tank that burden their processes.

Treatments

Hypo salinity change
Freshwater Dips
Heavy metals
shorts bath of copper sulfate and formalin
Methylene Blue
Acriflavine>br> Citric Acid

Observations, Notes, Remarks

Complete all of the treatment routine, ever time!!!
Can not finish its life cycle in freshwater
In a sense need to build a wall - that no living of target organism gets past this point. Then allow the life cycle to run into the wall.
Good news is there seems to be an immunity that can be built up if fish do survive, but it seems to be specific to the ones in your own tank.
New fish when introduced are not immune to your specific tank of critters, so they may have a break out, while the rest of your fish are fine.