Clearing Ick in Ponds

“ICK!”

You might think ick is a kind of green slime that completely swallows up your pond in a blob. It’s actually worse. Ick is a kind of usually lethal disease in fish. It looks like the fish is covered in…well…white slimy ICK. It looks as if all the other fish in the pond sneezed on the suffering fish. “Ick” is a very accurate description of the disease. Ick is one of the nightmares of keeping fish in tanks or ponds. Fortunately, there are treatments for clearing up ick in fish tanks. But what about ick in ponds? You don’t want anything that clears up ick in ponds to kill off all the other wildlife.

Causes of Ick

Ick is so widespread that some fish keepers think it’s unavoidable, like death and taxes. Ick is a protozoan that just hangs about in water (usually fresh water) waiting to for a fish to become stressed. When a fish gets stressed, the fish’s health defenses drop like a rock. When a fish gets stressed, it tends to get the fuzzy, slimy white spots of ick. Ick is more commonly seen in fish tanks, but ick in ponds is not uncommon.

Why do fish get stressed? They don’t have tax forms to fill out or punch a time clock. Well, they have many reasons, often preventable, that can rock their watery world. These include:

Too many fish in too little space. Fish need room and enough oxygen in the water to stay healthy. Too many fish, and the oxygen levels lower and the fish get stressed. One gallon of water per fish is a usual safe ratio (unless you have Jaws in your pond)
Drastic changes in pond chemistry: Any fluctuation in acidity, temperature or ammonia levels often leads to ick in ponds. Keep checking these levels in your pond.
The new fish was sick: Being introduced to a new pond is very stressful. If the new fish was already stressed from being transported to the pond, he could bring ick. If possible, quarantine the fish for two days before introducing him to the pond. And, of course, don’t introduce or buy any fish that looks sick, or has sick or dead tank-companions.

Uh-oh…

Yes, ick may even slip through the best of preventative measures. There are many fizzy tablets for treating ick in ponds available in pet shops, gardening shops and aquarium supply stores. You can’t just take out the sick looking fish. You’ve got to treat the whole pond in order to remove the ick. Read the directions carefully. Be sure your pond is big enough for one tablet. Split the tablet if necessary. Some products come in liquid form that can remove ick from ponds. Be sure it says “for ponds” so the chemicals in it will not harm the surrounding wildlife.