Fish Thread for posting Pictures of our fish, tanks, ponds, and Q & A

[Andi]

Throw away the ich med. Don't buy an ich med! Its a waste of $! I have a degree in Aquaculture. In school we learned that the parasite cannot withstand temps above 85°F. Ich also has a life cycle that makes the drugs worthless because one of the stages the drug doesn't work on. If you use the ich med it will kill only those stages susceptible. It will seem like it worked but it comes back and worse at that.
This is what you should do. Add agitation to increase oxygen saturation to the water. Increase the temp above 85°F. Warmer water carries less oxygen. Not only the fish will need the extra oxygen but more importantly the bacteria in the filter will need it. Keep the temp above 85°F for at least 4 days. Ich is temperature reliant. The warmer the faster the life cycle. The goal is to get all life stages when they are vulnerable to the temp. With the warmer temp ich will mature faster. When its time to bring the temp back down siphon the gravel well. Adding salt as a tonic will help the fish osmoregulate during this stressful time.
Now there's no guarantee the remaining fish haven't already been stressed beyond recovery, but its a shot.
Its alright (and probably better) to stop feeding during the treatment.
Let us know how it turns out.

 

[Andi]

It doesn't matter if only 1 out of 50 fish has one little spot of ich. It must be treated! Don't wait to see if it will get better on its own! It won't!
It doesn't matter if new fish were added. Ich can be dormant dried up on anything (eg: great deal on garage sale tank or a used net). I make it a habit to never buy fish from a store that has ich in any tank. Equipment is usually used in all tanks during netting or tank maintenance. Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it hasn't been introduced.

 

[Peep-Chicken]

Thanks you guys! The thermometer said 70 F. We might have a spare water heater, I will have to look. If not, tomorrow would be as soon as I can get one. What do you all recommend on a water heater that will heat a ten gallon tank? Do I take it out after 4 days or keep it in for the fish?

Also have two white clouds in the same tank, they haven't caught it yet. The Tetras are the carriers. Do I need to remove any fish?

Oh and for the salt, we have Instant Ocean Reef Salt. Would this work at all?

 

[Peep-Chicken]

The tempature now is at 75.

 

[Kevin565]

I would personally separate the tetras from the tank. However, I would still treat both tanks for Ich.

 

[Peep-Chicken]

I would personally separate the tetras from the tank. However, I would still treat both tanks for Ich. 

I had thought about that. I am only iffy, since I'm sure it would stress them out even more.

 

[Andi]

Peep, you are right about the stress. They will be more at ease at home. Besides, why treat 2 tanks when you only need to treat one?. Also, ich is in the tank, not just on the fish. 75° isn't hot enough. It has to be over 85° for at least 4 days.
If you don't follow these simple and basically free guidelines the ich will win.
May I remind you. I have a degree. I learned this in college. There is so much crap being sold in the aquarium industry that is only for profit. This is one of those. The full name for ich is Ichthyophthirius multifilis. Check out Wikipedia. It will confirm all I have said.

 

[Chickenfan4life]

I had several fish once. A tank with a pleco, 5 catfish, 3 huge bala sharks, and a few other assorted fish. Those fish I'd had for 3 years and they were all pretty bug. And then one day I came home to find every single one of them dead. I dunno why. I've never had fish after that. :-/

 

[Andi]

I have not tried reef salt. That might have additional minerals added for a reef setup. You want the water to be less than 1/2% salt. Very low.

 

[Andi]

Chickenfan, I am so sorry to hear that! There are so many things that could have gone wrong. I can pretty confidently say it probably wasn't disease or parasite to happen in one day.