somnio Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 okay so me and our pet care manager don't see eye to eye on the matter of ice....2 of our large tanks are riddled with cronic ick...i'm starting to think that all the meds she puts in is just making a super ick... can someone re explain the life cycle of ick to me and how it is transfered... like beside fish can it be dormant in gravel or be transfered via gravel or aquatic plants? would a good course of action be to try and use salt instead of all the meds she puts in? could be drain the tanks and do a complete clean and start new?( not that it would even be possible or pratical) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qattarra Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 Def. QT those tanks , do not use the same nets etc. between tanks. It is best IMO to do a large water change and start the salt/heat treatment. This will treat the fish as well as it's environment . The ich. isn't killed while on the fish it is killed while in it's free swimming stage. There are likely several generations in your tanks. The clean water and the salt will help the fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 I believe ick eggs/larvae are probably always present in gravel/plants/equipment. When they are cycsts on fish, they are impervious to most treatments, which is why all treatments and medications say that it should be done for 7-10 days, even though the spots may only be on the fish for a few days. Raising the temp into the 80s speeds up the ick lifecycle so that they hatch off the fish sooner. The salt kills the little critters due to osmotic shock. Chemical treatment also kills the ick in free-swimming form, but most chemicals/meds also kill the beneficial bacteria that break down fish waste. That is why it's always recommended to use medication in an hospital tank and not your main system. HTH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobies et al Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 Skeptical Aquarist has good information on Ick. http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/ich.shtml Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishkabod Posted October 3, 2009 Report Share Posted October 3, 2009 (edited) As far as treating Ick goes Stick with Salt and Heat. Read the above reccomended article. Plants will suffer with a salt treatment so remove the delicate ones, bathe them in potassium Permaginate and keep in a separate tank till the main tank is back to normal. The koi vet link below has another alternative you might want to try if you can't get potassim permaginate from your pharmacy or someone else in time. Since you have allready dosed with chemicals do a major water change before you start the salt but don' try to scrub or clean anything that might still have the good backteria living on it. Be sure to gradually increase the salt ratio and the heat or you risk killing the fish from shock. I raised my Cichlid tank temp to 86 degrees F and the salt was at 3 tbsp/gallon It took 2 days to get the salt and heat up. No deaths. Ick eliminated. I did it by dosing 1tsp per gallon every 12 hours or so and the temp went up around 3 degrees every 5 or so hours. I left the heat on for a week and then brought it down slowly again. I did water changes but i kept the salt ratio until 2 weeks after the last spot to be absolutely sure it was gone. Be warned though there are some species of fish that are extremely salt intolerant and that inclueds snails. Recipie is for salt hardy fish so be cautios if you don't have thoseKoi Vet Recipie for sensitive fish like fancy pleccos(mine were fine at the above dosage though but it does good to be cautions and i watched carefully for signs of stress throughout the treatment) Scroll down to read article in link DOn't worry too much about the Rid Ich in the article especially since chemicals don't seem to be working. He has a reason for its use and it's well explained if you read through which i reccomend you do. If you really need to comprimise and add a chemical 2 people i know who have been in the industry for many many many years and i respect highly have both independently recommended Seachems Paraguard allthough i have heard allot about the more well known Rid Ich+ And By far the BEST article i have in my arsenal for ich isCichlid Forum ICH allthough i highly reccomend the skeptical aquarist mentioned above as well. I can't compare the two right now as i don't have time. Good luck and before i forget don't forget to get some Stability into the tank to help the bacteria recover from the chemical assalt. L Edited October 3, 2009 by Ishkabod Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somnio Posted October 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2009 thanks for the info, the hardest part is going to be because its at work and the tanks don't have individual heaters....and she's set in her ways but maybe this info will help change her mind and will get rid of the ick!!!! Ishkabod i absoulty would recommend using this method to anyone i had ick find its way into my tank i think via a plant that i got from petsmart (they always have feeders in with there plants) and because of having scaleless fish i was scared to use chemicals so i used salt and temp and i haven't seen it back and that was about 8 months ago... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishkabod Posted October 5, 2009 Report Share Posted October 5, 2009 The real kicker is that in my searches i have not come across any reccomendation for just using a chemical unless it's from a website that sells the product. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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