ICK problems... already.

[strayner]

So I've picked up 6 fish for my tank so far and one of them has seem to brought ick along with them. None of the fish I chose had signs of ick in the store but it's definitely manifested itself now. I have 3 black mollies and 3 bronze cories and all in a planted tank. Can anyone recommend the best course of action considering the plants and scale-less fish? A QT tank is out of the question.

thanks.

[Cgy_Betta_Guy]

turn up the heat.... 30-32ish seemed to work for me when my last episode of ick happened... just make sure there are bubbles since oxygen is depleted with the rise in heat.

Someone else can tell you how to use the meds since I havent had success using Nox ich.

[Baos]

Make sure the fish are kept in clean healthy conditions and their own immune systems will take over. By the way while turning up the heat does boost their immune system in some fish. It also speeds up the life cycle of ich. You could also add an amount of salt to the water(aquarium not table).

[Ted]

We have used Kordons, Ich Attack, with sucess. It is safe for scaleless fish, available at Big Als.

Good luck

Ted

[Ichthyosporidium]

turn up the heat.... 30-32ish seemed to work for me when my last episode of ick happened... just make sure there are bubbles since oxygen is depleted with the rise in heat.

Someone else can tell you how to use the meds since I havent had success using Nox ich.

Two tricks to using products like nox-ich is as follows:

A. remove carbon out of your filter system(s)

- Carbon will rapidly remove products out of the water so it is best to remove it prior to the first doseage.

B. DOSE for FIVE CONSECUTIVE DAYS.

- Although the product kills the adult parasites within three days, as the recomended doseage dictates on the bottle, The cysts that are most certainly in the gravel bed will require additional doseages. It takes about five days for the product to penetrate the shell of the cysts. Five days has always worked for me and the less exposure to malachite green, the better.

Edited February 27, 2010 by Ichthyosporidium

[Gman44]

I've been told your Temp of water might be to low...the higher temp the ick can't survive just don't boil your fish...in the low 80's.

[Baos]

I've been told your Temp of water might be to low...the higher temp the ick can't survive just don't boil your fish...in the low 80's.

You're lieing. Ich can survive just fine at every temperature your fish can survive at. Though there may be differences between strains. Sometimes uping the temperature can just speed up it's life cycle and kill your fish faster.

[bryancatfish]

if you dose your tank with conditioning salt as well as turn up the temp yo about 81F as well as add air for extra oxygen it should help but it may hurt the plants a bit

i really hope that things clear up

best of luck boss

[Ishkabod]

Well there is good news and bad news

bad news is there isn nothing that can be done about the ich on the fish itself and the treatment is at least 2-4 weeks long

the good news is that in the free swimming stages they are extremely easy to kill with salt or meds.

Here is a link you should check out

Ich and Salt

Also google Ich and read a little.

There are a few things you can do now that won't hurt the fish but i Reccomend

-Adding an air stone

-Buy some Kordon's Ich attack and Seachem Stability

-Do a MAJOR 50% water change before doseing the tank and be sure to clean the gravel and all surfaces as much as possible to remove most of the non free swimming Ich as possible

-Dose the tank as recommended for both for the durration of treatment and an additional week after for the Stability.

GRADUALLY raise the temperature to 85-87 degreesF (no more than 3 degrees an hour but i'd reccomend 2 degrees as the goal

Note: Ich Has a 2 week lifecycle durring most of which the only way to kill it is to kill the fish so chemicals won't kill it in a week like they claim. Raise the temp and the cycle will speed up allowing the meds to get at it faster in it's free swimming stages. Be careful to watch for a reoccurance for 2 weeks after the last doseage. If nothing happens then you've succeeded

From what i have found there is allot of differnet methods in treatment of ICH. Most of the ones on the back of packages boist of a 1 week or less cure which if you know the lifecycle of the disease you know that is a bogus claim. I've found that if you read a few different accounts on how it's been done then you can easy find a balanve between the extremes and find success. One rule of thumb to follow is you are never free and clear unless you treat for 2 weeks and then after an additional 2 weeks of no symptoms(aka spots) you can be sure it's gone.

Good luck and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask

Edited March 26, 2010 by Ishkabod

[jvision]

Temps in the 81-84F and salt at 1tbs/5gal for 10-14 days will cure the ich and won't harm any but the most delicate plants. It's what I do if I ever see ich in any of my tanks.

[Cgy_Betta_Guy]

I have done the heat thing as well with no salt and it works too. Just have to monitor the fish a bit more closely in case there are complications with that tactic.