Pervasive Ich Clown Loaches

[dindin]

I know there's a recent thread about this which I started to put it under, but hated to hijack. And I have read every thread on here about this but will read again (sigh).

I've had ich in the tank, I think this is day 6. First to go was largest clown loach on Day 0. He was 7 inches and new....and I hadn't quarantined... I have turned the heat up to 86, I;'m pretty sure some of the fish are PANTING. I started out using salt but we decided not to, because of the larg # of otos and baby BN. So instead, we are using rid ich. We also have a UV sterilizer, which is set to slow in order to kill the ich off. We do the 25% water change daily, as the med suggests, and had done a huge wc the day before this started.

Looks like the ich is gone on everyone EXCEPT the 7 loaches who look worse than ever. I have 3 sizes, let's call them 4 to 5 inches total. All of them are covered in spots today. WE've had days where it seemed to be going away.

PH is 6.6, slowed the CO2 a little as I had to add a bubbler because some fish seemed to suffer from lack of o2. That was Day 4, I lost 3 fish that day but none since.

Also the kubotai, which didn't seem to be affected, now is flashing like crazy.

Anything wrong here ? Anything else I can do? It's a heavily planted tank, nitrates/nitrites etc all test perfect.

[thepotoo]

Since you have no other replies, I'll relate my experience: just wait. I had two loaches in a tank that got hit with ich, and I turned the heat to 87 (no meds). It took around a month before the ich dropped of the loaches, but then it vanished over the course of two days (one day they were covered, and I was almost ready to euthanize, the next day there were just a couple spots, and the next day they were completely heathy).

The ich hasn't been back since and the loaches are fine now.

I had always heard that ich would clear up in ~10 days, but my experience was that it just took longer with loaches.

[dindin]

Aha! Thank you for that. Every time I look at them....they could be the poster children for ich....I feel sick!

[mistergreen]

Yeah, keep doing what you're doing for a month.

[Diana]

Turn off the UV. It may be breaking down the medicine.
If you are using Amquel products as dechlor, change to something else while using Rid Ich. It says so right on the Amquel label. These products deactivate the dye based meds.

There are more than one strain of Ich. Some take longer to go through their life cycle, even at elevated temperatures. Keep up the medication and heat.

Here is one way to medicate so the fish get the full daily dose, but without the too-strong dose of when you first add it:
Divide the daily dose into 2 half-doses. Dose half in the AM and half in the PM.

Keep up the water changes, especially vacuuming the floor of the tank, and any other surface Ich might land on to reproduce. You are removing a lot of Ich that way. The actual volume of water removed does not have to be very much (unless you need to do water changes for other reasons like ammonia or nitrite). The key is to vacuum the surfaces, especially the surface of the substrate.

Ich can get in the gills, which is why you see them piping. Increasing the oxygen in the water can help. Increase surface movement for better gas exchange.

[mistergreen]

+1 on the UV. Use one (UV) or the other (meds) not both at the same time.

[mrduna01]

I fell for you... I am battling it right now myself (the other thread you refer to was maybe mine) with 6 clowns. Three youngsters, a 4 incher and two 6 to 7 inchers. I think when battling ick, patience and perseverance is the key. I had Ich before and killed it in about a week. I am going on three weeks now and although the spots are 99.9 percent gone there is still a lot of flashing. I think I may be good in another week. Good luck to you and your battle.

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[dindin]

Yes it was yours Mrduna.... I typed all this stuff and then didn't want to seem like I was hijacking. Wow 3 weeks, long time. I have named my clowns and know each one lol.... so they are like friends. I hate all this flashing!

@ Diana I'll check my products. I use Prime. I wondered about the med breaking down cause it's only blue for a few minutes then it gets pretty much back to normal. I remember a hundred years ago when you used the blue stuff, it stained everything and the water stayed blue.

[mrduna01]

Trust me I understand... I'm a wreck right now over it not knowing if it may be velvet. I am almost at the point of trying coppersafe as rid ick doesn't treat for velvet. There has been mixed reviews as far as the safety of coppersafe with clown loaches.

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[Psionic]

Originally Posted by dindin

Yes it was yours Mrduna.... I typed all this stuff and then didn't want to seem like I was hijacking. Wow 3 weeks, long time. I have named my clowns and know each one lol.... so they are like friends. I hate all this flashing!

@ Diana I'll check my products. I use Prime. I wondered about the med breaking down cause it's only blue for a few minutes then it gets pretty much back to normal. I remember a hundred years ago when you used the blue stuff, it stained everything and the water stayed blue.

I recently used Rid Ick on my guppy tank. The only thing that stained was the tubing for the bubbler and everything else was fine.

[dindin]

Kept doing what I was doing, turned the temp back down slowly, everyone seems to have made it. They're all healthy, eating etc. The kubotai is still flashing so that must be something else.

Thanks for the help/support!

[mrduna01]

In all honesty if there is still flashing I would continue to treat for several days as there may still be ick in the gills and cyst that have not become visible yet. Just keep a close eye on them for sure. Glad to hear they are better though.

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