[Chadbud]

Hey guys!

Just got 10 cardinal tetras for my tank and noticed they developed ich after a few days in the tank which is odd because all my parameters are normal.

I raised the temp but haven't added any salt yet because I'm out of it right now and am also worried about it's effect on my plants..


I want to do this the most natural way possible without hurting the plants.. I was thinking of bumping the temperature up to 82 from 79 and adding the normal dosage of aquarium salt.


What do you guys think?

 

[greaser84]

Some plants die from salt, others are resistant. What kind of plants does you have? I'd turn the heat up more and add an airstone. I believe 86 degrees and ich won't reproduce.

 

[mgirouard3]

I recently suffered from an ich outbreak. Somewhere on this forum I read about people using Kordon Ich Attack for heavily planted tanks. I decided to try it as I heard that salt would kill some plants. It took about a month, but all my neon tetra's survived the treatment and the plants didn't seem to mind. The water did obtain a brown hue to it, but that went away after a few water changes.

 

[Diana]

Hey guys!

Just got 10 cardinal tetras for my tank and noticed they developed ich after a few days in the tank
Quarantine tank EVERY TIME
which is odd because all my parameters are normal
Your water parameters have nothing to do with it. They fish were exposed to Ich at the store, and the stress of capture and handling allowed the Ich to grow faster. Ich is so small when it first lands on the fish you cannot see it. It takes a few days to grow big enough to see.

I raised the temp but haven't added any salt yet because I'm out of it right now and am also worried about it's effect on my plants.
Quite right. Salt is bad for plants..

I want to do this the most natural way possible without hurting the plants.. I was thinking of bumping the temperature up to 82 from 79
This is good. If you can get the temperature higher Ich cannot reproduce. Can you get it to 85 or so? Make sure the water is well aerated. Warm water does not hold as much oxygen.
and adding the normal dosage of aquarium salt.
There is no 'normal' dosage of aquarium salt. Aquarium salt is sodium chloride, and is not normal or natural in fresh water.


What do you guys think?

1) Move the fish to a quarantine tank, and treat them there. Any medication, or simply ultra violet sterilizer and water changes. (Do not combine UV with meds)
2) Keep the main tank going, with NO fish. Absolutely none, and it will not have Ich. Ich dies without a host. This is the safest way to treat. The most natural. The safest for the plants. Don't even have to raise the temperature.

 

[Grumble69]

I'm just getting over a round of it in my tank. I turned up the heat to 86-87 (from 79) and added 1 tsp salt / 10gal which is a pretty light dose. I was being careful because I have cories and didn't want to kill any plants. It was a little nerve wracking. But it all worked out fine, pretty much.

The 2 otos (who were the ones that originally got the ich) had gotten clear of it. I was holding the temp because one of my cherry barbs picked up a minor case of it. And during the process, the 2 otos had died, probably from the stress of it all. But the temp + minor salt stopped it pretty quick. I think it was about 10 days total. Haven't seen spots in at least 4 days.

 

[laconic]

3 options I can think of:
1. Raise temp and use medication
2. Use a diatom filter
3. Use a UV sterilizer (has to be a high wattage)

2 & 3 cost quite a bit if you do not have but are reusable and serve other uses.

 

[Vino]

I just had my first outbreak a month ago. I read and read and read everywhere for the best way to treat with plants in the tank.

I ended up JUST raising the temp.

- I rasied it to 90 degrees and threw in a large airstone. I left it like this for 3 or 4 weeks. Once I saw no sign of Ich on any fish for a week, I lowered the temp and pulled the airstone. Plants faired well. All fish, but my Otos, survived no worse for the wear.

 

[thelub]

Here is a method that so far has had a 100% effectiveness at the LFS I help out at. Raise temp to 86-88 and black out for 3 days and it should be gone. No salt no meds.

 

[pantherspawn]

Here is a method that so far has had a 100% effectiveness at the LFS I help out at. Raise temp to 86-88 and black out for 3 days and it should be gone. No salt no meds.

+1

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk

 

[Hardstuff]

Seems like lots of people are not Qt ING their fish. Thats bad fish keeping. You would not have to deal with any planted tank issues if the fish were quarantined for 3 or 4 weeks. The second tank should be a must, it has many other things it can do as well. Grow out extra plants , keep damaged or injured fish, double as a hospital tank, cycle an extra filter. just to name a few. It does not have to be big. Many big fish disease issues would just go away in planted tanks if people would just do what is humane for the fish & less stress on you as well.

 

[m00se]

Ich Attack works, but it's slow. If your fish are in real stress it might be wise to either remove them to a QT tank and use Quick Cure or if they aren't healthy enough to do that use the tank temperature method. Ich Attack isn't an acute symptom therapy. It's designed more as a prophylactic than a sledge hammer medicine. It works much better than Melafix/Pimafix but it takes time to work. If your fish are gasping and twirling then another medicine is warranted.

 

[Lab_Man]

I bought 10 red eye tetras and 5 phantom tetras 3 weeks ago. Since my 55 gal planted tank had no fish I did not quarantine the fish. After a week, one of the red eye tetras had ich on one side of its body.

Luckily, I had just purchased a canister filter and a UV sterilizer to combat the green water that I was battling.

After 10 days the green water was crystal clear and.......
The ich was cleared up on the tetra.
The UV sterilizer kills ich and other pathogens.

I had ich one time in a community tank, years ago. I will never, ever add fish to an established community without 4 weeks of QT.

 

[thelub]

The need for QT depends on the source. I don't QT fish from my LFS because I help out there a few times a week and I know the fish first hand and see how they do on a weekly basis.

On the very rare occasion I buy from a big box pet store, QT is an absolute must.