So... Ich..

1426 Views 18 Replies 8 Participants Last post by Vpaw, Mar 16, 2014

Vpaw

Discussion Starter · Mar 10, 2014

One of my tanks has ich, and I was dumb enough to move the pleco from that tank into my 20 planted. How do I treat this? He was in there for 3 hours and I don't see any spots yet, but I'm sure it's on their gills. I have meds but I know it's not good for plants or invertebrates.

Stock:
6 Cory catfish
2 oto
5 Endlers
2 Platy
1 apple snail
20 cherry shrimp

I have a sponge filter with an air stone attached.

Would heat harm anything? I know salt would.

Sent from Petguide.com Free App

1 - 19 of 19 Posts

peachii

· #2 · Mar 10, 2014

With ick I usually just up the temps to about 85 but with cherry shrimp in the tank, not sure how they would take that.

I also use a non-medication in the planted tanks - LifeGuard from Wal-Mart, it's never harmed my plants, snails or cories in those tanks when I've used it and clears the ick up nicely. Again not sure how it would effect shrimp but if I remember correctly it didn't harm the ghost shrimp I couldn't catch the one time I put a girl betta in the tank with ick.

Vpaw

Discussion Starter · #3 · Mar 10, 2014

peachii said:
With ick I usually just up the temps to about 85 but with cherry shrimp in the tank, not sure how they would take that.

I also use a non-medication in the planted tanks - LifeGuard from Wal-Mart, it's never harmed my plants, snails or cories in those tanks when I've used it and clears the ick up nicely. Again not sure how it would effect shrimp but if I remember correctly it didn't harm the ghost shrimp I couldn't catch the one time I put a girl betta in the tank with ick.

Thanks! I'll look up on the shrimp.. Do you know if they can even get ich?

jimmyfalcon

· #4 · Mar 10, 2014

About 3 weeks ago I notice that one of my fish had a white fuzzy spot on the top of its head, then a couple of days later I noticed more spots on its other side. After learning about ich and what it does to your fish I decided to start a none medicine approach.

I up'd the temp on my heater to 89 deg, then I wen out and got aquarium salt and for 3 days I added salt to the tank. After that I did every other day 30% water changes, after a couple of days I noticed the spots on the fish getting lighter and lighter, today im still running my temp high and im back now to weekly 30% water changes.

I feed my fish daily becasue with the warmer water the fish seem to be loving it, they are way more active now than when I had the water at a steady 74 deg. I will turn my temp back down to 75 76 deg probably after a month. My fish seems to be doing much better and the ich spots have completely disapeared.

Caution that not all fish can withstand high temp water so make sure before you turn up the dial they can handle the higher temp. Also turn up your dail a little at a time, dont wannna shock the fish right away with the change. Hope this info helps you out.

See less See more

Vpaw

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 10, 2014

jimmyfalcon said:
About 3 weeks ago I notice that one of my fish had a white fuzzy spot on the top of its head, then a couple of days later I noticed more spots on its other side. After learning about ich and what it does to your fish I decided to start a none medicine approach.

I up'd the temp on my heater to 89 deg, then I wen out and got aquarium salt and for 3 days I added salt to the tank. After that I did every other day 30% water changes, after a couple of days I noticed the spots on the fish getting lighter and lighter, today im still running my temp high and im back now to weekly 30% water changes.

I feed my fish daily becasue with the warmer water the fish seem to be loving it, they are way more active now than when I had the water at a steady 74 deg. I will turn my temp back down to 75 76 deg probably after a month. My fish seems to be doing much better and the ich spots have completely disapeared.

Caution that not all fish can withstand high temp water so make sure before you turn up the dial they can handle the higher temp. Also turn up your dail a little at a time, dont wannna shock the fish right away with the change. Hope this info helps you out.

That almost sounds like fungus, fuzzy, and getting lighter part. Ya, their metabolism quickens

pinkman

· #6 · Mar 10, 2014

ive used a formalin and malachite green mix medication to treat ich, on a
couple different occasions with success. had no ill effects on the plants i had.
ive read it was safe for shrimp, but have no experience myself using in a shrimp tank.
good luck on this.

smooth_cannibal

· #7 · Mar 10, 2014 (Edited by Moderator)

that sounds like a fungus and that will need a different course of treatment. ich will look like they have small white speckles all over them like they were snowed on. the temp higher speeds up their life cycle to make the cysts open up and fall off faster so they can be treated. you can't really treat ich when it is inside the little cysts. salt isn't always necessary. ich can't reproduce above 85 so keeping the temp higher will let them run their course and eventually die off. takes about 10 days at a minimum before you can start lowering the temp. but make sure all your critters can take the heat. was also told to do more like 40 or 50 percent water change every other day and vac the hell out of the gravel

I got rid of ich with heat and salt within 3 days on my firmouths. if its fungus and it appears to be pink like a wound around it can mean columaris which is bad news and hard as hell to treat. killed all my firemouths after I got rid of the ich

shrimp can't get ich that's a fish disease

See less See more

Darkblade48

· #8 · Mar 10, 2014

pinkman said:
ive used a formalin and malachite green mix medication to treat ich, on a
couple different occasions with success. had no ill effects on the plants i had.
ive read it was safe for shrimp, but have no experience myself using in a shrimp tank.
good luck on this.

smooth_cannibal said:
shrimp can't get ich that's a fish disease

I assume pinkman meant that those chemicals, when used in an aquarium that houses both shrimp and fish, was supposedly safe for shrimp.

Vpaw

Discussion Starter · #9 · Mar 10, 2014

Smooth- I was referring to jimmy, I know I've got ick for sure.

So shrimp can't? It would be worth trying to remove them all for treating? What about the snail? I though a pleco couldn't so that's what started this whole mess... I raised the temp to 86-89 and hope it'll work... I'd love it if this snail lived, it's my only mystery snail that has ever lived more than 2 months, she is now 2 and a half years or so. So healthy, so big, so active.

jimmyfalcon

· #10 · Mar 10, 2014

well its good news if my fish do not have ich. I will keep the temp up for about another week before i start to lowe. On the fungus all I read was to feed the fish with flakes that have vitamin C or peas, also there are over the counter vitamic C additives i can add to the water.

Fish seem to be loving the high temp, they go nuts when I add fish food, they act like hungry puppies when they see me coming close to the tank.

Vpaw

Discussion Starter · #11 · Mar 11, 2014

jimmyfalcon said:
well its good news if my fish do not have ich. I will keep the temp up for about another week before i start to lowe. On the fungus all I read was to feed the fish with flakes that have vitamin C or peas, also there are over the counter vitamic C additives i can add to the water.

Fish seem to be loving the high temp, they go nuts when I add fish food, they act like hungry puppies when they see me coming close to the tank.

Mhmm, high temps quicken metabolism so everything is faster, including appetite!

Sent from Petguide.com Free App

jmsaltfish797

· #12 · Mar 11, 2014

most meds, including life guard, are toxic to inverts. malachite green is also toxic to inverts, as well as formalin, which will give you cancer as well. kordons ich attack is about the only "med" that's invert safe, but IMO its a waste of money. with shrimp in the tank you have very limited options for treatment. your best bet would be to pull all of the fish out to a QT tank and treat with copper, which is the only proven treatment for ich. otherwise, pristine water quality will help. ichs brought on by stress and poor WQ. regular water changes and high quality food can usually help the fish fight off the parasite. I used this technique with my reef tank with great success. hope this helps.

Vpaw

Discussion Starter · #13 · Mar 11, 2014

jmsaltfish797 said:
most meds, including life guard, are toxic to inverts. malachite green is also toxic to inverts, as well as formalin, which will give you cancer as well. kordons ich attack is about the only "med" that's invert safe, but IMO its a waste of money. with shrimp in the tank you have very limited options for treatment. your best bet would be to pull all of the fish out to a QT tank and treat with copper, which is the only proven treatment for ich. otherwise, pristine water quality will help. ichs brought on by stress and poor WQ. regular water changes and high quality food can usually help the fish fight off the parasite. I used this technique with my reef tank with great success. hope this helps.

I don't believe ich is always in the tank. It must of been brought in by the pleco. And if I pull out all idyll still have it and then bring it back, or die..? Won't copper be bad for plants, too?

jmsaltfish797

· #14 · Mar 11, 2014

Vpaw said:
I don't believe ich is always in the tank. It must of been brought in by the pleco. And if I pull out all idyll still have it and then bring it back, or die..? Won't copper be bad for plants, too?

ich has a limited lifespan without a host. if you can remove your fish and treat them outside of your display tank they will be fine. leave your display fallow for two months or longer (inverts don't count as they don't get ich) and it will die off naturally. this seems like a pain but its about the only way to truly kill the parasite off from your main tank. have to starve it to death. ive dosed copper in my main tank before with no ill effects to plants, but it will kill any inverts in the tank and hangs around in the substrate for a long time. best to use it in a quarantine tank. coppersafe is my go to for ich. seems to be a gentler alternative to some of the other meds out there.

Vpaw

Discussion Starter · #15 · Mar 11, 2014

jmsaltfish797 said:
ich has a limited lifespan without a host. if you can remove your fish and treat them outside of your display tank they will be fine. leave your display fallow for two months or longer (inverts don't count as they don't get ich) and it will die off naturally. this seems like a pain but its about the only way to truly kill the parasite off from your main tank. have to starve it to death. ive dosed copper in my main tank before with no ill effects to plants, but it will kill any inverts in the tank and hangs around in the substrate for a long time. best to use it in a quarantine tank. coppersafe is my go to for ich. seems to be a gentler alternative to some of the other meds out there.

What size tank would I have to put them all in? I don't really have another one and I doubt my parents will let me get another, it was a great struggle to get a 45 gallon and I stuck the 5 gallon. I sold my old 10 gallon as well.

I have sand substrate, make a difference?

Vpaw

Discussion Starter · #16 · Mar 13, 2014 (Edited)

The heat has been up, but the electric thermometer says it's at 80, even though it's set at 86. Uh oh. I think I've starting seeing white specs on a few of my Cory's. This is disappointing. My shrimp population is rising dramatically though, so many babies!

Vpaw

Discussion Starter · #17 · Mar 15, 2014

I just got some more fish stuff from Craigslist that they threw in with the filter. There's a natural ich cure in there that says 10 drops per gallon twice a day... It says it won't kill my inverts, should I try it? Will it harm the plants?

sbinf

· #18 · Mar 15, 2014

Ich Attack seems to get mixed reviews. My comments are purely anecdotal. I made the mistake of getting a fish from one of the big box retailers. Added it to my tank, and had the telltale white spots on several fish a few days later. I too have a planted tank with inverts, so I wanted something that would kill (or remove, or repel) the ich while keeping all the inhabitants safe. I used a double dose of Ich Attack on my 20H tank for a couple of weeks. I think I may have ticked up the tank temp a few degrees to 82.

If you don't have the option to quarantine the infected fish, it might at least be worth a try.

Vpaw

Discussion Starter · #19 · Mar 16, 2014

sbinf said:
Ich Attack seems to get mixed reviews. My comments are purely anecdotal. I made the mistake of getting a fish from one of the big box retailers. Added it to my tank, and had the telltale white spots on several fish a few days later. I too have a planted tank with inverts, so I wanted something that would kill (or remove, or repel) the ich while keeping all the inhabitants safe. I used a double dose of Ich Attack on my 20H tank for a couple of weeks. I think I may have ticked up the tank temp a few degrees to 82.

If you don't have the option to quarantine the infected fish, it might at least be worth a try.

Yes, ich attack is the one they have me. My temp is real high at 89, I've heard it might be enough, but maybe I have a heat resistant strand.. I dosed today, it says twice a day. It seems rated week.. I'm just not sure about it...

Sent from Petguide.com Free App

1 - 19 of 19 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.