Clown loach have ich

[Talisrose]

Hey guys this is my first post so bear with me.


Our tank has been doing great. We have a 75 gallon with two 55 gallon rated filters that have activated carbon and clearmax (not sure if that's right the red resin type media) and we have zero carb in one of the filter things. We have 6 clown loach 1 yoyo loach 9 tetras 2 guppies 5 baby guppies ( 3 medium 2 tiny) 3 upside down catfish 3 glass cats 4 zebra danios 4 cherry barbs 5 albino Corys 1 royal pleco 1 clown pleco 1 albino bristle nose pleco 1 regular bristle nose pleco and I think that's it. We have some plants in there one melon sword that has roots some acharis I think it's called that has given us some trouble but is starting to regrow it's leaves and some other bushy type plants that do pretty well. We have four pieces of natural driftwood and pretty fine gravel.. About 2-3mm maybe. And a moss ball.

Our test results came back ammonia - 0
Nitrite-0
Nitrate - 40-80 ppm (unsure exactly color was close to both) and
Ph - 7.4

The results were from 2/9/13 I also forgot to add we have a micron polisher that we had just ran on the 9th also.

Our problem begin the 12th, not sure what caused it because we had a few things that could've and it's always debatable so whatever. Well the clown loach had a few spots so we went out and go liquid super ick cure API.. Did half the recommended dose 30mL (since we have bottom dwellers loach and tetra) turned our heat ip to 80 we took our media filters out but left our regular filters in, which had carbon in them (stupid I know) well the next couple days til the 16th we would put in 10-20mL. On the 16th we did about a 25% water chnage and 20 mL meds the loaches looked better, but not completely. We had to switch to nox-ich because our pet stores ran out of other meds. I also bought super ick cure packets that have 3.6 malachite green and 60 mg nifrofurazone (not sure what it is, sounds like an anti-fungal) didn't try that though. So our new meds we've stuck with doing 50% doses and on the 17th I took the regular filter pads out. Today (18th) we did a 50% water chnage turned our heater up (we are aiming for 86 but it's only up to about 82) but before we did it I had an ammonia rating of .25 ppm nitrate 40-80ppm and ph of 7.4.. Ammonia looks as if its dropped now but no improvement on fish. Absolutely covered and sleeping and flashing. They are still eating and get excited if I put blood worms in (their favorite! ) sooooo I guess I just want some opinions. And I really really don't want to use salt on my loach so please don't recommend it.

 

[Talisrose]

By 'they' I meant the loach. The tetras only have like one or two spots and the glass cats. Everyone else hasn't been affected at all..(i hope!!!)

 

[AngelFishGirl]

Okay, you're probably not going to like this answer.


If one fish has ich on it, the WHOLE tank is infected and needs to be treated. I just went through my first bout of ich and let me tell you, it wasn't pretty.

I raised my temp and added salt and they did fine. I called the fish store and asked if it was safe to add fish (after the ich was gone) before a water change to clear the salt. They flipped and told me to buy this ich treatment. Well, the ich treatment killed HALF of my fish in 24 hours, including my prized angel.

I would recommend staying clear of medication unless absolutely needed. To clear the ich naturally, you have to do to things: heat and salt.

Crank up the heat to 88 degrees. Turn the heat up 2 degrees an hour. I know it's high, but fish can live with that temperature for up to 2 weeks. It's pretty incredible.

Next, I know you don't want to hear it, but salt IS the best treatment. Heat simply makes the cycle of the ich go faster so it leaves faster, but salt will kill the ich in the process. If it's the loaches you're worried about, move them to a hospital tank and treat them with medication.

Also, your nitrates are pretty high in that range. They should be under 10.

I'm sorry to have to be bearer of bad news to you I wish you the best of luck with your fish!

 

[Kimlafeiet]

I would honestly stay away from the salt with loaches and neons in your tank. I battled a case of ich with dojo loaches, and didnt loose a single fish. Turn your heat up to mid-high 80's. I turned mine up to about 86. You MUST remove the carbon from your filters. If your filter holds removeable carbon packs, take them out.....if it holds those all in one kinda filters ( with the carbon inside the pads, cut it open and remove all the carbon or just use filter floss instead of the cartridge. Also, do a nice big water change with a good gravel vacuming before starting treatment as you shoudnt do one during treatment.
I personally used Maracide (made by Mardel, you cn purchase at Petsmart). Followed exactly as bottle said, but only dosed 1/2 strength. Use a syringe to measure accurately, there is a lot of room for error when you go by the "capful". I dosed at 1/2 strength for a week, big water change, then 1/4 strength for another week.
Best of luck to you....ich is no fun, I was super lucky to come away from it with no casualties. The most important piece of advice I recieved when treating itch was that it WILL get worse before it gets better. My fish looked soooo bad and I was sure they were going to die, but somehow, they got through it.

 

[Talisrose]

I really don't want to go the way of salt just because we do have the loach and tetras. We are currently doing meds and heat which I read is dangerous because of oxygen levels but we have alot of aeration. I also read ich can't reproduce if you turn the temp up past 85... I kinda figured we'd have to treat the entire tank. This just sucks the loaches look soo terrible. I just don't wanna lose anyone can you buy just the filter pads without carbon? Cause our tank looks horrible! What should I do about nitrate? Ahhh this is the worst!!!

 

[AngelFishGirl]

I really don't want to go the way of salt just because we do have the loach and tetras. We are currently doing meds and heat which I read is dangerous because of oxygen levels but we have alot of aeration. I also read ich can't reproduce if you turn the temp up past 85... I kinda figured we'd have to treat the entire tank. This just sucks the loaches look soo terrible. I just don't wanna lose anyone can you buy just the filter pads without carbon? Cause our tank looks horrible! What should I do about nitrate? Ahhh this is the worst!!!

nitrates will build up with fish waste and uneaten food. Nitrates can be brought down by doing water changes with a water vacuum. Do you have one of those?

 

[AngelFishGirl]

This is the one I use. Works great!

 

[Talisrose]

Yeah we actually have two we use a short one to take water out then a 25 ft one that hooks to the sink to refill, it's less stressing it seems to the fish and is easier. We just did a 50% water chnage last night. Ill test again hen I get home. I think we are going to do 25% daily and turn heat up to 88 maybe? What do you guys think? Should we take the carbon out of some of our filters or buy some filter pad? Where can you get that? Thanks so much for the speedy replies! I love hearing others opinions because there are so many different ones out there!

 

[Talisrose]

As of right now we have our filters on but no media in them and no filter pads of any sort!

 

[boadams87]

Just turn your heat up to 86° and do daily vacuuming and wc. Don't use any meds. It will take about 14 days. I would stay away from salt since you've got plecos and stuff.

 

[Talisrose]

Tests came back ammonia - 0-.25 ppm can't tell exactly
Nitrate - 20-40 ppm
Nitrite 0
Ph 8.4 whys with this?? Left my lights off all day help!!!