Ick Causes and Cures

[LEBEANPOLE]

I was chatting with the lfs guys about ick. They didn't seem to know the root cause, but thought it came from sick/stressed fish(more often than not from the "big" stores. Is it a parasite? Where does it come from? One thought that my Clown Pleco was particularly susceptible. Is that true? If so is that a stress-ability issue?

Next they suggested Jungle -ick control and at least three days of treatment with 25% water changes. One said that salt could help, but the other didn't seem to put much faith in it. They also suggested that my 73F degree temp was probably too cool and to try 78F to help.

THOUGHTS?

 

[Mebbid]

I can't give links atm because I'm on my phone. But I can throw some information out there.

Ich is caused by a parasite. This parasite attaches to fish ( white bumps) lives there for a few days then drops off onto your substrate for up to a week. This stage is where it will multiply and more free swimming versions of the parasite will be born to infect other fish. The last form lives for around a day.

Treating ich is as simple as slowly raising the temperature of the tank by a degree every hour or so until it hits 86. Then you keep it at this temp for at least a week. This will kill off all the ich as they cannot spread at this temperature. Salt will help as well. You will also need to increase aeration of the tank since warm water holds less air.

 

[NYgiantsRP]

Mebbid is 100% correct. No medication is needed. Slowly get your water to about 86-88 for a week to 10 days, and a tablespoon of salt per 10 gallons at first then add it to the water you add back to the tank during daily 25% water changes focussing on gravel vacuuming.

 

[Masha]

To support what has already been posted - here is an extensive article that explains in detail how to use heat to treat ick. Be aware that salt is not always a good idea - plants don't like it and some fish (like loaches and corys) don't respond well to it either.

Using Heat to Treat Ich in Freshwater Tropical Fish - Article at The Age of Aquariums - Tropical Fish

 

[LEBEANPOLE]

Thanks everyone. Did it come from another's tank? It's it somewhere in my household?

 

[Mebbid]

It hitches in on infected fish. It will generally infect the gills first so if the fish you add in don't actually have bumps on them they can still have ich. It will usually take a few weeks for a minor infestation to get out of control.

 

[Paul1792]

Some fish cannot do the heat treatment

Scale-less fish (such as loaches) and invertebrates (such as snails) need special treatment. I used Quick-Cure at half the recommended dose when I brought home fish from my LFS that had not yet begun to show the white spots. [no quarantine tank]. Symptoms disappeared in less than a week.

This link has some good info:

Treating Ich/Ick on Scaleless Fish Species

 

[LEBEANPOLE]

it sounds like the best option is to remove all the fish and invertebrates. Then treat the tank as aggressively as I can. And treat the fish/invertebrates in the qt. Our at least at the pleco and snails.

 

[Mebbid]

it sounds like the best option is to remove all the fish and invertebrates. Then treat the tank as aggressively as I can. And treat the fish/invertebrates in the qt. Our at least at the pleco and snails.

??What??

This may be true for salt water ich but not so for fresh water. As was stated all you need to do for treatment of freshwater ich is raise the temperature to 86 degrees. It is proven to be effective and is the most successful, safest, and cheapest method of treating ich that is currently out there.

 

[LEBEANPOLE]

What about the pleco and snails? I'm raising it now. At as it was low to begin with.

 

[Mebbid]

What about the pleco and snails? I'm raising it now. At as it was low to begin with.

You don't need salt for the treatment to be effective. Just heat.

 

[DeirdreHoyle]

It depends how bad the infestation is but when I had to deal with an Ich outbreak I used all 3 methods. First I turned up the heat and used salt (I had a pleco so I did a half treatment because I wasn't sure if he had scales or not) and then when I was still losing fish I used API Super-Ich Cure. It worked like a charm and my two remaining fish were saved. I still have the pleco and that was more than 6 months ago. Also, I've heard small fish don't respond very well to Ich medicine if you have any small fish. If the Ich is pretty bad then I would do heat, salt, and medicine together.

 

[LEBEANPOLE]

That's the plan minus the salt. Heading for 89F for the next three days and plenty of gravel vacuuming. Then 86F for 7 more days and more vacuuming. Sounds like good living.

 

[Masha]

One more thing-
If you raise the temperature, it's risky to also add medication. The warmer the water, the less oxygen it can contain. Medication makes the lack of oxygen even worse.

It's is not a problem if you only raise the temp - you can add a airstone for safety - but if you also add medication, that will lower oxygen even more.

So: raise heat and don't use medication, or usr medication and don't raise heat. Don't do both.

 

[LEBEANPOLE]

I just wanted to give everyone an update. All fish and snails are alive and well. I started all of this during the Arctic Vortex and had some trouble getting the tank to the required 86F. I did two days of chemical treatment and saw immediate loss of visible ich/ick parasites. water changes have gone well and my water remains clear. The weather has warmed here and my home has caught up to the tank. Now the temp resides at 86/87F. I plan to hold it there until next Sunday. One of my small Tiger Barbs is the only fish who has seemed affected. He moved away from the other three and seemed listless. After the water change today he is getting better and swimming with the other Barbs again. I hope his gills haven't taken too much of a beating.
Thanks to everyone for help. I hope to get through this week and hopefully fix my population minimums.

p.s. I've had very little plant trouble.