Small itch outbreak, quick few questions

[Mumma.of.two]

No problem. If you have time I would do a water change now and add the media back in. That way you are preserving as much of your cycle as you can. The great thing about the heat only method is it doesn't effect the cycle at all. Whereas medications/chemicals can.

Increase the temp up to 86F over a day or so and the same for lowering it.

 

[Iceman15]

Well my $25 electric blue balloon ram did not make it through the night. He was pretty covered in the itch stuff and was motionless this morning. Good news is the other fish that had white spots on them are looking quite a lot better since I started the heat method. I will continue it for at least 10 days and hopefully get rid of it for good.

Thanks again for all of the help. Sad that we lost one already though

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I'm sorry for your loss. If your other fish seem to get a little worse in the next few days don't panic. It's normal for the ich to get worse before it gets better.

 

[Iceman15]

Itch seems to be gone now. I will keep the temperature up for about a week. Should I keep the water level low to help with surface agitation for the next week or is it ok to put it back up an inch or two?

Also, is it weird that the fish seem to be more happy and active in this higher temp water? Or do you think they are acting like this because the water is cleaner and the itch is gone? All of them seem to be more active and the temp is 87-88 right now.

 

[Sake]

Itch seems to be gone now. I will keep the temperature up for about a week. Should I keep the water level low to help with surface agitation for the next week or is it ok to put it back up an inch or two?

Also, is it weird that the fish seem to be more happy and active in this higher temp water? Or do you think they are acting like this because the water is cleaner and the itch is gone? All of them seem to be more active and the temp is 87-88 right now.

I noticed that also when I had ich. Fish are cold blooded if i recall, so they can't regulate their body temp. So when the heat goes up, they get all active.