so ive got ich

[rreekers]

so I have icy in my 60 g tank... I know to raise the temperature, but not sure how high to raise it..
also I know people add salt to their tanks, but I have quite a few plants and I know that salts not good for plants..so what should I do?

only 3 of my fish are showing signs that I noticed.. 1 of my female guppies has it the worse, followed by a male guppy and my Pearl gouramis has 5-7 spots that I've seen so far.

I wish I knew how I got it :/ last fish I added was 7 weeks ago and he isn't showing any spots... I did add 2 mystery snails 2 weeks ago, can snails carry it? I'm so confused

this is my first time with ich, I already started a gradual temp raise. I increased the temp from 77- 81... will increase more in the morning

 

[Shark_Bait]

Do you have a spare 10 gal for a QT?

 

[siva]

Raise the temp slowly to 86. You can try the heat only method if you don't want to add salt. I've always used salt, but I've heard others report success with it.

Most of what I hear is that inverts like mystery snails cannot carry ich. I'm very skeptical about that.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Heat the tank to 86-88F
Vacuum more frequently.
Increase aeration.
Keep the temp up for a week after last spot disappears.
http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_ich2.php
You have to treat the whole tank as infected. Disinfect any syphons, buckets, nets, etc used on the infected tank.

 

[pookie71384]

I've had this problem many times before...all you have to do is raise the temperature to 86...that's all...keep it like that for about two weeks...this has always worked for me...I don't like using solutions in my water...only solution I put in is water conditioner...that's all...let me know how it went

 

[siva]

Good points, I should have added increased aeration for sure! Keeping the lights off is also helpful.

 

[rreekers]

Good points, I should have added increased aeration for sure! Keeping the lights off is also helpful.

keep the lights off? really that helps? I don't think I've ever heard of that before

 

[rreekers]

Heat the tank to 86-88F
Vacuum more frequently.
Increase aeration.
Keep the temp up for a week after last spot disappears.
http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_ich2.php
You have to treat the whole tank as infected. Disinfect any syphons, buckets, nets, etc used on the infected tank.

thanks for the info but how do I go about disinfecting a 25 foot siphon / hose. I use it on all my tank. I did water change yesterday.. now I'm scared I spread it to my other tanks :/

 

[randy86]

Use mass amounts of bleach and hot hot water

 

[pookie71384]

no bleach...just hot water...hot hot hot water

 

[randy86]

Good looking out pookie

 

[pookie71384]

and I don't think you have to worry about disinfecting your equipment you use on your tanks...ich lives in aquariums...not outside of aquariums...don't worry about your syphon

 

[boadams87]

thanks for the info but how do I go about disinfecting a 25 foot siphon / hose. I use it on all my tank. I did water change yesterday.. now I'm scared I spread it to my other tanks :/

Just close the valve and pour bleach in the siphon end.

 

[boadams87]

and I don't think you have to worry about disinfecting your equipment you use on your tanks...ich lives in aquariums...not outside of aquariums...don't worry about your syphon

It can live in the siphon because it stays wet inside it. It won't hurt to disinfect everything

 

[pookie71384]

ich can't survive if it doesn't have a host to attach itself to...that's the main part of its life cycle

 

[Shark_Bait]

Dont use the bleach that will only increase you chance of bleaching tank water. Wash it with warm water and let it dry after it drys it should be completely fine. Ich needs a host to survive on.

 

[skywhitney]

ich can't survive if it doesn't have a host to attach itself to...that's the main part of its life cycle

This is true but it takes 10-15 days for the parasite to die without a host.

I would run super hot water through the syphon and then let it dry completely. Snails can't get infected with Ich but the parasite can in theory attach itself to the shell.

 

[siva]

keep the lights off? really that helps? I don't think I've ever heard of that before

Yes, for both ich and velvet.

thanks for the info but how do I go about disinfecting a 25 foot siphon / hose. I use it on all my tank. I did water change yesterday.. now I'm scared I spread it to my other tanks :/

The safest route would be to soak it in bleach. Then rinse the heck out of it with hot water. Then soak in water with 5x dose of Prime. Prime will neutralize any chlorine possibly left behind.

If you have multiple tanks, you may want to invest in a second vac. Treating for illness can take weeks, so if you have more than one, you can continue taking care of your other tanks normally and you won't have to disinfect the other until treatment is complete.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Yes, for both ich and velvet.

Soak it in the bleach. Then rinse the heck out of it with hot water. Then soak in water with 5x dose of Prime. Prime will neutralize any chlorine possibly left behind.

If you have multiple tanks, you may want to invest in a second vac. Treating for illness can take weeks, so if you have more than one, you can continue taking care of your other tanks normally and you won't have to disinfect the other until treatment is complete.

+1
Bleach is fine to use.
It is possible to infect other tanks with equipment. I've done it once myself. :/

 

[paytertot]

Bleach is definitely ok, I use it to clean decor when algae becomes a problem and also when I had an ich problem to disinfect everything. Just wash it like crazy with hot water and do the prime thing as previously stated.