AARGH ..... Ich ... what to do with the Hillstream loaches

[jsoong]

OK, I added a new goldy to my tank, after QT. The new fish has no sign of ich .... BUT every one of my other golds now has ich!!!

OK, so all my golds are in the QT after a salt bath of 1%. I plan to keep them in 0.3% salt & temp of 80 (increasing over the next few days) for a week or 2.

But what to do with the hillies? Loaches can't tolerate salt or high temp, and don't do well with quick cure (or so I heard). Anyone had experience with treating them?

BTW - I don't see any ich on the hillies, but they are small (1") so rather hard to see.

TIA.

PS - tank as in sig. Water parameters - pH 7.8, temp 70, NH3/NO2/NO3 0/0/10 <adding KNO3 to bring up the NO3 for the plants>

 

[Devilishturtles]

I plan to keep them in 0.3% salt & temp of 80 (increasing over the next few days) for a week or 2.

I would slowly bump it up to 86F and add in an airstone. A temp of 80F will do nothing to get rid of the ich.

As for the hillstream loaches, do you have a QT tank you could put them in for 2 weeks or so?

 

[jsoong]

I don't have a 2nd QT, but I could improvise. Right now the loaches are alone in the main tank, so they can be treated if needed.

As for the golds, I am relying on the salt to kill the ich, increasing temp is just to hurry things up. From what I read, you need 88 or 90 to kill ich, and I am not sure if the goldies can stand that.

 

[Guest]

ok.. first of all the temp needs to be at least 86 to kill ich, and your goldfish can not tolerate that temp. Also, there is a debate as to weather salt actually kills ich or not... I have read sooo many articles that are conflicting so i would never suggest it as a treatement.

As for your hillstream loaches, i have one that lives in my tropical tank and has been treated with high temps before and that little guy is still doing great. But since your's haven't adapted to a high temp they may not tolerate...


So this leaves your last option.. it sucks but you are going to have to use ICH meds... and even though some meds say "treats in 3 days!" you still need to treat for a full 2 weeks. THe downside is that the meds can harm the bacteria in your biological filter. Which can cause you to have a minicycle.

Also with ich you have to treat the entire tank not just the fish So using a QT tank isn't really going to help because as soon as you put the fish back in it is going ot get sick again.... Your best bet is to put all the fish back into your main tank and treat with meds as directed.

 

[Guest]

also wanted to add the reason you can't just treat the fish in QT is because ICH is a protizoan that lives in spores. The heat speeds up the lifecycle but the usual life cycle is about 2 weeks. There are 3 stages, one is in the gravel, one is free swimming, and one is on your fish (that you see) but it is only susseptible to treatement in the free swimming stage. Wich is why you need to treat for 2 weeks. The heat will speed up the lifecycle and heat of over 86 will kill the ich.

 

[jsoong]

If I were to use meds for the hillies, what is good? Loaches are supposed to be sensitive to copper & quick cure, so that eliminates the majority of meds.

At the moment, I am almost resigned to doing the tub to tub method (as per the KRIB). that is, you take the fish out of the tank, & move them to a tub of new water everyday. The theory is that cysts falling off the fish will stay behind in the old water & not reinfect the fish, so once all the cysts falls off, the fish will be ich free. <This would be a pain as the hillies are almost impossible to catch!>

Another thought I have is that one reference says that hillies never get ich. Now if that means they cannot be carrieres, I would simply leave them in their own tank for a few weeks & the ich should be gone.

As far as treating ich in QT, i think it is possible. Ich cysts cannot survive indefinitely (longer in cold temp, but at 70, the cysts have to "hatch" after a few days). Once the cysts hatch, the tomites have to find a fish host within a couple days or they will die. So as long as the tank is fish free for a week or 2, ich should be eliminated. I am treating in QT because salt & most meds will mess up the plants. Also, an established tank has lots of organic matter (esp planted with soil, etc) which would absorb med & make it less effective. Plus it is a lot cheaper to dose a 10 gal vs a 100 gal!