Got the Ich

[Jgeezer1986]

Lost a sword tail.. have three left , two tiger barbs, two mollies and an african dwarf frog in my 55g. Which method would be the best for treatment? Salt, meds or raising the temp to 86f?

Edit: I also have three neons but do not seem effected yet... i would like to put my two cories from my 20 in to the 55 also. In the years i have had tanks this is the first time i have had an infestation of ich. Thanks in advance

 

[Aquarium1]

I would say add some freshwater aquarium salt and raise the temperature very slowly to about 85-86f. Although I'm not an ich expert so might wanna wait for someone to verify.

 

[dkpate]

Can you use salt with the frog? You can try just the 86* for 2 weeks also.

 

[Jgeezer1986]

Got Rid Ich+ from the store today. Any use this stuff? Lady at the lps told me it was the best they sold..

 

[Aquarium1]

I don't know how to use it but most likely, if you do, it will kill your good bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrite, and nitrite to nitrate, meaning you'll have a whole re-cycle after dosing.

 

[Jgeezer1986]

Thought i might update with Rid Ich+

Feb 25,2010. Ich noticed, not prevelant, just black molly showd spots. Increased Temp from 76F to 78f

Feb 26,2010 Ich increased, increased temo from 78f to 80F

Feb 27,2010 Ich got worse, lost a swordtail , increased temp to 82F and started treatment. Only used half dose to start to acclimate fish to meds. No change in ICH

Feb 28, 2010 Increased temp to 86f. Ich disappearing.

Mar 1, 2010 3:30 AM. No ich spots. Only thing left is a white eye on my black molly. All fish seem to be more active. No ich spots on any of the fish.

I am going to continue treatment on tank until bottle is gone to ensure ICH is gone. Water perameters are all good accordng to cheap dip strips and pet store tests. ( I am buying an API master kit. Test strips have been accurate but i still do not trust them)

I have blue water but all is good. The tank has only been up for a month and just barely got fininshed cycling. I did an aggressive cycling as i call it and it always works for me. Slightly overloading the tank with fish to cycle it. I think i am going to rid my tanks of my aggressive cycling because i think thats what caused the ICH. I think this time i stressed the tank too much this time. I have never had to deal with ICH before even with this type of cycling. Tank perameters were never out of check as far as the quick dip strips , but losing fish is unacceptable even if they are cheap fish so I think i will start fishless cycling next time.

But for as bad as i had the ICH, the fish are Good now and tank perameters are still in check. I am going to get the master kit because im worried that he test strips are not accurate enough and i think the tank is going to have to recycle after this treatment. I have a 20g that is well established with two zebras and two cory cats so it can be a back up , but with what i have in the 55 that had the ich, i have a good set up to recycle if needed. Right now in the 55 i have:

4 sword tails
2 mollys
3 neon tetras
2 Tiger barbs
1 African dwarf frog

Figured i would update.. Although all the white spots are gone except for the bummed eye on the black molly everything is going good. Now just need to watch for a recycle. New to the ICH problem, any tips would be great. I know that ICH is not gone because the spots are gone , so i plan to continue treatment and keep the upper temp for atleast two weeks after i see the last spot.

 

[PaulieFish]

Good luck, happy to hear the ich is slowly going away/gone. Hopefully it wont come back. Best of luck!