i think its ich...

[patagonia]

so i read the post about ich but i still have a couple of questions...my tank is a 29gal planted one...i have 8 harlequin rasboras, 9 neon tetras and 2 otto catfish...this morning i woke up and saw one of the neons has it...the rest of the fish are fine and dont have any white spots...yet...so i started to SLOWLY increase the temperature but im not quite sure about the salt...because of the ottos being so sensitive and because of the plants...i wouldnt care losing the plants but i really dont wanna lose the ottos after going all over the town for a long time trying to find them...so i was wondering if anybody has had to treat ich on one...thanks for all the help!!!

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

I would add only 1/2 add much salt or none at all. The heat is the most important component of the treatment.

 

[talloulou]

If you were worried about putting salt in your tank you could also consider putting just the affected fish in a salt bath. I'm not sure if neon tetras are sensitive to salt or not, but at least if you do the bath it only affects the one fish.

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

Neons don't like salt either.

 

[patagonia]

thanks guys...ive quarantined the neon that looked affected and im gonna try just the temperature thing...all the other fish remaining in the tank have no signs of ich...but im still going to treat both tanks....thanks for all the help...

 

[patagonia]

well its been 10 days since i discovered the first neon with ich...i quarantined him but he didnt make it...the other remaining fish which i didnt quarantined are not showing signs of ich(never did)....the temp is 86.5F so i was wondering if i can start to lower it because the ottos are not liking it at all :? ...they were fine until the tank hit 82F...higher than that and the just stay underneath the plants...they dont even eat the zuchinni they love so much...i dont wanna lose my lovely (and hard to find btw) ottos...TIA...

 

[Guest]

you do need to treat the entire tank with heat for at least two weeks (Thats usually how long it takes for a complete life cycle of ich)

However ,i left my temp. up for 2 weeks and started decreasing it and my Bala Shark got ich all over him again, so i am raising my temp again! I think im gonna leave it up for another 2 weeks.

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

Since you are raising the temp on the main tank you could put the otto's in qt and the neons in the main tank and only turn up the temp on qt if the otto's develop ich.

 

[patagonia]

well...its been 2 weeks since i first saw the neon with ich and i lowered the temperature about 3 days ago...not a single fish had ich at any time except for the neon that i quarantined...i still keep it at 82F though...just in case it comes back and hits the main tank ...so it wont take me long to raise the temp again to 87F... :?

 

[cinnastix911]

*cries pitifully* My fish tanks first case of ich in 10 years... right after I went off and spent buckoo bucks on two fish... Well not a lot but for someone who has no income besides reportcard money... Anywho. My shark is completely covered in them... His eyes are struck pretty bad too. And Only a day ago I noticed it. And I won't get into town for 3 days to buy medication. I have loaches and other scale-less fish, anyone know of a way that will treat all of my fish? I read the ich article but remain slightly confused.. I hope your fish get better Patagonia

 

[krap101]

arent otos scaleless?

 

[cinnastix911]

I wouldn't know. I have never had any. That ? was probably directed elsewhere...

 

[Blazeherd2306]

It really doesn't matter if they are scaleless or not, they can still get ich. Clown loaches are scaless, but they get ich easily.

 

[cinnastix911]

We were talking about treatment. They sometimes need differnent medications I think... as they react differently

 

[cinnastix911]

We were talking about treatment. They sometimes need differnent medications I think... as they react differently

Edit: I just read up some more one other topics scanning through the pages of fish ailments and I think I will up the temperature and pray... for 2-3 weeks. Hope my 'spensive sharkie and semi 'spensive gourami come to no harm.

 

[patagonia]

cinnastix911...just do the temperature thing...raise it SLOWLY (i think the article says 1F every 6-12 hours) until you get it higher than 86F..and keep it there for at least 2 weeks...that will do it...i didnt add the salt because of my plants and because i have ottos and neons which dont like salt at all...so theres no need to go buy anything...good luck!

 

[patagonia]

i was also wondering if the ottos are scaleless....dunno though.... you cant use salt if they are right??? is that the reason why you were asking krap101?

 

[cinnastix911]

I think it's that some of the scaleless ones act differently to medications, not salt. I have had a little salt in my tank for years and never had a negative effect, but obviously not enough to control ich. But then again, I tihnk it's not so all scaleless fish hate it, but that specific fish have different aciditic levels and all that.

 

[Blazeherd2306]

Yes I think I heard somewhere that scaleless fish react differently than fish with scales, but I'm pretty sure otos have scales, so don't worry about it.