ICH!!! :(

[Ahmed dada]

Any help will be appreciated here...

I have a Juwel Trigon 190. A stunner of a tank. It is planted with DIY CO2 (yes, it works for me). It is fully cycled and still in the process of stocking.. It has

-10 Neon Tetra
-8 Harlequins
-4 Guppies (I hate them but my mom liked them so in they went )
-3 Albino Cory's
-5 Glowlight Tetra

The neons and Cory's were added yesterday. They all seemed fine at my LFS (one of the best in the business).

So today after my 20PWC I noticed about 5 of the Tetras had white spots on them. I ran to my iPad to discover that they were what I dreaded - ICH! I immediately rushed out to the LFS (5 minutes before closing time too!) to get some medication. They only had 1 litre bottles of medication but the owner was treating his display fish for it with some so he gave me about 30ml in a bottle and told me to dose 7ml for day one, two and three and then another 7ml on day 6. I have dosed 7ml of it now and my water, as expected, turned slightly blue.

My tank is usually at 27 degrees and I'm currently raising it to 30 by 1 degree every hour. Apparently it helps. I also removed the carbon sponge from my filter because apparently it removes the meds.

I'm so absolutely bummed so please tell me if I did anything wrong and what more I could do because this really saddens me . I want to treat them right and help them fight this off. Should I keep the light on as usual (10 hours) and feed the usual (twice daily). Also, today is bloodworm day - their favourite! Should I feed them normally or not at all. Also, the LFS is closed now until Tuesday! Just my luck!

Please please please help me im so scared for my fish

Sorry about my terrible grammar and wording but this is an emergency post I am freaking out!!!

 

[LadyApril83]

Hey I did the med and heat method and one fish died...so I did a water change and just stuck with the heat. Raise to 88℉ for 10 days is my plan

 

[LadyApril83]

http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_ich2.php

I didn't use salt cuz of my loaches
My fish have cleared up the ich within 3 days but you need to finish the whole corse of treatment just like humans and antibiotics


Also I keep my light off all the time to keep stress lower I only turn it on to feed every other day and to check on them ....lower the water level too cuz increased heat makes the oxygen level lower so make sure u have a waterfall if you have a hanging on back filter. I also turned my bubbler on high


Oh I don't know about the lights for the plants as I only have moss balls. But I think if u have lotsa hiding spots for the fish that will help and go with the minimal amount of lights for the plants till the treatment is done. And I don't think u can use much salt with plants either from what I have read. But heat only should be good.

 

[Ahmed dada]

http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_ich2.php

I didn't use salt cuz of my loaches
My fish have cleared up the ich within 3 days but you need to finish the whole corse of treatment just like humans and antibiotics

Also I keep my light off all the time to keep stress lower I only turn it on to feed every other day and to check on them ....lower the water level too cuz increased heat makes the oxygen level lower so make sure u have a waterfall if you have a hanging on back filter. I also turned my bubbler on high

Thanks so much for the reply! Since I started the treatment, I think I'll have to go through with it. I will definately turn the lights off and should I feed every other day then? Or every day reduced to once a day?

I will also turn the lights off for most of the day. I'll leave them on for about one hour a day just to count them all, monitor the ich and for plants.

I have a Juwel aquarium which means that the water has to be within a certain mark or the pump will stop circulating the water for filtration. I have added two pumps with airstones to ensure that enough O2 is present for healthy fish in the warm water. I also disconnected my CO2 becuase I know oxygen is low in hot teperatures. Thanks alot for your help! The website was great. Is there anything else I could do to reduce this awful diseases impact on my poor fish?

 

[LadyApril83]

I put in API stress coat because it helps the slime coat on the fish and I know that these ich get through that so just to help them.

With a planted tank I read about algae so watch for that and I don't know how to prevent that (read the comments on that article)
I would feed every other day cuz they don't need it every day and sick fish don't eat as much and you will get waste and could mess up your ammonia and nitrite...
When I do feed I feed minimally making sure they eat it all before I add any tiny bit more to minimize waste

I stopped the med only cuz it killed a fish..and added stress. It also stained my tubing for my bubbler. But I kinda like the blue color. And the heat should kill the ich by itself ..and my loaches are sensitive fish and the meds are harder on them. And could have killed my ghost shrimp but they are ok.

 

[LadyApril83]

And your tank is awesome...I just googled it! I wonder if they sell that in the US....I like that I could fit it in a corner! I have a perfect corner for it too...

 

[Ahmed dada]

And your tank is awesome...I just googled it! I wonder if they sell that in the US....I like that I could fit it in a corner! I have a perfect corner for it too...

Thanks! PM me your email and I can send you a picture of mine (it's still being worked on slowly but it's coming together )

I don't have API and as I said the LFS is closed. I do have a bottle of nutrafin aqua plus, would this work? It says on the front "US Patented stress reducing formula" and "coats to protect scales and fins."

Also, one of my Cory's is not moving at all, I can see his gills moving but he just sits there while the other 2 are very happy and hyper! Could it be an acclimatation problem as I mistakenly caught him in the net and maybe hurt him? He looks perfect just like the others but it very lazy. Another fun update is that my Harlequins seem to LOVE the bubbles in the filter current and, even though it is a STRONG current, are happily having games schooling to see who can get the closest to the source of the flow so cute and entertaining - just why we keep them!

So nutrafin aqua plus?
Also PM me if you want a pic! (the joys of not having a camera on the iPad 1)

 

[Ahmed dada]

And your tank is awesome...I just googled it! I wonder if they sell that in the US....I like that I could fit it in a corner! I have a perfect corner for it too...

I'm not worried about the staining, I have about 20m of tubing so I'll just replace that

I also LOVE this blue colour! I'm thinking of leaving it like this and not putting the carbon back in. Is this doable?

 

[LadyApril83]

I would try because it says that it helps with slime and stress the and my fish did die between 82-84 degrees. Maybe go slower on the heating up.

 

[LadyApril83]

The sickest ich fish..who is all better now..







The rest r before the ich attack

 

[LadyApril83]

I would not keep the med in it could present a problem with resistant bacteria/parasite.
In florida we have a heat resistant strain of ich...so glad I didn't have that...knock on wood. ...I try to get my fish from local farms/breeders so there is an inherent risk for this

 

[LadyApril83]

My black neons were swimming through the bubbles...likely cuz they were itchy but I'm thinking they know about finding nemo and the bubble volcano scene.

 

[Fishfur]

Unless you are unfortunate enough to have the strain of ich I have heard dubbed 'super ich' , I think 90 is much too high a temperature.

That much heat is very stressful for fish, who are already stressed with parasites. Usually 80 is high enough to speed up the life cycle of the ich parasite. That is the primary reason for using heat in the first place. The main effect heating the water has on Ich is that it really speeds up their life cycle, so they can be cleared more quickly. At cold temperatures, Ich life cycles can take 8 weeks, but at 80, it's more like one week for the usual Ich strains.

I know some use heat & water changes to treat Ich, but using salt can kill the parasites when they are in the free swimming stage. It is the only stage of their life cycle when they are vulnerable to whatever treatment is used, be it salt, copper, whatever. When they are on fish, treatment does not affect them, nor when they are on the bottom during the time they convert to the free swimming form.

Now you know why it is so often said that you should keep a Q tank, and put any new fish into it for at least a month. If after a month you see no sign of illness or parasites, then you can safely add them to your main tank, and not have to risk both the other fish and the plants to treatment regimens. Both copper and salt can harm plants as well as the Ich. Copper also harms or kills any other inverts you might have, like snails or shrimp.

You may want to consider not keeping the tank at such a high temperature for the duration of treatment, it is quite hard on the fish, even though you are doing the best you can to increase oxygen, water that warm does not hold nearly as much as it could at 80 or even 82, if you can't bring yourself to drop it to 80.

Edit- sorry, I said ick lives 8 weeks at colder temps, but to be a bit more accurate, it's about 6 weeks at 45F.. and about one week once the temp reaches 27F. So raising temp to 80 substantially speeds up the life cycle of the non resistant ich strain.

 

[LadyApril83]

I didn't have the guts to go any higher than 88℉ ...I do live in Florida where that heat resistant ich is known to be. And this ich came on fast I'm sure I don't have it now because the fish are acting better and the ich came off mostly only one fish had like 2 spots and I have only been treating for 4 days. My fish are normally kept at 78-79 degrees as my house is 78 ...and I can't treat with salt as I have loaches. The fish are not acting stressed anymore..the first 12hrs I was sure they would all die..only one did..and I don't know why...even the sickest bloated black neon didn't..who is better now. I did treat with a med but I'm not continuing that cuz of the loaches and shrimp I have

 

[Fishfur]

I would not leave meds in the tank. It's really a bad idea. If you truly love the blue colour, you may be able to use food colouring, possibly, but honestly, I wouldn't do that either.

Do you know what the active ingredient in this medication is ? Is it copper sulfate ? If so, it can harm your plants as well as any inverts like snails or shrimp, and it will take some time to remove it all from the tank after the ich is gone.

LadyA, I'm going to have to look up this super Ick. I've only seen it mentioned a few times, it is not that common here. But I know it takes a lot longer to treat successfully compared to the usual Ick.

Edit - based on some research, it appears the super ich is not only heat and salt resistant it is also not affected by the other usual cures, like copper or formaldehyde and malachite green. The only treatment that works on it is Quinine based.

The thinking is that too many people, worrying over sensitive fish, use either half doses or do not treat for long enough, leaving some parasites to live on, and pass on their survival ability to the young. Even the copper based and other meds, and salt too, need to be used for at least 14 to 16 days, to be sure that all parasites have been killed off. Otherwise, you are just preparing them to reappear in a stronger, harder to kill form.

Many commercial ick cures do work, but often the instructions don't tell you that treatment must continue for so long, or to keep using it. Many say to dose only a few times, which is not enough to kill them all. During the stage where they are hanging onto something and developing the young, one ich can produce a 1000 free swimming young. Imagine what happens if you only miss killing a half dozen of them ?

Treatment, whatever it is, has to continue until all signs are gone, and have been gone for a week at least.

 

[NinjaTetra]

Dont keep the meds in. I raised my tank to 86(from 80) and used the amount ofsalt for my tank, then treated half the recomended amount of ich meds and my fish was fine once the carbon cleared the meds out. But the meds are bad for fish and should only be used with ich. They kill amphibians and shrimp almost intantly, and scaleless catfish often die from them.