Ich diagnosis and treatment

[jCurve]

Hi all, couple of reasons for posting this... I have done a good search but haven't found a good general thread discussing Ich/white spot disease. I'm sure they're there but maybe not titled clearly or the search engine just isn't prioritizing results. Still a newbie here so apologies if this is really old ground and a solid link would be appreciated however in the meantime....

Pretty sure I've got Ich on my hands and just wanted some assurance. The pic attached is of one of my cardinals (little blurry cause they don't stand still) and he has little white spots on his fin tail and body. This only sprang up today that I noticed but it's on a lot of my fish. Cardinals, Silver Tip Tetra has it bad, Discus, Red Serpae, Blackskirts. My Scissor Tails, Bristlenose and Algae eaters are showing no signs YET.

Really I want this thread to be specifically about people's thoughts on Ich and the best ways to deal with it from a serious point of view. I'm prepared to attend to my tank so I want to hear what people have got to say about their experiences; How it started, how they dealt with it. How long it took to treat etc etc. Particularly any mistakes that were made

As a starting point my situation is that I have done some research and I can say that this sounds like Ich but I've never seen it before so what do you guys think?

I've been told that mess aren't the best approach as they are really used as a cheat and that the strains can become resistant.

The path that is seeming like the most sensible one is gradually increasing the temperature hoping not to boil my fish along with large water changes (how large is large 50% or more even) and substrate cleaning. One thing that hasn't popped up but I assume would be intelligent is to regularly rinse the filter with each water change. Probably set aside some of the water change water to do the rinse.

So yeah any thoughts or advice on the Ich as a whole, how to spot it early, and how to eradicate it as well as establishing a good practice terms for avoiding future infection.

Thanks all, and once again if this has already been done just point me in the right direction and I'm there : )

 

[jlbfish]

I was able to get it through raising temps and found really good info in this article:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php

Good Luck!

 

[ejaramillo01]

Based on the picture, looks like Ich to me.

Prevention: Quarantine any fish, for at least a month, before is introduced in your tank. Not easy to do, but the best approach to prevent Ich coming from the pet store. Also weekly water changes, clean water equals less chances for Ich to develop (The Ich parasite in some way could be present, looking for a host to develop) , I recommend 50 % PWC every week, with a good gravel vaccum. Also, remove from the tank any stressing factors, such as bullying, fights, wounded fish, all these factors cause stress in the fish and weaks their immune system, opening the door for the Ich.

Treatment: I prefer the temperature / salt method.. If you just read it (I'm not going to repeat it here) raise the tank temperature to around 84 or 86 degrees, keep it there for at least 2 weeks after you observed no more spots... Meaning could be at least around three weeks total. Combined with addition of salt to the tank (I don't remember the concentration), and twice a week 50% PWC.

Extreme : Don't eliminate the possibility of use of medicaments, lot of people experienced great results with the use of commercial meds. I have not use them for Ich, so I'm not going to judge or give an opinion on it.

Hope this help you

 

[jCurve]

I've also been doing some research that it suggesting going beyond cleaning the substrate and also removing rocks and fake plants and everything and giving it a boil or rinse in diluted bleach solution. My concern here would be, am I going to be putting my tank into a state where it needs to be cycled again? It sound like the logical thing to do

 

[jCurve]

I was able to get it through raising temps and found really good info in this article:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php

Good Luck!

Thanks for that link by the way. That's good reading. : )

J

 

[jlbfish]

Mine were in a QT tanks with an extra filter (not my cycled one) I had all substrate out so I could keep it as clean as possible. No decor nothing.

 

[Ftcgames]

hi. I have the same problem with my 2 black moors. Just go to a pet store, and get some ich treatment. some of your fish ay die, but its better than all of them. the instructions should be on the back of the bottle. hope this helps!

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Raise the temp up to 86-88F.
Increase aeration.
Increase gravel vacs and water changes.
Leave the temp up for at least one week after last spot is seen.
Very simple and no salt or meds are needed.
The temp must be over 86F. Any lower and your just speeding up the ich life cycle instead of stopping them.

 

[somethingsfishy]

+1 to just raising the temp. I think I'm fighting ich and don't want my loaches to be harmed. I have the tank at 86-88 degrees now. I've heard nothing but good about just raising the temp. I'm not against melds I just have sensitive fish.

 

[jlk]

hi. I have the same problem with my 2 black moors. Just go to a pet store, and get some ich treatment. some of your fish ay die, but its better than all of them. the instructions should be on the back of the bottle. hope this helps!

Salt (.3%) is the best ich treatment for goldfish. They can not tolerate the high temps necessary to treat via heat. Ich meds are not a wise choice either as sensitive fancies may not tolerate them well or at all. Meds should always be the last resort for treating a disease that can be cured simply with heat or salt or heat/salt combo. Qt new fish is the simplest means for preventing the spread of any disease to your main tanks.

 

[jCurve]

Well. temps up at 86º/30º and my Khuli Loach decided to exit stage left. a shame because he is my 6yo's fav and has been with us in her little Splish Splash® tank for years nickname Wormie. Anyway... all the other fish are coping okay so if that's the only one we lose we're looking good.

 

[jCurve]

Just thought I'd put up a better picture now I have one. The last was a bit blurry and for those who may be reading about this for the first time this is a better example of what it looks like

 

[jlbfish]

Yup that's ICH! :/

 

[jCurve]

Well talk about lessons learned the hard way. I've had the heat at 86/30 for 4 days now and hopefully all these little spots will start to drop off soon because my casualties so far are the Discus that came with the free batch of ich in the first place, 3 of my Cardinals and my daughters Khuli Loach. And there's still heaps of spots peppered on the rest of the Cardinals, my 2 Blue Rams and know they've spread to the Red Serpae.

I now understand the importance of quarantining new fish and have set up a tank to do it. It's easy to blame the Aquarium where I bought the fish but ultimately it's my responsibility to make sure I follow good practice. Just a pity that I didn't know it at the time.

Take heed people who are new to the hobby and don't be in a rush to jam fish into your tank. Make sure it's Cycled and Quarantine new fish. Add them slowly. Fish are much more enjoyable when there not dead.

 

[somethingsfishy]

That's the hardest lesson learned. I'm sorry for your losses.