Ich!!! I am going loose it!!!

[nemokeeper]

Ich is back with a vengeance! Help Alli

Well the cure was short lived. 2 days later my loaches are loaded, worse than before.
Anyone looking for a 20 gallon tank, now would be a good time to approach me for a good deal.
Ok ...So today I was talking to someone who said I should use "AQUARI-SOL" to cure this @#$%^ parasite. What do you think? Any experience with this stuff. Says that it contains ZYCOSIN (Soluble Copper Salts). I know Alli you don't like using meds if you can avoid it, so what do you think?

 

[Allivymar]

Bummer

If you need to use meds you need to nemo! I prefer the heat treatment, but there is a strain of ich thats pretty resistant; that may be what your poor guys have. Copper is pretty effective against ich; it will kill the crab tho. Any of the ich meds will kill inverts, and are dangerous to scaleless fish like the otos. See if you can find RidIch Plus; its formulated for scaleless fish (although you'll need to do something about the crab).

 

[nemokeeper]

Thanks Alli, once again, a quick response. I am going to wait until morning to see if there is any improvement. The only thing that I can say that I faltered with is that the temp dropped at night from 88 to 85-86, due to the furnace being turned down. So the last couple of days I have kept a blanket on the tank to keep the temp up. But if no improvement then I will use the RidIch Plus like you said. Thanks again.

 

[TheMadNucleus]

Hey NemoKeeper (funny name since you have a FW tank )

I have an additional suggestion since your case seems to be pretty stubborn. Also, I provide this as a suggestion to be considered in addition to all of the excellent advice above.

What you are doing is all correct. But in stubborn cases you may need a little extra help. And I would agree that you likely want to avoid the meds as Alli so eloquently said.

So here is my suggestion, as you know Ich is a macro parasite. It is a very small cyst which cycles on and off the fish. If you can help cut down on the number of cysts during your treatment phase you will have much greater luck. It just so happens that Diatom filters can be (and use that word can for specific reasons) effective at removing these cysts when they become free floating since the diatoms create filter wholes which are small then the cysts - i.e. they get caught in the filter.

Do you have access to a Diatom? If so I would run it daily, clean it daily for your treatment period (Which as Alli mentioned I think is about 5 days - maybe slightly longer in your case).

In addition to this, If you have access to a UV which you can borrow, I'd recommend using that as well during the treatment period and I would use a slow dwell time as the Ich cyst is hardy, none the less they are susceptible to high exposure to UV radiation.

If this approach does not work - you'll have to byte the bullet and carefully medicate (and perhaps self medicate with a straight up scotch )

HTH

Tom

 

[Allivymar]

Oooo. Never thought of a diatom filter to help reduce theronts in the water; where did you get that info oh Mad one? I love it!

 

[TheMadNucleus]

Hey Alli,

Used this method back a few years ago - recovery was much faster and never used any meds.

I read about this somewhere, like back a few eons ago, can't remember where though.

The only trick is that you have to keep cleaning the Daitom daily since it naturally loads up quickly. But between the heat, the salt and suckin' those free floating runts ( as you called them ) out of the water - the cure is quick and effective.

Lata'

Tom

 

[Allivymar]

Coolie *grin* thanx! Have a coupla kudos for teaching me something new.

Btw, hows the snow by you? Its not doing a heckuva lot here in Ossining *grin*

 

[TheMadNucleus]

Hey Alli,

Cool - thx for the Kudos.

Yeah - it's pretty quiet here - just some flurries. But I feel it in ma' bones - it's a gonna fall upon us with vengance.

Hope you're ok tomorrow AM. I have a short commute - Stamford - but I drive an XKR - and it is bad news in the snow - great fun for top down summer - but bad, bad news in the snow

Lata

Tom

 

[nemokeeper]

Thanks MadN.
I priced the D. Filter, cant do it. No funds at this point, things are more than tight right now. But I love gadgets and this one will be on the wish list.
And Alli - I could not find RidIch Plus here, so I had to use the Aquari-sol for the last 2 days.
Still spots on loaches, but I think some have shed. The black in the bands are faded though on one. No other fish seem to have the ich. But my platy's tail fin (the one with the white line, mention in other post) now has a piece of the fin missing and is not eating aggressively. My Gourami has holes in his fins (no discoloration, just clean round holes) he also has bumps under his skin in places, no marks just raise bumps? Any suggestions for these other 2 and how long will it take the meds to work?

 

[Fruitbat]

nemokeeper...

I've had pretty good success treating ich with a combination of Aquari-Sol and heat. I warm the tank up to about 86 degrees F and add 1/2 the recommended strength of Aquari-Sol. A caution for you....I notice that you have a crab in that tank....you might want to get it out of there as copper-based medications will kill crustaceans as well as protozoans!.

Watch those bumps under the skin of your gourami. If they seem to develop into subcutaneous (beneath the skin) sores then there is a very good possibility that you've got 'anchor worms' to go along with your ich. I had a nasty case of those little parasitic copepods on my Blue Gouramis and they started out just as you describe. Then the bumps started to look reddish....and finally the thread-like body structure of the 'worm' started to appear. I used a product by Jungle called Parasite Clear that cured my gouramis without a loss. Be careful about using this along with the Aquari-Sol, however....it isn't a good idea to mix medications. The 'anchor worms' (if that's what your gourami has) won't kill it anywhere near as quickly as the ich will kill your other fish.

 

[nemokeeper]

Picture of sick Gourami

Here is a picture of the Gourami I was talking about.
The white spots have been there since I got him 6 weeks ago. Holes are progressing. And so are bumps under skin.
Hope the picture help

Raise bumps are on other side of fish.

 

[nemokeeper]

Fruitbat, the crab is in a private suite in the goldfish bowl hotel (no fish).
How long did you treat with the Aquari-sol? It says to add the same amount each day. Is that what you did or just a one time dose? And did you do water changes during the treatment peroid?

 

[nemokeeper]

Ok here is an update. Gourami is Dead!, Crab is Dead! (Did not do well in Goldfish bowl), Female Platy..Dead!....So; no one knows what the Gourami had (ie. holes in fins and white scabby areas)...Ok...So I could not find RidIch plus here so I purchased AQUARI-SOL...this did nothing...and then I tried Jungle's Ich Care II and Jungle's Fungas Eliminator...they did nothing..now I am trying a stronger med called Quick Cure, active ingredients are: Formalin and Malachite Green. I hope my loaches hold up. Really wish I knew what caused those holes on the Gourami...
I really miss having him in our tank...P.S. does anyone know what kind of Dwarf he was. He is the one I use for my photo on posts.

 

[Allivymar]

Jeez. I cannot believe you are still having probs with ich! You have tried basically everything! I wish I knew what to tell you

And no, no idea what was going on with your poor gourami. I wish you were closer; I'd give you one of mine once things settle. I really don't need 2 in my 10g (and its the same kind of dwarf gourami; sometimes known as a neon red or just neon).

 

[dralarms]

I'm begining to wonder if it is ick. :?

 

[nemokeeper]

Thanks Alli
2cents - I know what you mean, but you would think that some of the other meds I have used would take care of most other pests. I noticed tonight that the loaches are starting to look better. (I have been here before and got fooled) going to keep up with the Quick Cure..we are on day 2 now.
Question about my Platy..the one who is still alive. I noticed that he has the same white line on his tail fin as did the female that finally died. I am thinking he is going to end up the same way. First the white line along one of the rays on the fin, then that piece of the tail disappears, not a gradual rounding off of the tail. Any ideas?

 

[dralarms]

When I first got my 55 gal, every thing was going good and the all of a sudden everything started dying, my wife had bought a fish that had something wrong with it and no matter what I did all my fish died. I ended up bleaching the tank and everything else and starting over.

 

[nemokeeper]

Great News...The Ich seems to be gone and my hair is starting to grow back
It has been a long 2 months but I think I have won the battle. After turning my fish into junkies, with all the different meds I threw at them, I think the product called "ICH CURE" finally got rid of the @#$%%$ Ich. And my Clown loaches seem to be ok. I was told that they may not make it, but they seem to have beat the odds. (Unless the effects takes weeks before it kills them)
Thanks Alli and the rest of you for you help through out this nightmare.

Hail to the Ich Slayer... She is wise and all powerful......

 

[Menagerie]

HOORAY!!
I may look into "Ich Cure" if my Badis tank doesn't start clearing ASAP.