ICK - problem

[cinciboy]

I saw this yesterday evening. Small white spots on my loach and most of the neon tetras.. also my rainbow was scratching itselt on rocks.. I used some melafix and also some maroxy.. help me.. Is that anything more needed..

 

[rich311k]

Raise your temperature to 86F. This will speed up the ichs life cycle and kill it. It does not tolerate high temperatures.

 

[cinciboy]

Raise your temperature to 86F. This will speed up the ichs life cycle and kill it. It does not tolerate high temperatures.

My current temp reads 81F. If I increase the heat are the fishes not going to get affected ?

 

[rich311k]

Do it slowly leave it at 86 for two weeks after the ich dissapears. Your fish will have no problem with it. It wont hurt them short term, just raise it slowly a degree every hour or so. You dont have any goldfish do you?

 

[fantasticaqua]

rich,
Make sure to take out any carbon based filtration you have as it will breakdown the chemicals. raising the temp is a great idea and should not hurt the fish you have listed above. Good Luck!

 

[cinciboy]

Do it slowly leave it at 86 for two weeks after the ich dissapears. Your fish will have no problem with it. It wont hurt them short term, just raise it slowly a degree every hour or so. You dont have any goldfish do you?

No Gold fish.

 

[cinciboy]

rich,
Make sure to take out any carbon based filtration you have as it will breakdown the chemicals. raising the temp is a great idea and should not hurt the fish you have listed above. Good Luck!

I have Fluval.. So i have to open it today to remove the carbon. I will post the progress.

 

[Menagerie]

If the carbon is over a week old, it is no longer active. I highly recommend reading http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=32 and following the salt and heat method. It's worked for me every time.

 

[Skyrmir]

Depending on your setup you may want to make sure you have an airstone in there too. Higher temps mean less oxygen in the water. You can also just lower the water level so your filter splashes.

As for the cure, the others are right. Heat works, salt works, they both work real well together. It's also very important to keep up the treatment for a couple weeks after you stop seeing the ick, otherwise it's just going to come right back.

 

[cinciboy]

I got my temp to 86 now... But it is pretty warm (compared to my usual 78 F) Looks like fishes are happy.. I fed them this morning.. everybody ate.. So keeping a close eye on them. Looks like I need to switch on my power head to increase airflow.

Thanks to u all for the advice.

 

[cinciboy]

Its working. I found that there are less spots on my loach and the neon tetras. I am aerating using my powerhead.

 

[rich311k]

Glad it is working for. Remember to leave the temp up a couple of weeks after you see the last spots.