So far no more casualties in my tank. However, my poor little heater just can't get the temp in the tank that high. It stayed at 87 all day yesterday thanks to a towel wrapped around the tank, but dipped down to about 85 overnight. I got the temp back up to 86 this morning with help from the heat lamp. Is this warm enough to kill the ich? And my poor plants are slowly shedding leaves because of the temp in the tank. How long am I supposed to maintain the temp this high? I've heard/read anywhere from 1-2 wks. I added a little more salt to the tank, but there's probably only 1tbsp of sea salt in a 5gal tank. Some articles I've read only mention heat to treat ich, some mention the heat AND salt. So which is it? Thanks!
More ich treatment questions
- Thread starter JenNewbie
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Tigerlily
Aquarium Advice Freak
Hi Jen: to kill ich, you really need to have the heat consistently above 86. At high temps below 86, it just causes the ich life cycle to speed up. If you can get it above 86 consistently, keep it there for 2 weeks. The ich should disappear in the first week, and the second week serves to make sure there is no living free-floating ich in the tank. I've treated ich with only heat, salt is definitely not required, but my temps were up around 88 the whole 2 weeks.
I've also heard that many plants are sensitive to salt.
If you can't get your temps high enough, you should get a new heater or use some other treatment. I don't know much about using salt to treat ich, but Allivymar has a great article about ich treatments in the articles section of this site. Check that out for alternatives and good luck!
I've also heard that many plants are sensitive to salt.
If you can't get your temps high enough, you should get a new heater or use some other treatment. I don't know much about using salt to treat ich, but Allivymar has a great article about ich treatments in the articles section of this site. Check that out for alternatives and good luck!
Fruitbat
Aquarium Advice Addict
JenNewbie...
I've had my best success treating Ich using a combination of high heat and a copper-based medication called Aquari-Sol. If you can keep the temperature at or above 85 and you add the Aquari-Sol at 1/2 the recommended strength you should be able to take care of the little protozoan pest reasonably quickly.
I know that a lot of people don't like using meds...especially the copper-based ones...but like you I noticed that my plants, especially my Cryptocoryne didn't like the very high temperatures or the salt that other people use. I found the heat/Aquari-Sol combination to be very effective.
The one major proviso with this approach is that copper-based medications will kill any invertebrates (shrimp, snails, etc.) that you have in the tank and are said to remain as a residue in the tank for quite some time after the treatment is completed. Excessive use of copper can also be detrimental to plants.
Just wanted to toss out another option...one that has worked well for me in the past.
I've had my best success treating Ich using a combination of high heat and a copper-based medication called Aquari-Sol. If you can keep the temperature at or above 85 and you add the Aquari-Sol at 1/2 the recommended strength you should be able to take care of the little protozoan pest reasonably quickly.
I know that a lot of people don't like using meds...especially the copper-based ones...but like you I noticed that my plants, especially my Cryptocoryne didn't like the very high temperatures or the salt that other people use. I found the heat/Aquari-Sol combination to be very effective.
The one major proviso with this approach is that copper-based medications will kill any invertebrates (shrimp, snails, etc.) that you have in the tank and are said to remain as a residue in the tank for quite some time after the treatment is completed. Excessive use of copper can also be detrimental to plants.
Just wanted to toss out another option...one that has worked well for me in the past.
Thaiboxer
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I've had success with heat AND salt - I turned the heat up to 84-86 and added 1 tbsp for every 5 gallons of tank volume (11 tbsp for my 55 gallon). The ich was gone almost immediately, and I didn't lose any fish that time.
The other time I had ich, I listened to my local guy who told me to just use medication. I lost all my fish. Not all LFS people are bad, but this one has given me VERY wrong advice more than once - I wouldn't have any fish if the nice people on this board hadn't steered me straight. (I don't go to that LFS anymore...)
Good luck with your ICH! 8)
The other time I had ich, I listened to my local guy who told me to just use medication. I lost all my fish. Not all LFS people are bad, but this one has given me VERY wrong advice more than once - I wouldn't have any fish if the nice people on this board hadn't steered me straight. (I don't go to that LFS anymore...)
Good luck with your ICH! 8)
jsoong
Aquarium Advice Addict
I've had success using only salt (with temp at 75F or so). I added 1 tbsp salt per 10 gal every day until I have 3 tbsp salt per 10 gal. I kept up that salt concentration for 3 weeks, then slowly washed it out with my usual water changes (over 3-4 weeks).
This had worked much better than meds for me.
This had worked much better than meds for me.
aqua_guy
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
maintain the temp above 31 degrees celcius or above 84 degrees farenheit. Usually the rating of the heater is 200 watts for a 50 gallon tank. i used this while treating the ich in my tank. hopefully you'll get your tank ich free too.
nemokeeper
Aquarium Advice Regular
I also have ich.. My dwarf gourami got it a 2 weeks ago. I added the recommended about of salt and raised the temp from 78 F to 81 F. This seemed to work, although now I see a spot at the base of his dorsal. A few days ago I bought a couple of clown loaches and now they have white spots. With the fish I have in my tank (please see signature) what is the safe temp to raise the tank to. And when people say raise it slowly, would turning it up with a 100w heater in a 20 gallon tank be slow enough? (If I set it to the desired temp right off the bat) And did I read on the forum here sometime that you should turn off your lights?
All your guys should handle the high temps required for ich treatment. A lot of your other questions can be answered in the article I wrote; you can find it here: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=32
And you don't have to turn off the lights.
And you don't have to turn off the lights.
nemokeeper
Aquarium Advice Regular
Thanks Allivymar I have read your article (very infromative) but I did not see anything about turning of your lights. Thanks for all your help. I really appreciate it.
jsoong
Aquarium Advice Addict
Turing off lights is needed only if you are treating ich with Melachite green - which is broken down by light.
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