My first case of ich

[Nigoodman]

So i noticed that my rummynoses had ich last week. I went out and bought paradefense, took out my carbon filter cartridges, and bumped the temp up to 82 degrees. Ive been dosing daily and the rummynoses are clear, but now my flame gourami has ich. Am I doing everything right? Is this a normal progression? Also I can't treat the tank with salt because I have corys.

 

[Fish_lover]

The thing is with ick is that the medicine doesn't work untill they go off of the fish , put your degress to 84 instead and than in 4 days start treating I have ick too right now in my tank and it can be annoying lol my 2 clown loaches died from it but my 4 cichlids are fine ** knocks on wood **

 

[Nigoodman]

The thing is with ick is that the medicine doesn't work untill they go off of the fish , put your degress to 84 instead and than in 4 days start treating I have ick too right now in my tank and it can be annoying lol my 2 clown loaches died from it but my 4 cichlids are fine ** knocks on wood **

Okay thanks! Ill do thay

 

[Jak]

I had a case of ich and all I did was add a proper dosage of freshwater aquarium salt. The ich was gone in 3 days. From what I've read here the salt helps the fish fight it off. I guess it provides them the right nutrients and the like.

 

[Nigoodman]

I had a case of ich and all I did was add a proper dosage of freshwater aquarium salt. The ich was gone in 3 days. From what I've read here the salt helps the fish fight it off. I guess it provides them the right nutrients and the like.

Ideally I would treat with salt but I don't eant to harm my corys.

 

[Jak]

Ideally I would treat with salt but I don't eant to harm my corys.

Wow I'm a bad reader. You totally mentioned that...

On that note my false julii corrys are doing just fine with about a 50-60% dose of salt in my tank.

Can anyone verify if that's still too much?

 

[BBradbury]

Treating "Ich"

So i noticed that my rummynoses had ich last week. I went out and bought paradefense, took out my carbon filter cartridges, and bumped the temp up to 82 degrees. Ive been dosing daily and the rummynoses are clear, but now my flame gourami has ich. Am I doing everything right? Is this a normal progression? Also I can't treat the tank with salt because I have corys.

Hello Ni...

Parasites, like "Ich" live dormant in most tanks. It just takes a few missed water changes to stress the fish and weaken their immune system and they can be infected. I would add to your treatments, large weekly water changes. Half the tank's volume isn't too much. Do a good job of vacuuming the substrate, but avoid the areas right around your plants. The parasites will be living in the substrate, vacuuming will remove them. Don't get the water temperature too high. Aquatic plants don't tolerate higher temps. You can dose a little standard aquarium salt, just keep it to a teaspoon for every 5 gallons of your new, treated tap water.

Don't worry about your Corydoras. This bit of salt in their water won't bother them. I keep Corys with my Livebearers and have used a bit of salt in their water for years with no problems. Some of these "little cats" are several years old.

B

 

[Nigoodman]

Hello Ni...

Parasites, like "Ich" live dormant in most tanks. It just takes a few missed water changes to stress the fish and weaken their immune system and they can be infected. I would add to your treatments, large weekly water changes. Half the tank's volume isn't too much. Do a good job of vacuuming the substrate, but avoid the areas around your plants. The parasites will be living in the substrate. Don't get the water temperature too high. Aquatic plants don't tolerate higher temps. You can dose a little standard aquarium salt, just keep it to a teaspoon for every 5 gallons of your new, treated tap water.

Don't worry about your Corydoras. This bit of salt in their water won't bother them. I keep Corys with my Livebearers and have used a bit of salt in their water for years with no problems. Some of these "little cats" are several years old.

B

The paradefense box says to not do water changes when dosing the medicine. Should i bumb up my temp and do a large water change and wait a few days before dosing medicine? Also I have sand sunstrate so its hard for me to give it a deep clean any tips for that? And i don't have any live plants so I should be okay there.

 

[Mebbid]

Hello Ni...

Parasites, like "Ich" live dormant in most tanks. It just takes a few missed water changes to stress the fish and weaken their immune system and they can be infected. I would add to your treatments, large weekly water changes. Half the tank's volume isn't too much. Do a good job of vacuuming the substrate, but avoid the areas right around your plants. The parasites will be living in the substrate, vacuuming will remove them. Don't get the water temperature too high. Aquatic plants don't tolerate higher temps. You can dose a little standard aquarium salt, just keep it to a teaspoon for every 5 gallons of your new, treated tap water.

Don't worry about your Corydoras. This bit of salt in their water won't bother them. I keep Corys with my Livebearers and have used a bit of salt in their water for years with no problems. Some of these "little cats" are several years old.

B

I have to disagree with you on a few points Bbrad. Ich doesn't live dormant in "most" tanks and in fact I would say that there are very few that would have any dormant ich in it. Ich can only stay dormant for soo long before is starves to death and will usually only go into dormancy when there aren't any fish in the tank for it to infect.

Also, depending on stocking the use of salt in aquariums is fine unless there are any plants in the tank. Plant's don't do well in salt.

The paradefense box says to not do water changes when dosing the medicine. Should i bumb up my temp and do a large water change and wait a few days before dosing medicine? Also I have sand sunstrate so its hard for me to give it a deep clean any tips for that? And i don't have any live plants so I should be okay there.

I honestly have no idea what product you are talking about it as I've never heard of paradefense nor can I find it on google. If I were in your position I would skip the medication, do two large (50%) water changes, bump the temp up to 86 degrees over the course of a day, and add aquarium salt to the tank at the recommended amount. Doing this for a week will wipe out all ich in the tank.

What are the ingredients that are listed on the box of paradefense?

 

[Nigoodman]

I have to disagree with you on a few points Bbrad. Ich doesn't live dormant in "most" tanks and in fact I would say that there are very few that would have any dormant ich in it. Ich can only stay dormant for soo long before is starves to death and will usually only go into dormancy when there aren't any fish in the tank for it to infect.

Also, depending on stocking the use of salt in aquariums is fine unless there are any plants in the tank. Plant's don't do well in salt.

I honestly have no idea what product you are talking about it as I've never heard of paradefense nor can I find it on google. If I were in your position I would skip the medication, do two large (50%) water changes, bump the temp up to 86 degrees over the course of a day, and add aquarium salt to the tank at the recommended amount. Doing this for a week will wipe out all ich in the tank.

What are the ingredients that are listed on the box of paradefense?

Sorry its called parashield i was messing up the name. The ingredients are capsaicin oil, chitosan, D-Limonene, Manuka Oil, Neem Oil

 

[BBradbury]

Treating "Ich"

The paradefense box says to not do water changes when dosing the medicine. Should i bumb up my temp and do a large water change and wait a few days before dosing medicine? Also I have sand sunstrate so its hard for me to give it a deep clean any tips for that? And i don't have any live plants so I should be okay there.

Hello again Ni...

The parasites are able to locate a host by site, so they'll be moving through the tank water. The sand can be moved by carefully moving the syphon back and forth just above the substrate. This will move the sand and dislodge the parasites so they can be removed. Since you don't have live plants, you can increase the water temperature to 86 degrees. This is likely the top end. The warmer the water, the shorter time the parasites live.
Medications really concern me. You don't know how the tank inhabitants will be affected. Some meds can hurt fish and kill beneficial bacteria. The steps I mentioned can be followed long term. There's nothing that will harm your tank.

Keep pluggin',

B

 

[BBradbury]

More on "Ich"

I have to disagree with you on a few points Bbrad. Ich doesn't live dormant in "most" tanks and in fact I would say that there are very few that would have any dormant ich in it. Ich can only stay dormant for soo long before is starves to death and will usually only go into dormancy when there aren't any fish in the tank for it to infect.

Also, depending on stocking the use of salt in aquariums is fine unless there are any plants in the tank. Plant's don't do well in salt.





I honestly have no idea what product you are talking about it as I've never heard of paradefense nor can I find it on google. If I were in your position I would skip the medication, do two large (50%) water changes, bump the temp up to 86 degrees over the course of a day, and add aquarium salt to the tank at the recommended amount. Doing this for a week will wipe out all ich in the tank.

What are the ingredients that are listed on the box of paradefense?

Hello Me...

The Ich parasite lives in most tanks. It's brought in on plants, driftwood and even in water from another tank. It will live dormant, in a state that's not infectious, for months or longer. If the tank keeper skips a few water changes and the water chemistry goes a little south and stresses the fish, it's a perfect environment for the parasite. Large, frequent water changes will keep the water chemistry stable and the fish healthy with a strong immune system. Salt, in lower doses of no more than a teaspoon in every 5 gallons of replacement water won't harm aquatic plants.

B

 

[Mebbid]

Hello Me...

The Ich parasite lives in most tanks. It's brought in on plants, driftwood and even in water from another tank. It will live dormant, in a state that's not infectious, for months or longer. If the tank keeper skips a few water changes and the water chemistry goes a little south and stresses the fish, it's a perfect environment for the parasite. Large, frequent water changes will keep the water chemistry stable and the fish healthy with a strong immune system. Salt, in lower doses of no more than a teaspoon in every 5 gallons of replacement water won't harm aquatic plants.

B

Do you have any reading material on this? I usually refer to this article when anything concerning freshwater ich is involved and it hasn't steered me wrong yet.

Understanding and Treating Ich or White Spot

In this article it states that: "It is a commonly held belief that the Ichthyophthirius organism is always present in your aquarium and needs only the right opportunity, such as stress resulting in a weakened immune function, to attack your fish. Surprisingly, I found no scientific data to support that claim. Credible sources state that there is no long-term dormant stage this parasite can exist in."

There are quite a few other articles that back this up. The belief that ich was dormant for long periods or existed in every tank was a long held belief that has recently changed due to increasing research on the subject.

As for salt tolerance in plants it depends entirely on the type of plant but seeing how ich can be successfully and easily treated without using salt why would you risk any of your plants by adding it?

 

[BBradbury]

More on "Ich"

Do you have any reading material on this? I usually refer to this article when anything concerning freshwater ich is involved and it hasn't steered me wrong yet.



Understanding and Treating Ich or White Spot

In this article it states that: "It is a commonly held belief that the Ichthyophthirius organism is always present in your aquarium and needs only the right opportunity, such as stress resulting in a weakened immune function, to attack your fish. Surprisingly, I found no scientific data to support that claim. Credible sources state that there is no long-term dormant stage this parasite can exist in."

There are quite a few other articles that back this up. The belief that ich was dormant for long periods or existed in every tank was a long held belief that has recently changed due to increasing research on the subject.

As for salt tolerance in plants it depends entirely on the type of plant but seeing how ich can be successfully and easily treated without using salt why would you risk any of your plants by adding it?

Hello again Me...

Actually, I do recall a couple of articles. The information from a site called MySchnauzer. net and another titled "Ich Prevention and Cure" both have good information. The first author is a bit "on the fence" concerning the Ich parasite and it's life cycle, but the other claims the parasite can live in a dormant state for long periods. I've kept a good number of plants and fish too and have observed good results with just a bit of standard aquarium salt added to the tank water.

Don't want to say it's an absolute necessity though. Aquarium fish and plants too will definitely live without it.

Good talking with you!

B