Only 1 fish with Ich?

[bronxbomber]

I have a 55 gal medium planted tank 15 plants. 2 months old.

0 AM, 0 Nitrite, 15 Nitrate, PH 7.6, always temp 78, PWC of 15-30% every 3-7 days (depending on clarity or Ntate levels)

2 Kuhli Loaches, 2 red wag platy, 2 marci rainbows, 2 emerald rainbows, 2 iranian rainbows, 7 harlquin rasbora, 1 cockatoo cichlid, 3 marbled angels.

All was great until Friday 1/30 I noticed my male Marci had 5 or 6 very distinct white spots on his tail and dorsal fin. I immediately thought Ich. I cautiously added aquarium salt only 1/2 tsp per gallon b/c of the Kuli and increased the temp to 86 over 24 hours.

48 hours later.

No other fish are displaying any spots or peculiar bevahior. I had the Marci for about a week, he was added with 3 other fish. My water parameters were consisent the whole time. The marci shows no signs of stress, increase in spots, he is eating and swimming and interacting normally. He is a large (3 1/2") and very colorful fish.

Am I right on Ich? Or can it be something else?

I am planning frequent PWC of 20% to remove any free swimming and maintaining conditions for days after the last spot is gone.

Any other suggestions.

 

[Dano01]

Ick looks like tiny white grains if salt....Watch the fish closely to see if any others develop the white spots.....If one fish has it, it is possible that others may get it also.................The salt and higher temps may keep things in check.

 

[Zagz]

As mentioned ich looks like grains of salt. Watch for any fuzziness on the spots or flashing in the fish on the gravel or ornaments. Make sure as you raise the temps to have an airstone or lower the water level of the aquarium a bit.

 

[An t-iasg]

I agree with the temperature increase and the water changes. As Zagz mentioned, the airstone and/or the lowered water level are recommended when you raise the temperature. Warmer water holds less oxygen and those two methods help with oxygen exchange. Instead of 86 degrees, try to attain 87 or 88 degrees. You might have to add a second heater. At 86 degrees, the ich parasite reproduces very quickly. At 87-88 degrees, it begins to die off. If you have high enough temperatures, you don't need to add any salt. Many members have eliminated ich by using the raised temperatures alone.

 

[buddha_red]

my first thoughts were qt the infected fish and raise the heat in the display. shouldnt isolation be first in order when a problem is detected?

 

[bronxbomber]

I am runninghte tank at 90 and the fish seem to be handling it ok. All of the spots are now gone. I am doing 15 gallon water changes every other day. But my water is getting very brown much quicker than usual. Zags suggested removing some from the tank and looking at it. I did and it looks clear. I see no unusual algae growth. It is a planted tank. Gets some sunlight in the morning and the light is a 3' medium spectrum florescent. It is on 12 hours a day.

 

[An t-iasg]

Good work! Keep the heat elevated for two weeks after you see that last spot. By doing so, you'll make sure that all the late-hatching ich are also killed.

buddha_red, freshwater ich is best treated by raising the heat in the main tank and leaving the fish there. The parasites are in the water, in the substrate, and on the fish. By treating both the fish and the tank together, you'll eliminate the ich in all those places. If you removed the fish to a QT, the ich on the fish would quickly move through the water, fall to the substrate, begin to multiply, and then you'd have the same problem all over again. If your main tank is fishless, and if you raised the temperature, you'd be treating the ich, but unless you also treat the fish at the same time, you'll just be putting fish with ich back into the main tank. Rather than separate the fish out of the main tank, since both tank and fish need to be treated, it's easier and better to leave the fish in the tank and raise the heat.

Ich meds only kill the ich in the water, not on the fish or in the substrate, so they can be ineffective. The heat method kills ich at all stages - in the water, in the substrate, on the fish.

Here's an article that explains the stages of the ich parasite and treatment options:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articles/articles/29/1/Freshwater-Ich-Yuck-/Page1.html

bronxbomber, sunlight can cause algae. I have two tanks against a wall, and the one tank gets some sun from the window. I may move it so it isn't in the path of the sun. It always has more algae than the other tank, which doesn't have too much at all. Also, try reducing your light time to 8-10 hours. During the time that your heat is increased, try doing water changes every day. The higher temperatures may (not sure, but may) be fueling the algae a bit more.

 

[bronxbomber]

Update: My temp has been at 90 for a week. As I said the spots on the male marci went away about 2 days ago. Last night I noticed spots on my female Marci Rainbow.

It was my understanding that the parasitic form of Ich did not take to a host above 86 degrees. I am positive the female had no spots before last night. Most pics I've seen of Ich the spots cover the entire fish. These spots are only 3-4 on each fish when they appeared. Mostly on the tail fin. They do look exactly like salt crystals.

I am sure of the temp. I am using a glass submerged thermometer w/ suction cup. It is on the opposite side of my 48"L tank from my heater about half way below the water line. My filter flow is pushing bubbles all the way down to the bottom, as I am using a lower water level. And there are small bubbles present through out the tank.

All of the fish are very happy, eating varaciuosly. I feed 3-4 times a day and everytime they gobble everything up in about 1 minute. I alternate flake, freeze dried tubifelx which I despolve in tank water and seperate rather than throw the whole cube in, frozen Mysis shrimp and frozen blood worms. My stock is colored up nicely and very active.

I even found a little surprise last week. A kuhli loach I thought had perished was in my AquaClear 70 filter. He looked like crap but now has filled out and is happily wrestling with my other two. Sorry for the tangent I just thought it was kinda cool.

Again: 55gal 48l, 0 Nitrites, ) Amonia, 20 Nitrates, Hagen AC 70
7 Harlequin Rasboras, 3 kuhlis, 8 Rainbows, 1 Dwarf Gourami, 1 Apistogramma cacatuoides, 3 marbled angels, 2 platy, 1 balloon molly, 2 Otocinclus, 3 ghost shrimp 1 with child (my AC is very excited!)

I also have questions about fish stock but no sure if I should do a seperate post.

 

[bronxbomber]

Dropping the water temp after Ich?

As you can see from above my last sopts disappeared on the 8th. I am now lowering my temp back to 80. I went from 91 to 84 over 2 temp heater changes during a 18 hour period. This mornng my female Marci Rainbow was dead. No signs of why. No spots, no unussual behavior was swimming normally and active last night. Did I drop the temp too quickly?

WP: 0,0,15, 7.8, 84

 

[An t-iasg]

I'm glad you found your loach!

To be on the safe side, it's recommended to keep your temps up for two weeks after seeing the last spot. That would be this coming Sunday if I'm counting right. However, now that you've begun to decrease the temperature, keep decreasing until you get it where it usually is. If you do see any more ich in a few weeks, just increase the temperature again, with increased aeration also.

Ich, from everything I've read, dies above 86 degrees. All stages die off - the parasite on the fish, the cysts in the substrate, and the free-swimming stage in the water. Medicines only kill the free-swimming stage in the water, which is why the increased temperature option is the most effective.

About your rainbow fish, I'm sorry to hear about that. It doesn't seem like you dropped the temperature too quickly. Maybe the rainbow was stressed from the treatment or from the ich. Most fish tolerate the heat treatment quite well, but the rainbow could have been weakened by the ich.

 

[bronxbomber]

Thanks for the advice. I hav noticed that my male Marci has been blushing and fanning his fins quite a bit lately. He is much larger than she was I wonder if he harrassed her to death.

 

[An t-iasg]

That is a possibility. I saw on a search that this fish is a hybrid, but one description said egg-layer, so apparently they breed. In a breeding situation, the male very well could have harrassed her.

 

[timwag2001]

is it possible for a secondary bacterial infection on the fish?
when treating for ich arent you supposed to treat for bacteria at the same time? the ich parasite borroughs into the skin and when it leaves the fish doesnt it leave "holes" in the fish that need to be treated for bacteria?

 

[An t-iasg]

Yes, it's possible, but bronxbomber said there were no spots or unusual activity. Signs of a bacterial infection are finrot, red spots/inflamed areas, or pop-eye. The fish could also hide and be lethargic. If the ich is caught early, the possiblilty for bacterial infection decreases. It also depends on how strong the fish's immune system is. We can get small cuts on our skin but not all of them need medicine. It's the same with fish. That's why it's important to feed your fish a balanced diet and do water changes regularly to keep the fish's immune eystem strong. Of course, if the fish does develop a bacterial infection, it can be treated with an antibiotic, but I wouldn't automatically do so at the same time when treating for ich.