Ready to throw up my hands and call it quit!

[jhd]

Adcisco,
you can get higher temp if you cover sides and back of tank with insulation. Best is thin styrofoam, or anything like that. Hold with tape. Just insulate so heat does not escape. Keep your top covered. Lights on all the time. Lights also produce some heat. If yo have second heater of course than you have no problem. Smaller heater max and regulate with bigger. You can get higher than 86 that way.

 

[jhd]

One more thing, I forgot
I am running high temp for the same reason. My external (stripe on glass) thermometer shows 84. The one in the water shows 88. In high differential temperature between room and tank the external ones seem to give false reading.

 

[ADCISCO]

Well guys I hate to say but I have had both serpea tetra to die and so far 4 or5 or the tiger barbs, one head and taillite,1 white tetra......I am just sick about the whole thing.....but I am inquiring on another larger tank....maybe a 55 or 75 gallon tank. Its my cousins. Just listen to me........fish croaking all over the place and here I am talking about getting another tank! All barbs left have it and the small head and taillite has ick....so I dont know....if they die off I guess the ick will be gone!

 

[sweetsuvvyb]

if they die off I guess the ick will be gone

unfortunately, that isn't the case. It's quite possible to have the parasites living in your tank long after any fish have left.

 

[PlatyLady]

I'm very sorry to hear of your loss, ADCISCO. I don't have any more helpful advice, other than hang in there. I recently was ready to give up when I had ich and fin rot to deal with. You have lots of support here, so feel free to vent your frustrations, we're all listening...

 

[ADCISCO]

Well, I think that I have 4 barbs but I havent been able to fined one of them so I am figuring he died or I just cant count anymore deaths!LOL At this point I dont even remember how long I have been treating for ick it has been so long! I finished up the furan 2 in the qtank bo's eye looks almost completely fine but pinky still looks about the same. I think at this point I am just going to clean the qtank put a fresh filter in and see what happens. I might just use some Melafix to maybe keeping her spot from spreading because nothing has made it go away. I think its probably just a matter of time until she just goes on her way to fishy heaven. I think I have done about all I can do med wise. I have tried everything and nothing has worked other than the melafix which at one point had kept it from spreading. I want to get my 29 gallon lined out too. I am so sick of ick! ICK ICK ICK...............but my water is fine Thats about it! everything else is a shambles!

 

[Fruitbat]

ADCISCO....

Not being one to overmedicate my aquarium....and being well aware of some of the outrageous claims that are made for a few meds...I'll offer this suggestion.
The heat treatment has been effective for me in the past...it isn't a NEW concept, though it has apparently been much more thoroughly used that in the past. However, I've always had my best success against Ich by combining the heat treatment with 1/2 strength doses of a product called Aquari-Sol.

Aquari-Sol has been around for a long time...it is a copper sulfate-based medication so if you use it for an extended period of time you can cause your fish some problems. It also plays merry hades with invertebrates in the tank...so if you have any ghost shrimp or snails you won't want to use Aquari-Sol. All that being said...I've found the heat/med combination to be the most successful in combatting Ich.

Also...as you've noticed...some fish are MUCH more susceptible to Ich than others. I've had an outbreak that infected every barb and/or tetra in a tank but the gouramis in the same tank have been totally unaffected.

 

[ADCISCO]

I have another question about ick. If all the rest of the barbs croak and none of the other fish have it is it safe to say that it isnt in the tank anymore? If I do a water change of at least 25% and re-enter my rainbow into the community tank it get it? Or should I just play it safe and leave the rainbow in the qtank a while longer being that it did have something start to grow over its eye and I medicated it and it is pretty much gone.....is he more likely to get it?

 

[Allivymar]

As long as there is a host (re: fish) ich is in the tank if it has not be completely eradicated.

I'd continue to treat the entire tank until you're sure ich is gone (either when you have completed the meds tx or the heat tx; I forget which one you're going with now). Don't add anyone right now till its gone. And do know, if the rainbow came from that tank (which I think it did right?) and hasn't been treated for ich; it can have a subclinical case and reintroduce it to the tank.