To euthanise or not to.

[Asbestos]

So one of my new little Otocinclus has Ich, well at least i think he has it looks like some one sprinked salt on him, so i think its safe to say he has ich, none of the other fish seem to have it, so it has not gone into free swimming stage yet. So i have him in a bucket with something to hid under. should I euthanise him to spare him from a life in the bucket? tomorrow i will get some aquarium salt, or i have some jungle fizz tabs. But yeah should i just Euthanize him or try to help him. Also as a preemptive strike I am raising the temperature on the tank that he was in to 86f but slowly just started a few hours ago. Or am i too late and the tank he was in is already infested and i should just put him back in and treat them all. the tank he was in has my platy fry and some young ghost shrimp, i don't think they can withstand any extreme treatment.

 

[Zagz]

Keep raising the temp to 87, add an air stone and keep the temp up for 2 weeks after the last spot of ich is gone. Skip the salt and the meds and the fish will be fine.

 

[Asbestos]

Yeah but should I euthanise the one in question, or should I try to treat him separately. I only have one temperature adjustable heater and its got priority in the fry tank.

 

[mfdrookie516]

dont euthanize it until you have done everything you can to save it. just put it back in the tank it was in (chances are the other fish will get it too) and raise the heat.

 

[Asbestos]

Would it be ok for me to float him in the tank? The warm water will speed up the life cycle of the ich and contain it in the bag, also otos have a small bio load so a change of bags ever day or two.

 

[jsoong]

I agree with the others, Ich is pretty easy to treat so euthanasia is not called for.

Personally, I would not try to isolate the oto in a bag. they do best in a mature tank with biofilm & algae, etc. Putting him in a sterile bag would prob result in him starving to death.

And there really is no advantage in isolating him. He got the ich from somewhere in the tank (unless he is a brand new addition) so the ich is in the tank already, even if the other fish isn't showing signs yet. I would just treat the whole tank.

 

[Asbestos]

Ok i will put him back, and raising the temperature to 86 slowly.

 

[Mark Hewitt]

And there really is no advantage in isolating him. He got the ich from somewhere in the tank (unless he is a brand new addition) so the ich is in the tank already, even if the other fish isn't showing signs yet. I would just treat the whole tank.

Yes, but assuming the other fish are not infected, it will be much easier to kill the Ich in the main tank which is in the free swimming stage, than wait for the other fishes spots to 'hatch'.