Black moly -- sick -- ick

[MisticX]

i used to use a product for ick, i forget how it was called, BUT ick came back to tank even after a treatment.

what should i do ?

put a double dose and remove all carbon filters ?


one of my black molly will turn white soon if the ick progresses this way

 

[QTOFFER]

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

My very first aquarium problem and the reason I found this site was ich. I had tried formalin and Malachite Green several times, but it kept reappearing. I did the heat treatment once and voila, problem solved! The key to success is to keep the heat up for the full two weeks.

Good luck!

 

[MisticX]

after searching the forums for the keyword ich (ick ... whatever) i found the heat solution,

i am doing a 4 hrs / 1 degree increase, i am now at 84F, still 16 more hrs to get to 88

 

[MisticX]

ideed excellent article.

 

[MisticX]

started the heat treatment 4 days ago

fish accepted pretty good the temp gap (from 77F to 88F)

thing is that now the molly are ENTIRELY covered in small spots of white (looks exactly the same as previously but smaller spots and whiter ... and ofc a LOT more)

is this normal ?

 

[neilanh]

Yes, it's completely normal for the heat treatment.

What the heat does is accelerate the lifecycle of the ich bug. This will cause any fish that have it already to most likely show signs of worsening, but as the lifecyle proceeds at an accelerated pace it will pass. The next phase of the lifecycle is the "free swimming" phase, wherein this is where the other inhabitants in your tank are susceptible to it. However, the ich can't survive in the temperatures above 85, so this is the effective way to kill it.

The reason the meds you've all used in the past are uneffective are because Ich is only susceptible to meds when it's in its free swimming phase, floating around the water column. This is the only way for the meds to gain access directly to the bug. People that have had success with Ich meds are typically because they dosed at just the right time, whether they realized it or not.

Make sure to maintain your temperatures for 2 weeks AFTER you can't find any more white spots. This ensures all of it has gone free swimming and get killed by the higher temperatures.

 

[MisticX]

neilanh i think you did not understand my concern

i know all the technicalities of the 3 phases of the bug, thing is

1. i had ich
2. i raise temperature
3. after 3 days ich is gone (from the fish)
4. after 2 more days ich is back

i know that when ich is STILL on the fish the growth is accelerated, i've seen this on my moly, theyr white spots doubled in the 3 days that i raised temp, then all of the sudden dissapeared.

they were clean for 2 days ... and now they have like 3 times more spots on them but about 10% of the original ones.

 

[neilanh]

Sorry if I misread. This is the precise reason the recommendation is to maintain temps for 2 weeks after it appears to be all gone, because you really just never know. I can't explain why it appeared to have cleared and then come back, I've dealt with ich several times and never witnessed that myself honestly.

 

[MisticX]

you have got no reason to apologise for LOL

thing is that this just stresses me out,
dots are smaller now (in size) but about 3 times more numerous,
basicaly my mollies look like dalmatians (white on black not black on white)

 

[neilanh]

Stress is understandable. I tend to get more angry than stressed though. Maintain the heat, you should start to see the spots going away within another few days.

 

[MisticX]

ty for the moral support,

i have lost very many fish, fish that i was very fond of, these that are left are the ones that i am most fond of now, losing them would be a major setback for me