First time dealing with Ich :( all help appreciated

[Ulrichsd]

Okay, so I was looking for tank mates for my angels and cory cats in a 60 gallon. Added 12 black skirt tetras yesterday and after adding then noticed one little silver-white spot on one of the tetras. Today there are multiple spots on more than one

The worst part is that I have a 10 g quarantine that I was going to use to grow out 10 neon tetras I bought at the same time as the tetras. After adding the black skirts to my main tank, I thought that would have been a better idea to add them all to the 10g. Duh.

I just ordered Seachem paraguard (malachite-green-based) that is being delivered on Tuesday.

Questions:
1. I'm assuming the whole tank is infected and I should treat both the 60g and 10g tanks? (Although no signs on the neons, but they came from the same store). Or if you think the angels and cories might not get it I could moves the blackskirts to the 10g.
2. I have about 6 nerite snails. Should I move them to a bucket and throw some algae in? Or should I treat them also?
3. Unfortunately I'm going out of town Friday (back on Sunday night). If I start treatment Tuesday, and go 4 days is that long enough? I have a house sitter coming over to feed the fish and dogs during the weekend and I could ask her to dose once Saturday if needed.

Current tank temp is 77f for both.

Any other suggestions from someone's who had been through this would be amazing.

Thank you!
Scott

 

[Ulrichsd]

Sorry for the blurry pictures but they are too fast for my phone camera. Clearly can see the white dot on these though.

 

[Ulrichsd]

Okay, been reading the directions for Para-guard and it says to treat for 2 weeks. So I'll get started tomorrow so that I can monitor a few days before I leave Friday.

Are there any issues treating the entire tank?

I've read a few places that suggest treating the fish in a qt tank instead of the main, but I worry that moving the 4 angels to a smaller 10 or 20 gallon tank would stress them out more so I'm thinking I'll treat all the fish in the main tank (unless anyone has
a reason not to).

I've read that snails can't get ich, so I'll plan to move them to the 10 gallon for the 2 weeks while treating the main tank.

 

[Ulrichsd]

Update game plan.

Picked up API super ick (also malachite green based) from petsmart at lunch today.

Tonight I'm going to
1) move the 4 angels (no signs of ich) to the 10 g and treat them full dose.
2) move the 4 cory cats (no signs of ich) to a 5 gallon bucket and treat half dose.
3) move the 12 black skirts (showing white dots) to a 5 gallon bucket and full dose.
4) move the 10 neons (no signs of ich but came from the same store) and treat full dose.
5) move the nerite snails to a bucket, no treatment, but let them sit for a few weeks before adding them back to the main tank.
6) heat my 60 gallon (will empty except for some plants) up to 88 F for 48 hours to kill of the ich, before dripping it bank down to normal.

API super ick says to treat 3 times every 48 hours, hoping I can squeeze it into 5.5 days instead of 6 and move the fish back into the main tank Friday morning before I leave for the weekend (shining no signs of ich).

Let me know if you see anything wrong with this plan of action

Or... I could just take the snails out and treat the whole tank might be less stressful for everyone.

Thanks,
Scott

 

[Ulrichsd]

I think to avoid adding more stress to the fish, I'm just going to dose the main 60 gallon and can move any fish that look like they are struggling to the to the unmedicated 10g.

However, looking at the dosing (Petsmart only had one bottle), I have enough for 3 doses on a 40 gallon. So I'm going to drop my water level to about 2/3rds (40 gallons and dose that much.

I'll update with questions if I have any issues.

Thanks

 

[Ulrichsd]

And so it begins.... Added 0.5 dose (diluted in a separate container before adding) of the API super ick to see how they would do, didn't seem to bother them, waited 15 minutes and gave the rest.

Reread the directions. Technically it just has 2 doses: treat once, wait 48 hours, treat a second time, wait 48 hours and then do a 25% water change. Repeat as necessary.

Water temp is 77.5 F but I raised the thermometer to 80.

So far so good though. Definitely turns the water blue

 

[aquaruim]

I had ich infestation from adding black skirts to. My tank got wiped out in a few days. Hopefully your treatment works and you don't have any losses. One thing I learned after is ich dies out of a fishless tank in 4 days. If you can, remove everything from you're big tank and let it sit empty for say 5 days and treat the fish in smaller tanks so your big tank is healed and ich dies out.

 

[Ulrichsd]

Ugh, sorry about your tank. What did you use to treat it?

I increased the temp to 82F based on the API suggesting that it can speed up treatment.

All the fish seem okay and are still hungry and eating about an hour after treatment.

API super ick directions only has 2 doses 48 hours apart, so I will dose again wed night. I have seachem paraguard being delivered tomorrow (which recommends dosing every day for 2 weeks) so if API doesn't clear it up by Sunday I will do a large water change and switch to that.

 

[Ulrichsd]

Treated the tank Monday night, Wednesday afternoon and Thursday night w/ the API super ick. Seemed to help but not completely cleared up hoping they do okay for a few days over the weekend until I'm back Sunday night when I will start the seachem paraguard to see if that works any better. So far just the black skirt tetras are showing white spots.

 

[Autumnsky]

Did you see this yet?
Freshwater Ich? Yuck! - Aquarium Advice

 

[aquaruim]

Everything died really fast. I didn't get a chance to treat. I raised the temp and had 2 that didn't die but I expected them to and I was going to clean tank completely and start fresh with new everything but after a few weeks now those 2 are actually looking really good about not sitting on the top they are swimming around and and there tails grew back. I don't know if the water is still infested or not. Thinking about putting some more in to join the 2 and hope all is good and ill just have a school of black skirts and never ad anything again. Its only a 20 high anyway. I hope your tank is doing better by now. Any updates?

 

[Ulrichsd]

Wow, unfortunately, I was going out of town Friday through Sunday, so hoping I was able to knock it back with 3 doses last week and then resume tomorrow when I'm back home. Fingers crossed but I'll give an update tomorrow.

 

[Ulrichsd]

I hope your tank is doing better by now. Any updates?

Got back today and none of the fish had died, so that is good! There are a few fish that are still showing ich, and a rummy nose tetra has quite a few new white spots

I started treating with Seachem Paraguard today, and the directions say to dose every day as long as the fish aren't showing any stress. Online I've recommendations to treat for 2 weeks to make sure it is completely eradicated.

Thanks!
Scott

 

[Ulrichsd]

Came in tonight and one of the black skirts had died. A few of them show a few spots but not a lot of spots. I have 1 rummy nose tetra (long story why there is only one) but he is showing most. I think it it's getting a little better though.

First picture (with head not in frame) is Saturday and the second is today 24 hours after treatment left night.

 

[Autumnsky]

Hoping the medication works soon. It looks a heavy infestation.

 

[Ulrichsd]

The rummy nose wasn't looking too good this morning... I'm pretty sure he died and one of the angelfish ate him as he is nowhere to be found tonight.

At least the angelfish don't seem to be showing any major signs. I did shine a light in this morning and my gold angel was lying in the sand and I thought he was dead so I went to scoop him out but then he swam away. I guess he must sleep like that

As of now I'm on my 3rd straight day of seachem paraguard and doing a 30% water change before dosing.

 

[Autumnsky]

Sorry to hear that.

Angelfish will not usually lay on the bottom of the tank. Still hoping you get some relief for the fish with the medication.

The Angel could have wasting disease, stress from medication. Not sure.

 

[Ulrichsd]

Thanks. No losses today and everyone is eating. The Angels look okay, but there is still some signs of ich on the black skirts.

Doing a water change and getting ready to treat day 4 with the seachem paraguard. It didn't seem to turn the water as green as the API stuff either...

 

[Autumnsky]

Good though the Ich still being present is a bit of a worry.

Just check your temps and keep the water quality in the safe zone.

If you have Prime (or similar water conditioner which detoxifies ammonia, nitrites and nitrate) you can dose as directed to be sure there isn't any ammonia, nitrite or nitrate creeping up.

Nice there were no further losses.

 

[Ulrichsd]

Good though the Ich still being present is a bit of a worry.

Just check your temps and keep the water quality in the safe zone.

If you have Prime (or similar water conditioner which detoxifies ammonia, nitrites and nitrate) you can dose as directed to be sure there isn't any ammonia, nitrite or nitrate creeping up.

Nice there were no further losses.

Thank you I'm keeping the temp at 80F and doing a 25-30% wc (at which time I dose prime) and vacuum daily before medicating.

I was a little worried about the cory cats and a few snails but they all seem okay too.