Ich…how to prevent and my new Loaches!

[justcallmecute]

Good day guys, i got my 4 new clowns last Friday. Without proper research i was in a hurry to buy them from the shop because they are energetic and fun to look at.
All i know is that they are botoom dwellers and will eat any left over food at the bottom and good way to control and kill snails. Cz they love em.

The only thing that worries me is that they easily get ich specially when stressed.
Wha are the ways to prevent this from happening and if ever they do affected whats the best way to control it?


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[Mattfinn]

Question what size tank do you have for clowns. They get massive

 

[BalaGuppieGirl]

There are chemicals that you can buy for this. There are specific ICK medicines but if you are just being preventative I love AquaSafe Plus chemical. It helps with clear water, conditioning the water, and adds slime coat for immune system and less stress. It is recommended to be used every water change, when adding new fish, and for monthly maintenance. I thankfully have not had an Ick problem at all and credit this chemical a lot for helping with adding fish, maintenance, and water changes.

 

[aqua_holic]

Loaches are sensitive to meds. Much better way to make sure that they are ich free is to administer a heat treatment. 86-88 degrees for 2 weeks. This will eradicate any ich from the tank, and the only way they could get reinfected is if you reintroduce it with new fish. Treating new fish with heat while they are in quarantine will ensure that your show tank remains ich free.

 

[BBradbury]

Avoiding Ich

Hello just...

The best way to keep your fish healthy is to keep the tank water clean all the time. Water that sits in the tank for a long time changes chemically because of dissolved fish waste and constant filtration. Get your fish used to large, frequent water changes and you'll avoid most if not all tank problems.

B

 

[aqua_holic]

Agreed, but ich is not an ever present threat. If it were I would have expected at least one of the hundreds of fish in my then 15 tanks to have come down with it after hurricane sandy, when I was without power for 5 days. Water temp dropped to 58. Chilling is well known to manifest ich, if it is there, and yet not a single fish came down with it, because I treat all new fish for ich while in quarantine.

 

[sinibotia]

If they have it, it'll show up quickly. I used to treat with a half dose of methyl blue, now I just use heat treatment. Never use a copper treatment with them.

But seriously, how big is your tank? Minimum for clown loaches is at least a 4 foot tank, 120 gallons+. Also they are NOT good for "eating leftover food" because, especially when full grown, they'll need plenty of food of their own. They are great at eating snails, but they still need a really, really big tank.

 

[emerald76]

There are chemicals that you can buy for this. There are specific ICK medicines but if you are just being preventative I love AquaSafe Plus chemical. It helps with clear water, conditioning the water, and adds slime coat for immune system and less stress. It is recommended to be used every water change, when adding new fish, and for monthly maintenance. I thankfully have not had an Ick problem at all and credit this chemical a lot for helping with adding fish, maintenance, and water changes.

The meds tend to dye things blue.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[BalaGuppieGirl]

Bala Sharks are a good predictor of ICK. They will rub their bodies against the rocks before the outbreak warning you to handle the issue before the outbreak occurs. They are schooling fish and need a lot of room to swim but they are something to consider.

 

[aqua_holic]

Outbreaks only occur when there are infected fish.... No parasites, no outbreaks.

 

[Fresh2o]

Bala Sharks are a good predictor of ICK. They will rub their bodies against the rocks before the outbreak warning you to handle the issue before the outbreak occurs. They are schooling fish and need a lot of room to swim but they are something to consider.

I don't understand. Balas are something to consider as an Ich indicator? Or just to consider as a fish in general. That's like adding clown loaches to control snails. Also, fish occasionally rubbing against objects in the tank can be due to many other things besides Ich.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[treemanone2003]

There are chemicals that you can buy for this. There are specific ICK medicines but if you are just being preventative I love AquaSafe Plus chemical. It helps with clear water, conditioning the water, and adds slime coat for immune system and less stress. It is recommended to be used every water change, when adding new fish, and for monthly maintenance. I thankfully have not had an Ick problem at all and credit this chemical a lot for helping with adding fish, maintenance, and water changes.

Bala Sharks are a good predictor of ICK. They will rub their bodies against the rocks before the outbreak warning you to handle the issue before the outbreak occurs. They are schooling fish and need a lot of room to swim but they are something to consider.

As stated, Aquasafe plus is not a preventative medication. It is only a water conditioner that breaks down toxic chlorine and ammonia making the water safe for fish. It is comparable to API Stress Coat and Stress Zyme or Seachem Prime.

IMO/E, Bala sharks are no more a "good predictor" than any other fish and not something to recommend in this situation. Bala's are more sensitive all the way around and without knowing tank size or stock, a poor choice to offer.

THERE IS NO 100% PREVENTION OR PREDICTOR OF ICH !!!!! Bottom line. As others have stated, loaches are very sensitive to meds and the best way to prevent anything is an excellent QT procedure and lots of clean fresh water. Lots of research is the key to anything (especially in his hobby) and this is an incredible article that will help you to understand ICH.

Beyond that, welcome to AA. Feel free to ask away and we'll help you right along.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium advice.

 

[BBradbury]

Ich Parasite

Agreed, but ich is not an ever present threat. If it were I would have expected at least one of the hundreds of fish in my then 15 tanks to have come down with it after hurricane sandy, when I was without power for 5 days. Water temp dropped to 58. Chilling is well known to manifest ich, if it is there, and yet not a single fish came down with it, because I treat all new fish for ich while in quarantine.

Hello aqua...

If the tank is large, the temperature drop will be gradual enough, that the fish aren't stressed. I've had power outages too, up a day, though not to your extreme. It's the sudden temperature change that can stress the fish.

The "ich" parasite lives in most tanks. Typically, on the fishes' body. A healthy fish has the ability to resist being infected as long as the water is clean and the temperature constant.

I use a bit of standard aquarium salt for insurance. I've had several large tanks for over a decade and never had a disease in any of them. I don't believe this has been luck. I'm thinking it's more keeping the tank water clean with large, frequent water changes.

B

 

[Mebbid]

Ich absolutely does not live in most tanks. That being said, the only sure fire way to prevent it is to quarantine all fish you buy. That way the do never gets infested and you can easily treat individual fish rather than your whole display.

 

[aqua_holic]

The tanks dropped to 58 the first day. Sudden changes are stressful yes, but so is several days at less than 60 degrees. STRESS is what does it, and I don't think there is any denying that 5 days at less than 60 is extremely stressful for tropical fish - plenty stressful to open the fish up to infection...were there anything to infect them.

I would agree that the parasite lives in many tanks, but that doesn't mean that it's ever present. If preventative steps are taken to kill off the parasites, then they will no longer exist in the tank. The heat treatment works by speeding up the life cycle, while at the same time breaking it. They are all forced to the stage at which the heat kills them, resulting in no more parasites..... Unless they are reintroduced on new fish and plants.

I don't add any salt whatsoever and have not had ich on any of the hundreds of fish in dozens of show tanks over the last several years - since adopting the mandatory heat treatment.

It can seem like it just appeared out of nowhere because it can exist as a low level infestation for quite some time. I agree that the fishs immune system plays a large role in that. A healthy fish can keep the infestation at bay for quite a while. However, once the immune system is compromised, the parasite starts to take over.

 

[Fresh2o]

...while in quarantine.

Best practice IMO. Too often I read about posts stating "I got some new fish..." followed by "How do I treat for <whatever>?"


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[aqua_holic]

Best practice IMO. Too often I read about posts stating "I got some new fish..." followed by "How do I treat for <whatever>?"


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

Proper quarantining is essential to long term success in the hobby. I am a proponent of prophylactic treatments. I like to make the most of my quarantine period, which is no less than a month.

 

[treemanone2003]

Here is the link I forgot to post previously. This will help greatly in the do's and dont's and give a great basic concept. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/freshwater-ich-yuck/


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium advice.

 

[BalaGuppieGirl]

I think Balas should be considered in general as they are one of my favorite fresh water aquarium fish but I did mean as an ick indicator as well. I agree there are many reasons for them to rub their bodies but I have read articles about they way they rub their bodies can tell you if its to indicate ick. I am attaching a link for you to look at if your would like.

It talks about ick indicating in the last paragraph.
Bala Shark

 

[aqua_holic]

My ex's balas were the first fish in the tank to show spots when she had an outbreak (she did not share my Quarantine procedures), so there may be some truth to that. However, the premise of your argument is deeply flawed. Getting balas for them to be canaries is just plain irresponsible, since the overwhelming vast majority of fish keepers do not have tanks large enough to accommodate schooling fish that grow over 12 inches in length. I'm guessing that you don't either.

And like was said time and again, providing good living conditions is key to keeping healthy fish.