Ich riddle

[Phlegethon]

Ok, here's one to ponder.
I have a 40-gallon heavily planted tank with the following inhabitants:

4 x 2" opaline gouramis
6 x 1.5" American-flag fish
8 x 1" head & tail light tetras
7 x 1" white cloud minnows
3 x 1.5" clown loaches
1 x 1.5" red-tail shark
1 x 3" bristlenose pleco
22 x 1-2" Amano shrimp
12 x 1.5" Asian clams
1 x 4" twig catfish

Current water params:
77F, pH 7.0, Ammonia/Nitrite 0, Nitrate negligable

At least one of the clown loaches has 4-5 white ich spots.
Here's the riddle: how would you treat the ich? Isolate the loaches? WHat about the tank water?

I know copper is out due to the inverts, but can Amano shrimp take 86F for 2 weeks? What about salt?

Thanks in advance for any attempts to solve this riddle.

 

[nineiron]

Allivymar has all the answers!!

 

[Allivymar]

*blushes*

LOL Thanx nineiron; you flatter me.

I did write an article about ich, what it is and how to treat it; you can find it here Phlegethon (if you haven't read it already): http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=32

Personally I would treat the entire tank; it would suck to treat the loaches, and have them reinfected when they were returned to the tank.

As for the amanos, I *think* they should be fine. I had a bamboo shrimp in my QT when I treated my cardinals for ich, and the bamboo was fine (and I treated the tank with temps only - 88F for 2 weeks). Just double check to see what the temp ranges are for amanos; if the top end is 81F or so, they should be ok for the couple of weeks it takes to treat ich. I have no idea about the clams tho.

And not only copper, but any of the ich meds are out (malachite green, victoria green, formulin found in most meds are also deadly to inverts). I'd avoid salt because of the tetras; they sometimes don't deal well with the levels of salt needed to treat ich.

 

[Phlegethon]

Thanks. I wouldn't use the bamboo shrimp as a reference for Amano shrimp as the former is found in a tropical climate while the later is not. All the info I've found states 82F as the upper end for the Amano shrimp. They might be OK for a short period though at 88F. Call it an artificial summer heat wave. I am also worried that the white clouds will not be able to take the heat (it's already too warm in that tank for them - the plan is to move them into a cooler tank as soon as it's cycled).

I'll most likely try the heat cure. The plants in the tank are fairly hardy, micro chain swords, dwarf sags, vals, pennywort, amazon swords so hopefully they will survive.

Wish me luck!

 

[Fruitbat]

Just FYI....though they prefer cool water, White Clouds (Tanichthys albonubes) can take water temperatures as high as 90 degrees F. They are remarkably tough little fish!