ich treatment issues revisited

[dax29]

This is nearly the exact reply I gave someone already but I wanted as many people to have access to it as possible.

I'm going to have to get another heater. I have mine turned all the way on and I'm only getting 84.7 degrees F (I think). It has been turned up that way for 12 hours. I'm also aggravated about inconsistent thermometer readings. I've got one mounted in the tank and the best I can tell (and I've got good eyesight) is that it is barely 80 degrees. Another indoor/outdoor thermometer that I use says the temp is 88 F. I have a commercial-type digital pH meter that also gives temperature readings and it says 84.7. However, you have to hold it the whole time and it takes a long time to equilibrate. I'm going to place a long, mercury-filled scientific thermometer in there that we use in the lab here at the University and see what that gives me. I just can't believe that thermometers can be so variable! So far I've placed 1/2 the dose of malachite green in the tank but I left the activated carbon in all 3 of my filters b/c I'm afraid of poisoning my fish. I've also added 4 tablespoons of aquarium salt to my 29 gallon tank over a 12 hour period. My hope is to at least slow down the parasites until I can get another heater and more accurate thermometer in the tank. At that time I'll do a 50% water change with 84 degree water and hopefully get rid of much of the residual malachite green and salt. However, my LFS indicates that they put salt in all of their tanks anyway, including tanks with corys and loaches, so I'm not sure what to do about the salt. They also say that they use malachite green in all their tanks as a preventive treatment for ich. I do know that they constantly pump in clean water to all their tanks so I'm not sure where the salt and the malachite help. I do know that their tanks and fish always look better than anywhere else I've been.

 

[poppab02]

I've just got my second case of ich. Very frustrating especially when I qt'd my fish for a couple of weeks and it took over a month for the ich to appear. I also have cory's and loaches and I use salt. I use a little less but I believe the salt is very necessary to kill the ich and it cuts down on the time necessary. I don't use any medication at all. If you use the heat and salt method I don't think it's necessary at all to use medicine. I actually think it's a little worse on the fish if you use medicine along with the heat and salt method.
Sorry about the heater, if I ever got ich in my cichlid tank I'd have to go out and buy a new heater. My heater in that tank at full blast heats to about 81 degrees. Luckily I've never had ich in that tank. It's always in my loach and cory tank.

 

[Menagerie]

I always go with the salt and heat treatment. I hate when stores pretreat for disease that isn't there. That leaves the fish vulnerable to illness later, because they never had to fight it off :BIG sigh:

 

[MarkLehr]

I believe most LFS treat for ICH on a daily basis. They replace evaporation at the end of the day and then medicate overnight, for an accurate dose. I have mixed feelings on this, but it is probably necessary considering the volumn of new fish which come in and out of the store without quarantine. Most of the fish are only there for 3 or 4 days anyhow. The fish are at a hightened level of stress due to shipping and the new environment, and are more vulneraable to disease, so medicating IMO is not a bad idea. Now, for speciality fish which might be in the store for a few weeks, I agree medicating a healthy tank could be a bad idea.

As to medicating in general, I have had wonderful luck with Malechite Green to treat ich. Usually I keep my temperature at 80-82F all the time, so all i do in case of a rare outbreak is add Malechite Green for 3 consecutive days. That is usually all i need to do.