What is the best way to treat Neon Tetras with ich?

[Promisedsin]

My brother recently got my little sister 3 Neon Tetras and 2 Colored Tetras. The Colored Tetras do not show sign of Ich as of yet. My brother put them all in a 3 Gallon tank and i would like to know what the best treatment of ich would be.

 

[DragonFish71]

Most people on here suggest doing the heat method. Slowly turning your heater up to 86 degrees and keeping it there for a few weeks. (I believe that's the gist of it)

However, I will admit, ich is the one time I do prefer the use of meds.

Before you use meds, make sure there is ich. No reason to start a treatment and stress the fish IMHO.

I have found using Quick Cure at half doses works the best. Jungle Labs also makes fizz tabs for ich treatment, those work good too.

Because most fish really have low tolerance for meds and medicating can kill off the good bacteria needed to keep a healthy tank, read the labels carefully and again, go at half dose. Example: if the label says 2 drops per gallon, the tank is 3 gallons, over a period of 3 days, that would be 6 drops a day at 3 days = 18 drops . (doesn't sound like much but it can be harmful believe it or not) I would go 1 drop per gallon, 3 drops a day over 6 days. This works very well for most fish and any inverts. I'm treating our 55g right now (my fiance, love him to death, added more tetras without QTing them)

 

[dkpate]

+1 for the 1/2 doses. When I was treating my betta for ich, I used 1/2 doses and changed 50% of the water every day before redosing. I also used QuICK Cure with good results, but it will dye all the seams and plastic things in your tank blue.
If you use the heat method, keep it at 86* for 10 days, and add an air stone if needed. Warmer water has less oxygen. And do a gravel vacuum every day.

 

[mfdrookie516]

Im one of the people who prefer natural methods over meds. Nothing against what Jamie said, but imo, its much easier on the fish to just raise the temperature, and it does the same thing. I also hate the look of blue silicone and decorations in a tank. Either way, the quicker you get to it, the better off your fish will be. Something most people dont realize is that ich affects the gills, and is generally there before visible on the fish. Those little parasites are all up in their gills right now, so the quicker you treat, the quicker the fish will be back to their normal, happy self

 

[dkpate]

I agree with going natural to cure some things, but I also agree with Dragon. The QuICK cure gets rid of the ich in like 2 days, and you use it for I think 5-7 days. Whereas the warmer temps for 10 days and them having the ich longer seems to be more stressful. JMO though.