Ich?

[skip_16157]

I had a Percula in my tank with ich. I moved him to a 10 gal. quaratine tank 5 days ago and treated with copper. It seems to be cleared up.

But my main problem is that I noticed another fish in my main tank is getting it. I've been treating my main tank with greenex for 2 weeks now.

Any suggestions on what to do?

 

[Guest]

Ich

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but, you are having a lot of problems with water quality to be this early in the game. I have been reading your other posts and while it is good to gain knowledge, I am very suprised to not see anyone say leave it alone and stop messing with it so much....I am a firm believer that this hobby requires more patience than most humans posess...

I learned this also the hard way however, people told me to stop messing with mine until it was fully cycled and ready....Then take care of things...I have to say it worked...

Now that I got that off my chest, I apologise if I hurt your feelings..

As far as your ich problem...Did you know that ich does not live in water over 80 degrees? I keep mine about 80 to 82...not a problem.. I will say this though, it does depend on what you are keeping in your tank...

Listen to the Old Timers and they will guide you right..

IMO too many water changes too early in the game....no time to cycle correctly.........

 

[skip_16157]

Thanks for the advice.

My LFS told me too quit worrying about water quality since my fish are ok. So now I just want to contain this ich situation.

My temp. right now is about 82.

So are you saying don't worry about the ich problem.

If you quarantine like everyone says, won't they get the ich right back as soon as you put them back into the main tank.

 

[michealprater]

Not arguing timbo, but I got a question. If ick doesnt live over 80 degrees, why would anyone treat for it if they could just up the temp in the tank? Once a fish has ick, if you raise the temp over 80 the ick doesnt just go away. I just was wondering exactly what you ment. I guess it could prevent it, but skip's fish already have it.

 

[Hara]

Actually,it has been my experience, if you keep the tank temp high, for a long enough period, the fish will shed the ick, the cycles continue and the ick is killed off. It hurries the ick through the life cycle and it dies off. This has worked for me twice, once in freshwater and then with my very first saltwater fish purchase. All spots were gone within 4 days and I kept the temp up for about a month.

I am sure someone will say this is not possible, but this has been my experience.

 

[Guest]

You know, I've basically stayed out of most Ich conversations here because i figured people would think i was crazy. All I ever do is raise the temp to 84-86, and the ich goes away in less than a week, you have to catch it early, if your fish are covered with spots, all bets are off. If it was a tank w/no plants, I'd add some salt, but I dont think that matters as much as temp. I've only done this with FW, but it has worked several times, just the way Hara said.

 

[michealprater]

See, the problem I have with that, is...If was to spend 60 dollars at my lfs for ... lets say a powder blue tang. Then it gets ick right, I dont believe I would be comfortable just raising the temp and hoping the tang doesnt die. It just seems to good to be true. I find it hard to believe that ALL the ick treatments out there are just a hoax.

 

[Hara]

Some people just don't like the simple solutions

No offense to Logan either, but your LFS is not in the business to tell you how to cure something if they cannot make a buck. Raising the temp is free....ick cures are not. How many of them are going to tell you to add garlic supplements as an overall health tonic?

I am a naturalist, grow my own herbs, make my own tinctures. I could tell you stories about people that have spent tons of money on medicines that simple things can cure. But people do not think that things they do not pay top dollar for, can be of any use.

I don't know about you, but I have paid alot of money for things that do NOT work at all...

 

[Guest]

ICH !!

OK, Sorry,

If your fish has Ich when you buy them, I believe that if done properly,(quarantining them for 2 weeks) and then adding them to your tank, you will never have to worry about an ich problem in a tank over 80 degrees. If you do have ich in a tank over 80 degrees, you might want to worry about another type of disease. One of my buddies turned me on to this and I have not had a problem with it...Niether have they...

Although not impossible to contract ich in a tank 80 deg, I do know that ich will not live in water 86 deg and higher...some fish won't either though...

I believe that most ich problems start in water less than 80 deg.. Also, when there are med to high quantities of ammonia in the water, the fish are more suseptable to ich...

Water quality is a must...

But, this is stuff we already know.....

Tim

 

[Guest]

A Little more

I found some info on it:

Avoid adding new fish to your established tank. Quarantine new fish in a separate tank for a minimum of two weeks, but preferably three to four weeks, at 80 F or higher. This will allow time for observation for disease and nutritional problems.

Any stress on a fish results in a reduced immune response and increases potential for infection. A few of these stresses include poor water quality (elevated ammonia or nitrite, sudden temperature changes, or low dissolved oxygen), poor nutrition, crowding, improper social structure, and aggression. One of the most common causes of ich is introduction of a new fish into an established environment without adequate quarantine.

If your fish can handle temperature increase, raise water temperature to 86 F (30 C) to promote ich’s inability to complete its life cycle. Tomites do poorly at these temperatures.

 

[michealprater]

Ok, Im convinced it is benifitial. Thank you for explaining it to me and not thinking I was trying to cause trouble. Thats the best thing about the members of this forum

Any way, I have kept my tank at 76 degrees for a long time. Im going to try to jump it up to 82. I guess Ill just turn my heater up a little bit everyday till I get it where I want it. Now that I hear this stuff, I may get the courage up to get me another powder blue tang.

 

[Hara]

Life is all about courage .

 

[skip_16157]

Just got back from seeing my LFS. He said to raise the temp. to about 84. He also said since my fish have very few spots on them to just observe for a few days. He also said I could do water changes of 3-4" for 3 days if I wanted. The temp. change should kill them off. He also said my water quality is my main problem right now. So there is not much I can do until my water gets right. I asked him how to get rid of it completely. He said that this is almost impossible without complete drainage. If your fish are healthy and not stressed and you can get the temp. up without bothering them then you will probably be successful. He also said it not unusual for ich to come back in the future for a couple of days, but healthy fish should shake it off.

I personnaly am going to get my water good and once my fish are ready to come out of quarantine put them back in and keep my temp. up and ALL new fish are getting the Q. tank treatment in the future.

 

[Yellow Eye Tang]

Good points, but....

I've been posting a couple messages to this whole ICK situation and
reading even more. I currently have an ICK problem and just lost a yellow eyed tang due to it. I did not Q him right when i first got him allthough i was for warned that Tangs are a stressed out fish in captivity anyways. Im really anxious to try these methods of curing my problem cuz those are some dang good arguments. Simpler is better, but when ya love the dang fish so much... you DO almost want to spend some money to cure them. Im hoping for the best here and ill let ya know if the temp is gonna cure the main tanks problems. I AM, however, going to pull my Flame Angelfish (ICK's new host after the tang died) and Hospitalize him with cupramine. There are 4 others in my main and i assume the 6 lined Rass will probably be the most likely to become the Host after the flame is removed. Im going to bump up the temp to 83 or so and if i see no other problems ill post Thanks everyone for your brilliance!

 

[MaggiesGame]

Why has no one mentioned this before??? I've never had the problem, but read about it constantly. This is the one reason I've been afraid of getting any really nice fish...afraid of losing it.

 

[clownfish]

Ok, so if anyone has any doubts on the value of Q new fish we should direct them to this thread. Cured me of my doubts

I've been reading a lot about raising the temp, but what, if any dangers are there to this method. And why not do this in a healthy tank as a preventive? I've been keeping my temp at about 76 in my healthy tank, but I'm wondering if I should raise the temp or, raise the temp for a few weeks when introducing new fish.

This is important to me, since I'm just now establishing my tank. Presently 2 clowns doing great. but more to come of the coming months!!

 

[skip_16157]

I would do everything to be preventative. Everybody I have talked to has said to keep my temp at 80 regardless. Right now it is 82-83 and my fish were ok.

I have since setup a Q. tank and I will leave it running for awhile. Its very convienient to just treat a fish in it, plus you can limit problems with your main tank as it is harder to cure.

I had a percula that had about 15 spots on it and I put it in a Q. tank with copper and I woke up the next morning and they were gone. So I know that it is getting better.

I would suggest asking alot of questions and do research if you are new to saltwater. My fish looked great for 2 weeks then all Heck broke louse.

 

[Hara]

I keep my tanks at 80-82 all the time

 

[SleeplessLwd]

Along with raising the temp in your tank, it also helps to put a form of garlic made for aquariums in your tank. It doesn't cure the ich but it'll help prevent the problem. Ich is a parasite and unfortunately like it was mentioned in previous posts, it doesn't live in the water and it has to run the cycle and die off. I wouldn't add anything else to the tank for a while, until you're sure everything is under control. You might want to think about adding a cleaner shrimp to the tank in the future because they will eat the ich off the fish.

 

[enjoyfish]

WOW! there is a lot of info here . why wasnt i told of this before . i keep all my tanks at 76 to 78 and had major ick problems .Im going to try 80 to 82 thanks joe