ah! ich!

[fish_newbie]

i just noticed that my neons have ich ..the spots just started showing today and ive had them for 2 days now ..i dont have hospital tank so i put them in a bucket for now cause i dont want my other fish to get it ..i hope they dont have it ..they're not showing any signs of it.. i hope they dont start tho

what can i do to get rid of it?

 

[Menagerie]

Read the article in the Article section about ich. There are various meds, but the best method is heat and salt. You may also want to increase the temp of your main tank as a precautionary measure.

 

[fish_newbie]

it seems to be getting worse after the second day of treatment ..is this suppose to happen? should i give it more time before some disappearence begins?

 

[Essayons89]

You will need to treat the main tank to treat the ich. Just placing the fish that you can see that are infected isn't the answer. If caught early the lifecycle of Ich normally runs between 7-10 days. If caught between stages it can be drawn out to 21 days. Ich also has three stages in its lifecycle. The first stage is where you s the "salt" looking grains on the fish. After a few days these cysts will fall off the fish and onto the substrate, plants-everywhere. This is the second stage. After a few more days the third stage begins as these cysts burst releasing the free swimming parasite. The parasite must find a host fish within 48 hours or it will die. This is also when ich is vunerable to treatment.

Yeah, it's normal for it to get worse before it gets better. As Menagerie mentioned, heat and aquarium salt will kill ich. Raise the temp to anywhere between 82-86F and and dose the aquarium salt at 1tbsp per 5 gallons. Treat for 14 days. After the seventh day, do two large water changes 12 hours apart and redose the salt.

HTH,
Bryan

 

[fish_newbie]

is the salt really needed? where am i supppose to get just 1tbsp of salt since i have a 5g

 

[Essayons89]

The salt is what will kill the parasite. The single celled tomites are sensitive to salt concentrations in the water. Too much salt will cause the water to leave their cell which dries them out and destroys them.

You can pick up a small carton of aquarium salt from a pet or fish store for only a couple of dollars and it's nice to have on hand in case you ever need to use it.

Bryan

 

[patryuji]

If you don't want to use salt due to plants simply raise the temps above 86 degrees. Keep it there for 3 days after the last spot disappears. Remember to raise the temps slowly so the fish are not stressed out.

 

[Menagerie]

Keep it there for 3 days after the last spot disappears.

The article recommends 7 days after the last spot--better safe than sorry

 

[oscarbreeder]

Everyone here is right.
The best way to get rid of ich is to raise the temp and add salt.

Works every time.

 

[SwerveDriver]

What advice would you suggest for a betta with ich in a 1 gallon betta tank with no heater or filtration?

Right now, I am trying a bit of salt with Aquari-sol.

Unfortunately, I don't have my main tank set up and ready yet, as I'm waiting on a delivery of some of my equipment.

 

[Essayons89]

SwerveDriver,

Raising the temp really isn't necessary to treat even though it does speed up the lifecycle of the parasite. In a cooler tank, the life stages of the parasite will take longer run their course. I can't give you a time frame though.

I've never used Aquari-sol so I can't comment on it but the salt is fine.

Bryan

 

[kenor33]

Is the salt/heat treatment bad if you have all live plants in your tank? I have never had Ich but was just curious if the salt can or can't be used with the plants.

 

[Essayons89]

The salt can be used inplanted tanks. The amount that is used for 'medicinal' purposes isn't a lot and will removed through water changes after treatment.

Bryan