Ah, my first case of Ich. :) UV sterilizer effective?

[Guest]

Well, in this hobby it is only a matter of time until you get a case of Ich. Today, I discovered I have Ich in my tank. Now I am doing the research on how to eliminate it.

It appears the heat method is the safest way to go? But while I am edging up the heat in my tank I would like to use some sort of medication as well. I bought some Rid-Ich when I stocked up on all my aquarium supplies just to have it, but after reading a bit I am worried about the affect it may have on my Kuhli loaches. And with the number of tetras I have I am disinclined to use salt. Could someone have a look at the fish I have (see my Profile) and recommend an appropriate medication and whether they will all tolerate 86F? The Rid--Ich claims to be "safer than other medications" for scaleless fish.

One thing I have not seen anywhere as a possible help for eliminating Ich -- UV sterilizers. Would this help? I figure it would do a pretty good job during Ich's free-swimming stage.

Thanks for help in advance. As a side note: I am two months into my return to this hobby. The last time I had Ich was during my first venture into aquariums, around 1985, and back then to take care of Ich you dyed your tank HEAVILY with what I believe was methylene blue. I mean so dark you could not see through your tank. How it actually worked I have no idea.

 

[Menagerie]

I have found Rid-Ich to be useless, unless you like the sealant of the tank to be blue/green. I looked at your profile~your fish will be fine with 86F and some salt. Try one Tablespoon per five gallons. Believe me, it's not much salt at all.
UV sterilizers are used in many LFSs. Some members have them at home, but I in QTing and keeping fish stress free is the best defense against ich

 

[loganj]

UV will work as a helper in eliminating the ich as long as you have proper wattage and flow rates. Flow rates have to be very slow to kill the ich parasite...they are pretty tough. I would not depend on it to eradicate the parasites from your tank. If you have a UV unit, slow the flow down as low as you can get it...it'll help some. I would take the advice offered by Menagerie for getting rid of the ich though.

 

[Guest]

Ok, I will go with the Advisors' advice and stick with salt and heat.

Edit: I did some more research on the net. This article goes against almost everything I am being told to do here. It says do not raise the temp, do not use salt, and use an Ich medication. What do you all think?

http://www.aquamaniacs.net/ich.html

 

[Menagerie]

My comment is in the other thread.

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

Before reading about the salt and heat method I tried lots of differents meds and none of them did all that great. For one outbreak I tried three different meds in succession and all I ended up with was an empty blue tank and an empty wallet. If you do go with the meds, you should still increase the temp to around 82+. This will speed up the ich life cycle, and since the medicines work best on the free swimming stage, a cure will be effected faster. Add aeration to add oxygen. Pretty simple.

 

[Guest]

Is salt necessary when using heat? Or is it an alternative to meds? I have my tank up to 86F now but have not salted it at all. Did a couple treatments with Rid-Ich+, however.

 

[Toirtis]

Is salt necessary when using heat? Or is it an alternative to meds? I have my tank up to 86F now but have not salted it at all. Did a couple treatments with Rid-Ich+, however.

Not really, but make sure you add aeration to your tank, as warmer water is quite poor in DO.

A UV steriliser works great, but only on free-swimming ich, which is only a small part of its life-cycle.