Clown Loach - can anybody confirm Ich?

[warnerg]

i dont know if you know this or someone else said it but, for freshwater tanks; raising the temp and adding aquarium salt with help get rid of ich fast. i dont like using chemicals especially on a clown loach that are scaleless

[Tim Wheatley]

Yeah I don't like to use meds after the first time I use it the meds killed the fish faster than the Ich would have. I use salt/heat.

[dkpate]

Oh yeah, I think he looks much better! Nicely done.

[WendiDell]

As the dying ick falls off and before the ick eggs hatch, be sure and vacuum frequently to get it out of your tank. Since the increase in temp. speeds up the ick life cycle, but how fast is a guess. So a be sure and vacuum with every PWC. Suck up any new parasites before they hatch and reinfect your fish.
Good luck, there are some strains of ick that have become resistant to most medications. So the earlier you catch the ick the less likely you'll need to use medication. Help avoid creating a med. resistant strain.

[PzIkHo]

I used quick cure for a severe ich outbreak at half dose for twice as long and it the CL's didn't make it. All the other fish pulled through alright, though. So I do think CL's have a certain succeptability to meds and chemicals.

[WendiDell]

Originally Posted by PzIkHo

I used quick cure for a severe ich outbreak at half dose for twice as long and it the CL's didn't make it. All the other fish pulled through alright, though. So I do think CL's have a certain succeptability to meds and chemicals.

There are some fish that can't tolerate the active ingredient in Ick medication. I don't know them all but loaches are one of them, if I remember right.

[Tim Wheatley]

I lost 18 Neon tetras the first time I had Ich. One was infected with Ich, the others all died with no signs of it after I had used (as directed on the bottle) Rid-Ich. So I would certainly add that to any list of fish which have problems with that medication. All the other fish in the tank were fine, but those tetras dropped like flies.

[Tim Wheatley]

No visible Ich spots at all now. I would ordinarily continue treatment for about a week. How long is advised?

[dkpate]

10 days with high heat is the norm. The ich has just now fallen off the fish, and is a cyst in the substrate.

As for the meds, the fish I know of that are sensitive to meds are loaches, bettas and tetras. If there are ever specific directions for tetras or scaleless fish, I use the same amount for bettas, loaches, etc.

[Tim Wheatley]

Originally Posted by dkpate

10 days with high heat is the norm. The ich has just now fallen off the fish, and is a cyst in the substrate.

As for the meds, the fish I know of that are sensitive to meds are loaches, bettas and tetras. If there are ever specific directions for tetras or scaleless fish, I use the same amount for bettas, loaches, etc.

10 days after last sign of spots, or 10 days total?

[dkpate]

Total.

[Tim Wheatley]

Thanks

[McLumpy]

Awesome!! I'm so glad he's doing better!

[WendiDell]

Originally Posted by Tim Wheatley

10 days after last sign of spots, or 10 days total?

Just to be safe I keep the heat elevated and the salt going for 2 weeks from the first time I notice the ick dieing off. It's probably overkill, but I hate ick and I'm not sure how well any fish would handle reinfection so soon.
If the ick outbreak is bad enough to need medication and not just Salt and temp increase. I usually do 1 more treatment after the obvious signs of ick are gone.
I don't know if there are any hard and fast rules about the length of time. I would think it would differ between fish and also the severity of the outbreak.
The only thing I would do right away is start to vacuum your gravel/sand everyday to get rid of any new ich getting ready to hatch.
The medication only kills the adult ick. Meds. won't touch the unhatched ick, so suck away as much as you can.
And expect to cycle your tank, again.

[Luna112]

Originally Posted by PzIkHo

I used quick cure for a severe ich outbreak at half dose for twice as long and it the CL's didn't make it. All the other fish pulled through alright, though. So I do think CL's have a certain succeptability to meds and chemicals.

My 3 clown loaches died from ich, even though I used quick cure half strength

Sent from my iPhone

[Tim Wheatley]

Sorry to hear that Luna.

I'd never use anything other than salt/heat now after my experience with losing fish using Rid-Ich (another medication). I hope you too can find a way which works for you that you can pull out whenever you need it.

I'd never tell anyone else to do this, but I actually use instant ocean marine salt to treat my freshwater fish, too. I've seen people saying this isn't even possible... So I made a post about it on my Web site... So like I said, hopefully you'll find something that works for you and be able to pull it out whenever you need it.

[Luna112]

I'd love to get rid of ich without using medication. But I can't use salt my black ghost knife starts to spazz out in even the tiniest dosages of salt.

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[Tim Wheatley]

Ahh.

You might want to try Esha Exit.
eSHa exit - Anti Whitespot Treatment

I have read many, many times that it's what most people in the UK (which is where I am from originally) use. You'd probably have to buy it from a British seller on eBay if you wanted to try that next time.

[Luna112]

Oh okay. Sounds good. I really love all my fish, and my bgk makes it's near impossible to treat my tank with salt.

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[WendiDell]

Originally Posted by Luna112

Oh okay. Sounds good. I really love all my fish, and my bgk makes it's near impossible to treat my tank with salt.

Sent from my iPhone

Hi Luna,
haven't seen you on AA for a while. How are all your fish doing. The last we spoke was when your Pleco had a major case of ick. I know he didn't make it but I hope some of the others did.
Nice to see you back on AA