clown loaches with ich - help please!

[bezprizornik]

Good day community! I'm kinda new to forums - i've been reading posts by others, but never posted anything myself, until now.

Main reason - got five 3 yo clown loaches with ich for the first time and im completely confused at this point with information available about the cure. recently got a 40 galon tank (upgrade from 20 - mainly because loaches got big) and was stupid enough not to quarantine newly purchased pleco - thought the white spots were just his natural color... for the next few days everything seemed ok but then all loaches and rainbows got these spots as well; i went online, found out that it's pretty hard to treat loaches... raised the temperature to 82-84F, salted the tank + aquarisol - pleco and rainbows recovered, but not the clowns... tried ich attack - no change... it's been 2 weeks - as of now the situation is pretty bad - they stopped eating, breathing rapidly and im afraid they won't make it... please help - i've had them for over 3 years and don't want to loose them! hope it's not too late!

 

[Jolenebailey]

Use white spot medication , but make sure u follow the instruction for scaleless fish, it's usuall half the dose. My clown loaches have had it a few times, and they seem to be prone to white spot. I fear though that it may be too late if they have had it a while but good luck

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Increase the temp up to 86-88F. Anything lower than that only speeds up the life cycle. Once you hit 86 it stops it. At this stage I'd remove the salt with some large water changes and keep up the meds for now. Loaches don't do too well with salt. What are the parameters of the tank? Is it cycled? You have to make sure the water is kept extra clean while the fish have and are recovering from ich. The open wounds left behind are prone to infection in poor water conditions. Also make sure there is plenty of surface agitation to promote oxygen exchange. Warmer water holds less oxygen.

 

[bezprizornik]

thank you! have 2 heaters on max in the tank and the stone for aeration, i've been vacuuming gravel every day and changing water; and the tank is not cycled - got ich before it had a chance to settle; as of meds - this is where i'm confused - i have 'coppersafe' and someone gave me 'clout' (4 tablets) - i didn't use any of it because it says 'not for scaleless fish', but then what else is there???

 

[bezprizornik]

i've been only using aquarisol and ich attack, but that doesn't seem to work...

 

[LyndaB]

I just wanted to mention that clown loaches are susceptible to ich, plus they will require a 125 gallon tank as they mature. 40 gallons just isn't going to cut it.

 

[bezprizornik]

thank you! will consider larger tank in the future if i manage to save them this time! meanwhile, would you recommend a particular ich treatment for loaches - you seem to be so knowledgeable!

 

[Darklight]

I may be wrong and I camt find the bottle to look, but i think API does an ich cure that you can use with scaleless fish. Maybe at half dose though, any one else have any suggetions? :/

 

[bezprizornik]

removed plants and used 1/2 dose of API 'super ick cure' - it does have Malachite Green in it... my hands were shaking... will see in the morning

 

[bezprizornik]

everyone made it through the night, 3 out of 5 loaches are looking for food - will throw few shrimp pallets in and continue with ich attach, stress zyme+ and vaccuming

 

[LyndaB]

For ich that just won't go away, or that seems very severe, I recommend Kordon Rid Ich Plus. I have used this as a last-ditch effort (at half dose) and this stuff is a miracle cure.

 

[malfist]

Turn the heat up and treat with meds at half dosage doesed twice a day (i.e. if 40 drops is full dosage, do 10 in the morning, 10 in the evening). Keep treating for a week after you see no more spots.

The ich is less likely to kill them than putting them in an uncycled tank. The absolutely have to have pristine water quality. Do you have a cycled tank you can move them to for the duration of the treatment?

The spikes in ammonia throughout the day is more dangerous to them than ich at the moment.

 

[bezprizornik]

don't have another cycled tank it was almost there when ick showed up and im afraid i screwed everything with too frequent water changes and meds... as of now ammonia reading is .25ppm - i didn't change water for about a day and a half, because 'super ick cure' says don't change it between treatments... second half of treatment is due tonight - what would you recommend?

 

[bezprizornik]

they are still hanging there - 2 of the loaches are looking for food - i gave them some - will vacuum the rest of food out in an hour...

 

[malfist]

Regardless of what the medicine bottle says, do daily 50% water changes. They're vital to the treatment, and if you don't do them the ammonia will kill your fish.

Remember that clown loaches should new treated at half strength.

 

[bezprizornik]

thanks! will change water - what is the ammonia max i could have?

 

[LyndaB]

You need to keep it below .25 ppm.

Also, if you need to vac out excess food an hour after feeding your fish, you are definitely overfeeding them.

 

[bezprizornik]

thanks! well, only 2 out of 5 are eating + there was no food left anyway

 

[Mumma.of.two]

What's the pH?
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/your-guide-to-ammonia-toxicity-159994.html#post1442989
.25ppm is pretty much harmless.

 

[bezprizornik]

Oh Happy Day! Yesterday they already looked much better and today all got out and slammed the food in a split second! Noa and Ezra had it soo bad, were hanging by the filter and i thought i was about to loose them both... Now their finns are up, still little bit torn by ick, but all fish is active and i hope i will be able to put carbon and plants back in a couple of days