Hospital tank ?s

[mitche8359]

I discovered ich on a red tetra last night. I don't have a hospital tank. I have a ten gallon that I use when I tear down the 55g to clean or move it, but the 10 gallon is not set up. Would it be worthwhile to set up the tank now? I don't have a filter system for it, just the tank.

My other thought is maybe the ich medicine might be a preventive benefit for the other fish if I just treated the 55 g?

I'm going to the fish store at lunch so if anyone has a recommendation on an ich medicine, I'm listening.

[loganj]

I always use a malachite green based treatment for ich. Be careful as tetras are sensitive to it and require a reduced dose. It will also stain some things...air lines, plastic plants, ect... I have heard that Melafix works for ich, but I have never used it. Upping the temp in the tank will speed up the recovery too. As I understand it, this speeds up the life cycle of the parasite. I wouldn't go over 82 deg though.
All you need for a hospital tank is a sponge filter. If you will keep a sponge in the 55 somewhere, it will always be ready. Then you can fill up the hospital tank using water from the 55, put the sponge filter in, attach the air pump, and you're ready to go. There will be enough bacteria on the sponge to handle a small waste load (like from 1 or 2 fish) and you can quarantine any new arrivals. Works for me anyway.
Logan J

[mitche8359]

Good think to know about the reduced dose for tetras. I bought a malachite green based treatment at lunch. A coworker suggested taking water from the 55g as well which I will do. I don't have a sponge filter so I'll just toss in an air stone this time around.

Any suggestions on how long to keep the tetra isolated?

Just my luck... the LFS store is having a 50% off sale on plants and fish through the end of the month and I have a sick tank. I might still be able to get a few fish by months end.

[loganj]

I would think 10 days would be sufficient. What kind of filter are you using on the 55? If it's a cartridge type filter, you might take out one cart and put it in the 10. There will probably be enough bacteria on it to mitigate the ammonia/nitrite buildup for just the one tetra. Maybe put it where the airstone will pull some water over it. Just a thought. Be sure to take the carbon out first though.
Logan J

[mitche8359]

I'm running a canister filter on the 55g.

Ten days eh? Wasn't thinking that long but it's likely best. I guess I'll stop in at the lfs and pick up a sponge filter. Let it sit in the 55g for a day and then move it to the hopital tank. How about taking some of the media out of the canister filter and putting it in the bottom of the 10g? I could probably put the sponge in the canister filter instead of putting it in the actual tank. Probably collect bacteria better that way as well.

[michealprater]

I tryed using melafix for ick once. its didnt work. But it repairs torn fins quickly. Ive used coppersafe successfully in a q tank for ick.

[mitche8359]

The brand name I bought was Nox Ich. It's the brand I remembered buying years ago the last time I had to deal with ich. Hopefully I remember it because it worked well.

What's a q tank?

[mitche8359]

Update.

I set up the hospital tank as soon as I got home last night and treated the tank. Took the 18 mos old to the mall and when I got home a few hours later, the ich was all but gone from the tetra. I still plan on medicating for two more days and another week of isolation but it's nice not loosing another fish.

As I'm driving to the mall it struck me that I didn't have a heater for the 10g hosp tank. I bought one and will raise water temp to 84 degrees to make sure the ich is gone.