Ich :(

[abbly]

2 weeks ago I got 12 neons and 2 clown loaches from a pet value here . The neons starting dying like crazy 9/12 neons died . Now the 2 clown loaches have ich and it's spreading like crazy to the other fish I set up qt to remove my plants and driftwood because I dont want salt to kill them . I have a 45 g community tank . A few shrimp . Will salt hurt the shrimp and can I use instant
Ocean salt ?

 

[fishdud]

Increase aeration and the temp to around 84. You don't have to use salt.

 

[LyndaB]

2 weeks ago I got 12 neons and 2 clown loaches from a pet value here . The neons starting dying like crazy 9/12 neons died . Now the 2 clown loaches have ich and it's spreading like crazy to the other fish I set up qt to remove my plants and driftwood because I dont want salt to kill them . I have a 45 g community tank . A few shrimp . Will salt hurt the shrimp and can I use instant
Ocean salt ?

There are a couple of issues here.

Clown loaches should be in groups of 5 or more and require a HUGE tank. They are not suitable for your 55.

Don't bother taking anything out of the tank to QT it. You'll only have to disinfect it afterwards.

Raise the heat to 86 F (no more than 3 degrees per day)

Add an airstone to increase oxygenation

Do gravel vacs every 2-3 days to remove ich spore from substrate

Maintain this schedule for a minimum of 2 weeks and for at least 1 week after you see no mores spots on the fish.

 

[xtra51]

There are a couple of issues here.

Clown loaches should be in groups of 5 or more and require a HUGE tank. They are not suitable for your 55.

Don't bother taking anything out of the tank to QT it. You'll only have to disinfect it afterwards.

Raise the heat to 86 F (no more than 3 degrees per day)

Add an airstone to increase oxygenation

Do gravel vacs every 2-3 days to remove ich spore from substrate

Maintain this schedule for a minimum of 2 weeks and for at least 1 week after you see no mores spots on the fish.

+1 Make sure to not raise your temp higher than 2-3 degrees a day. You need the air stone because ICH makes it hard for the fish to breath. Doing your gravel vacs picks up the ICH spores in the substrate. I would add to Lynda and do a small water change every day.

 

[Talvari]

And dont use Instant Ocean. Thats for a saltwater tank. You want Aquarium salt... Totally different.

 

[xtra51]

And dont use Instant Ocean. Thats for a saltwater tank. You want Aquarium salt... Totally different.

Good call! Common mistake is to use Salt for saltwater. Make sure it's for freshwater.

 

[Saltwaterfishgirl]

Um.

Ok im going through this right now. Week 3 in a QT tank.

Everything i read about freshwater and saltwater ick is the same.

It specifically said raising the heat does nothing.

I have a stupid picture i drew about the parasite and its life cycle.

 

[Saltwaterfishgirl]

Wooops that one was upsidedown

 

[LyndaB]

Ich spores die at higher heat. So yes, it does make a difference.

 

[xtra51]

Ich spores die at higher heat. So yes, it does make a difference.

Yah and it makes the reproduction phase faster so it it easier on the fish, less time for them to be exposed to this disease.

 

[Malawi Freak]

I feel dumb, I was sitting here with my head upside down trying to read that, then when I finally gave up I realized you posted it the correct way....lol

 

[xtra51]

I feel dumb, I was sitting here with my head upside down trying to read that, then when I finally gave up I realized you posted it the correct way....lol

Classic!

 

[Saltwaterfishgirl]

Ich spores die at higher heat. So yes, it does make a difference.

They do not die they go into a "hibernation" stage if you will. That can "save" the egg for up to three months. Then when water quality is par they look for a host again. Then the parasite cycle repeats .....

Im not arguing I'm speaking facts.

The QT tank is the way to go. For at LEAST 30 days but max 2 months. You see when you remove the fish the egg cannot host. So the cycle is broken. Its like removing gasoline from the fire... It goes out.

Once your fish are transported to the QT tank they can be treated with drugs or naturally obtained through good tank cleaning each day along with water changes and monitoring them.

I wish i could figure out how to post the article that was sent to me but I'm not savvy on this device. Let me know if i can help.

 

[xtra51]

They do not die they go into a "hibernation" stage if you will. That can "save" the egg for up to three months. Then when water quality is par they look for a host again. Then the parasite cycle repeats .....

Im not arguing I'm speaking facts.

The QT tank is the way to go. For at LEAST 30 days but max 2 months. You see when you remove the fish the egg cannot host. So the cycle is broken. Its like removing gasoline from the fire... It goes out.

Once your fish are transported to the QT tank they can be treated with drugs or naturally obtained through good tank cleaning each day along with water changes and monitoring them.

I wish i could figure out how to post the article that was sent to me but I'm not savvy on this device. Let me know if i can help.

Like you said we aren't arguing, but I would disagree with you that heating up the tank will only hibernate the ICK spores. Through all I have read on ICH, I have never read this.

 

[LyndaB]

Georgia, I appreciate you sharing your viewpoint, which seems (correct me if I'm wrong) based on a single article that you read. I do have to respectfully disagree with the information you have.

I have read tons and tons of article on ich, along with being a member on several fish forums and your post goes against everything I've ever heard or read, in any venue, about ich and how it's best treated.

Your post actually surprised me quite a bit simply due to the fact that it's so opposed to what I've already picked up from my research. I just can't figure out why I've never come across the same information anywhere.

 

[Saltwaterfishgirl]

Raising temperatures when refering to treating ich is used to speed up the lifecycle of ich. Ich has a multistage lifecycle spanning about 6 weeks. At higher temps, the lifespan of each stage is shortened. When removing fish from the system to treat for ich, raising the tanks temperature can shorten the length of time you need to keep the fish out of the system. Just raising the temp in the tank without removing the fish will do nothing for treating ich and will probably just stress the fish out more.

Although ich is a parasite, I fully believe that stress is a major triggering factor to ich outbreaks. Low temperatures seem to be a constant trigger. I have heard of many cases where ich outbreaks occured after the tank heater failed. Many times no new additions had been made to the tank for weeks or months prior. The ich was already in the system and when the fish became stressed, they became susceptible to ich.

 

[LyndaB]

I completely agree with the stress factor.

 

[xtra51]

I agree with the low temps. being the cause of ICH. ICH is always in the water and you can never get rid of it. Keeping ICH at bay means good water quality.

 

[Saltwaterfishgirl]

One more tid bit in my terrible journey with this.

what you're treating is ich.

To effectively treat ich, it's important to understand a little
bit about the life cycle of the organism.

-------> ADULT (on fish) -------
| |
| |
| |
** TOMITE ** TROPHOZOITE
| |
| |
| |
------------- CYST --------------

The adult stage lives on the skin and body of the fish. It will burrow under the epidermis, causing skin damage. Disruption of the skin
leads to osmoregulatory disturbances, osmotic stress, and allows for the easy entrance of secondary invaders like bacteria.
The cyst stage lives on the bottom of the aquarium, and gives rise to about 300 tomites per cyst.


** THE TOMITE STAGE IS THE ONLY STAGE WHICH IS SENSITIVE TO MEDICATION!


The life cycle takes 12-16 days to complete, depending on the
temperature, and the tomite stage lasts for only three days.

 

[Saltwaterfishgirl]

I have a journal recording the first time i saw a white "egg" and when i noticed it fell "off".

Its a pain in the butt however i feel like a dorky scientist and I'm saving there life.