ICH treatments, what works the best?

[n3wt]

I have had ICH before in my tank and I bought this stuff called Rid-Ich from Kordon and it seemed to have worked when I raised the temperature along with giving the treatments. Now I see some early sings of it beginning to show on my cichlids. I was wondering what works the best with raising the temperature and doing water cycles. what product. I hear a product called Coppersafe or something close to that name works the best but it kills off shell fish and I have an electric blue crayfish and a few snails in my tank, I don't know if that is true but I don't want to risk it if it might kill them.

Anyone have any suggestions on a good product to use or is the one that I am currently using a good one?

 

[FishEggs]

I just use high temps to kill the ich. you have to keep the temp up at 86 degrees for 2 full weeks after seeing the last spot disappear. Raise the temp slowly to not stress the fish even more. it is not safe to put anything with copper in it into the tank as you will kill any and all inverts in the tank and the copper lingers so you may never be able to put inverts back into the tank. the other thing is that those high temp will also be hard on the inverts and kill them so it would be best to pull them out and keep them in another tank/container for a few weeks but ich doesn't affect them so by the time you transfer them back any ich that might have been with them will be dead also since it wouldnt have a host.

also with the higher temp the water doesnt absorb and hold oxygen as well so you should either add an air stone if you dont have one already or drop the level of the water so the hang on back filter return makes a lot of bubble.

 

[tamra&steven]

i dont know what temp cichlids like i dont keep any but, if you have a lower temp and not very much movement in your temp like rapid spikes of temp going up you will be alot less likely to have ich. also if you were to use a uv light you would have alot less chance as well. if we ever have ich on freshwater tank we usequick cureby ap pro. this work well. no harm done to our fish

 

[tamra&steven]

also at a lower temp disease has a harder time living

 

[Dave66]

I quarantine everything and am very careful to make sure the water change water is the same temperature and chemistry of that in the tank. Thus, I haven't had to deal with disease in a main tank in decades.
Once in a blue moon I get a fish in with a spot or two of Ich in quarantine since they are shipped long distance. Best way I know to get rid of the Ich parasite is a marine water dip. It's important to catch the disease early, but the dip always works. Mix up some marine water, raise the temperature to that of the aquarium with the diseased fish. I use Aquarium System's Reef Crystals to make the marine water, since I have a lot of it on hand for my reef tanks. Move the affected fish into the marine water, and keep him there until the fish shows distress, which is usually within five minutes. The fish can stand the marine water for a short time - the parasite can't stand the change in osmotic pressure and dies.
Move the fish into quarantine. Usually the fish is clear of the parasite within three days.
For marine fish, it's the opposite, but the freshwater has to have the exact same pH and water parameters as the tank the fish comes from. Marine fish show distress in less than three minutes, but it only takes two days for the fish to be clear of the parasite.

Dave

 

[An t-iasg]

I agree that quarantining is the best way to handle new fish. That's the best thing you can do to prevent diseases from coming into the main tank. Since ich is now in your main tank, I agree that the higher temperatures are the best way to treat it. Some of those ich meds may stain your tank silicone, plus they are not effective at all stages of the ich as explained below. I would also be very hesitant to induce stress in a fish while treating a disease. The fish are already under stress and may not be able to handle another stressful situation.

The ich parasite has three life cycles or stages: on the fish (the only stage we can see), free-floating in the water, and in the gravel. The ich falls off the fish, floats/swims through the water, and falls to the gravel to reproduce. When the ich is on the fish or in the gravel, it encapsulates itself so that meds are not effective. The only stage that meds are effective is the free-floating stage. However, heat is effective at all the stages. Raise the temperature to 87 or 88 degrees and keep it there for two weeks after you see the last spot. This extra time is important to make sure all the reproduction activity is finished.

Heat is also effective at treating the whole tank. Removing one or two fish to treat won't help eliminate the ich that is in the water or in the gravel.

Ich reproduces rapidly at 85-86 degrees. As you move through that temperature range, you may see an increase in spots. Try not to linger in that temperature range too long. The ich begins to die at 87-88 degrees, so try to reach that temperature range as quickly as you can without stressing the fish. As a starting point, raise the temperature one degree every 6-8 hours.

 

[n3wt]

Ok, that is what I have been doing in the past for ICH treatments, just wondering if there was a good product to use. But I guess the best way to get rid of it is to raise the temp and stuff. Thanks for the advice !