Ick.. Best way to cure

[janice_016]

Hey

I'm wondering what everyone's opinion is for curing ick? My two platys have a white spot or two on them. They are both acting healthy, eating, swimming around. One just had babies, I have a total of 4 fry in a breeder net in the tank. Other fish (3 black skirt tetras and 4 zebra danios and a sucker fish) all appear healthy. I have a 37 gallon tank.
All levels are good, steady.
I'm trying to avoid adding chemicals.
Was thinking of raising the temperature slowly to 85 and adding some aquarium salt aswell. Worried about the fry though.

Any suggestions would be great!
Merry christmas!

 

[Miyavp]

I've always used jungle start ick cure. I used salt and heat with a betta once before I was treating a fungal infection at the same time and it worked okay. Idk about the fry though. Maybe you have another tank they could be moved too while your main tank is being treated?

 

[janice_016]

Unfortunately no other tank. I should really get one started though.
Any idea how long it will take with the heat and salt for the ick to be gone?

 

[Miyavp]

Well with the salt it took my tank about a week with water changes and everything but thats also accounting my other meds. With my jungle cure it took less than 24 hours but I'm not sure if its safe for your fry.

 

[Miyavp]

Do you have a large rubbermaid container? And an extra bubbler? If you did you could float it in your large tank to keep the tempurature the same and put the fry in it with the bubbler.

 

[janice_016]

I can get another bubble machine.. And a Rubbermaid. Would I need to treat the fry, or at least their water aswell though?

I'll see if I can find the jungle cure, I would like the ick gone ASAP so I don't lose any fish.

Thanks for your responses !

 

[Miyavp]

I'm not sure. If no fry have ick which is what I'm hoping no. But if you see any that do you might want to leave them in the tank to be cured and separate the rest. Let me do some research hold on.

 

[Miyavp]

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090406221151AAvPIlS
Heres an idea

 

[Miyavp]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f17/treat-ich-but-keep-fry-alive-41950.html
All the articles found so far dont suggest using meds. If you had another tank to treat the fry in I'd suggest using meds on your full grown fish but since you dont you might just have to stick with the salt and heat treatment. Idk if its neccisary but when using any sort of medication or salt in the water I do water changes in between treatments. Just a safe rule of thumb.

 

[janice_016]

Thank you for all the info!

I'm going to try the heat and salt water and see if I can get my hands on another small tank or something to separate the fry in.

Merry christmas!

 

[Miyavp]

Thank you for all the info!

I'm going to try the heat and salt water and see if I can get my hands on another small tank or something to separate the fry in.

Merry christmas!

merry christmas

 

[janice_016]

Fish did not do well with the high temperature 85/86 degrees. All were breathing fast.. Acting strange. 2 baby fry were not doing well either. So I've turned the temperature back down.. Still have the salt in the tank.. Anything else I can do to treat the ick? Worried about chemicals with the baby fry.

Thanks

 

[Miyavp]

Fish did not do well with the high temperature 85/86 degrees. All were breathing fast.. Acting strange. 2 baby fry were not doing well either. So I've turned the temperature back down.. Still have the salt in the tank.. Anything else I can do to treat the ick? Worried about chemicals with the baby fry.

Thanks

Hmmm I'd keep the temp high not that high, maybe 83? All the temp does it speed up the icks life cycle. I dont think you have enough oxygenation in your water. Oxygen disolves faster in warmer water, thus why water boils. So if you could add a bubbler or lower your tank water level to allow the filter to spash more that might help. I know a few natural treatments sold let me go find a few of them. Brb.

 

[Miyavp]

While I've never used any of these here are some natural ick treatments. Both petco and petsmart carry one. The one at petsmart had some good reviews.
http://m.petsmart.com/mt/www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11066250#carousel
http://m.petco.com/product/120315/Petco-Herbal-Ich-Treatment-for-Aquariums-And-Garden-Ponds.aspx

 

[janice_016]

I do have a bubble machine. It's a full wand covering the bottom of the tank so there is lots of oxygen... Will the white spots still fall off the fish at 83 degrees?

Thanks for the replies!

 

[Miyavp]

I'm not sure. I've only treated ick with salt once and it was a while ago. I suppose since it speeds up their life cycle eventually yes. And you might want to lower your tank level anyway just to give them some more oxygen. Theirs no harm in it.

 

[janice_016]

Now fish has clamped fins!! I've treated the tank about 3 weeks ago with Mardel maracyn for a fish that had a white spot and clamped fins aswell. He got very worse and died right after treatment.

 

[Miyavp]

Hmmm.....I had a fish with ammonia poisoning and clamped fin once. Between avid water changes and using a stress coat with aloe vera in it he got better. Just make sure your keeping up those water changes. Nothing is better for them than to keep the clean and healthy water. So what is your situation right now?

 

[janice_016]

No ammonia and ph is a lil high but always has been. The tank levels are all steady. Nothing has changed which is why I'm not sure what to do. They all eat and act happy and healthy. Do water changes about every 10 days - 2 weeks. About 25 %. Rarely have fish die. Have had the tank up and going for over a year now

 

[Miyavp]

No ammonia and ph is a lil high but always has been. The tank levels are all steady. Nothing has changed which is why I'm not sure what to do. They all eat and act happy and healthy. Do water changes about every 10 days - 2 weeks. About 25 %. Rarely have fish die. Have had the tank up and going for over a year now

Hmmm...How many fish in the tank and what size? I might increse your water changes if I were you. 50% a week is suggested I do 25% a week but one a week is typically the norm.