worst ich ever!!!

[fishyfishyfishy]

I bought 4 goldfish yesterday, and they came with free ich. Partly my own fault, I should have examined them closer before i brought them home... but i'm also pretty upset with my LFS for selling them to me. As of today, one has the worst case of ich i have ever seen- he is absolutely COVERED!!!! Poor guy, I hate to see him suffer so much

I called the store yesterday after I noticed the ich, and they apologized and offered to take it back. I will be back in that area tomorrow, and in the meantime i am treating with salt and heat.

I know for sure that I will bring back the worst fish, but would you suggest that I bring back the others? Only one other is showing the spots, but I know that they all have been exposed. And if i do bring them back, should I quarantine the tank for a while before adding new fish?? I'm so disappointed....

 

[BrianNY]

You're apt to get alot of different responses on this subject. Personally, once committed to the cure I wouldn't bring any back. You're doing the right thing with the salt and heat. It sets you back two weeks but you'll have an ich free tank. JMO

 

[fishyfishyfishy]

Well I wouldn't take any back, except this particular fish seems to be dying Keeps going to the top of the tank and laying on his side, or tucking himself behind the filter. If there is not a marked improvement I will take him back tomorrow, because the store has only a 48 hr guarantee. I guess I will give the others a chance tho.

Thanks for your input

 

[Jchillin]

fishy...i feel your pain. I've been treating ich for the past week. The bad news...I've lost 5 fish during this time. I can almost guarantee that the others will show signs after your 48 hour window expires. You might as well take them back (since they came from the same LFS). Good luck.

 

[fishyfishyfishy]

If i decide to bring them back, is there any way to "disinfect" the tank so that I can add new fish without exposing them to ich?

 

[FawnN]

I personally feel that you've already contaminated your tank with ich and you should just continue treating them.

If you have to, just bring the really sick one to the store to show them. Tell them you've decided to keep them and they need to give you store credit anyways.

 

[Menagerie]

You choice may be made easier if you tell us the size of your tank. Each goldy needs 10 gals to itself--even if the tank looks empty.
I'm also not sure goldies do well with the heat and salt treatment. Since goldies are nontropical fish, the higher temps may stress them.
If your heart is set on goldies, take back the illest one--best to let the LFS deal with it and not you (it sounds harsh, but I have tried to save too many ill fish). Continue to treat the other three. This link will help:
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/health2.htm#para

 

[mattrox]

My sister had 5 goldfish in a 20 gal tank of over a year in tropical weather. They were in min 30 degree celcius all they time...... I don't know how often she water chaged, but she never had a loss and they were always active and ate well. They grew to 5 " (maybe more inluding their lovely tails).

They were way overcrwoded and I got rid of all of them on her behalf for that reason.

I would raise the temp.......

 

[TankGirl]

I agree that the tank is already contaminated and you will have to go ahead with some kind of treatment, whether you keep the fish or not. Might as well treat the fish that look like they will survive treatment.

 

[fishyfishyfishy]

well i decided to bring the very sick goldie back to the store. they were very nice and offered to nurse it back to health for me if i wanted to come pick it up in a couple days. they also gave me a couple free doses of Ick Guard to treat my tank along with the salt/heat. I was very happy with this product, it cleared up all visible ick in 24 hours and the fish seem healthier and happier. I will keep up the heat/salt for a while and try to decide if i want to go back to the store for my fish!

 

[mattrox]

Well done on a successful resolution.

 

[PlatyLady]

Wow - sounds like a great lfs! Nurse your fish back to health for you to pick up later, AND give you free treatment for the rest of your tank? I've never found such a place!

 

[Feynman]

I've recently been infected with ich by some fish I didn't quarantine like I should have. I have some Ich Guard II or whatever and I've been using it for about 5 days now. The results are mixed.... the white spots aren't as bad but they are still there. I have heard a lot about the salt/heat treatment but I was hoping to avoid this unless its absolutely imperitive. I can't use salt because I guess cory's don't do well with it... but I could try the heat in addition to the ich guard.

But... shouldn't the ich guard by itself work to clear this up? And, if so... anyone have an idea how long it should take to clear up?

Fishy says that the ich guard cleared their tank within 24 hours... should mine have?

 

[FawnN]

there are several stages of Ich.

1. white spots (parasite underneath the skin) and meds won't work
2. Parasite falls off and into the gravel - this is where your meds will be affective
3. they inclose themselves in a capsule and hatch the free swimming parasites

by increasing your heat, this will help in speeding up the parasite from underneath the skin to falling off into the gravel.

Increase your heat and treat with meds for at least 7-10 days.

I personally would recommend that you increase the heat to 84-86. Once you see the white spots are no longer on your fish, I would do a good vacuuming of your gravel and put the proper dosage of meds back in, depending on how much water you removed. HTH

 

[Feynman]

I knew about the life cycle of ich, but I didn't think about the heat speeding up my meds working on account of getting those buggers out of the skin quicker. Good advice. I'll try the heat/med approach. THANKS!

I hate ICH

 

[Thaiboxer]

I've also had a lot of success in the past with a pure heat/salt treatment. I tried meds on the first dose of ich I faced about 4 years ago and had very heavy casualties - granted, I didn't know much about fish at the time and the LFS I was going too gave terrible advice. The owner seemed more interested in having my fish die so I would replace them than he did in helping me.

The second (and last) time I faced ich, I cranked the tank (slowly) up to 86, and maxxed my salt to the highest recommended by the manufacturer. The ich went away fast and nobody died.

I also had the advantage that I had very hardy south american cichlids the second time around, so that may have had something to do with their survival.

Good luck with whatever course you take!

 

[ttopmustanggt88]

what amount of salt would you recoment ive got a 45 with ich community tank.