HELP ich problem!

[dave2010]

Hi a few days ago I noticed my fish had white spots, I was recommended to us esha exit and esha 2000 I done the 3 day treatment and just checked my fish today some of the ich white spots had gone but there were new ones on the same fishes but in different places! I have been recommended to do a 50% water change and to gradually raise my temperature in the tank and to start the treatment all over again! This treatment says I don't need to increase the temp so will it still work if I do increase it? Also does any one know if I immediately treat my fish for another 3 days with the same dosage will it harm my fish at all? Please help
Thanks

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[UsePinkCrayons]

Hi, I'm sorry to here that you're fighting a battle with ich. I recently successfully treated one of my tanks for the parasite. Bleh. I'm not an expert but this is what I did to treat my little fishies. First of all you should know ich is actually a pararsite that burrows in the fishes flesh and feeds on their blood and tissues, so it cannot be treated successfully in 3days, try 2 weeks atleast. There are 3 life forms of ich, the adult stage where its visibly in the fish, the free swimming stage where the parasite swims throughout the water looking for a host, and the embryonic stage where ich is a cyst that grows at the bottom of your tank or has fallen off of your fish and is looking for a mate. Ich can only be killed with meds during the free swimming stage. By now your tank is infested with the creatures unfortunately. Your best best is finding meds that uses ingredients like malachite green and formaldehyde , try "rid ich " that was my life saver. Only use the correct dosage for the meds or you could poison your fish. Use the meds religiously, for rid ich I used then everyday and in the beginning twice a day. Okay next I suggest raising the temp to atleast 82 degree, no more than 84 that could be harmful . Do this slowly over a period of time so you don't stress your fish. At the most raise one degree per HR. Raising the temp will speed up the ich life cycle, so the parasite will enter the vulnerable free swimming stage more frequently. Keep your tank at a high temp level for no more than one week. Next I suggest adding aquarium salt, not table salt but AQUARIUM SALT. Follow the directiona on the box for how much you should add. I'm not sure how exactly this helps, but it does. It said to increase Gill functioning seeing as the ich parasite is probably heavily colonized in your fish's gills, making it hard for them to breed. If you do all these things you should be able to kill this parasite. Remember to continue to treat your tank for atleast 5 days after you no longer see the white spots on your fish. Id suggest changing the water 20-25% every other day. 50% water changes daily sound stressful. Also if you have a water vaccum or syphon clean the gravel or sand daily to remove as many ich cysts as possible. And you may consider keeping the light off in your tank to make the tank less stressful. If you have scaless fish like loaches, catfish, or pleacos this advice may be no good seeing as meds and salt are harsh on these fish. Hope your little fishies pull through!

 

[dave2010]

Thanks for your reply, should I move my fish to a smaller tank to do the treatnent? That way I can completely clean out my big tank and I will use k

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[dave2010]

Thanks for your reply, should I move my fish to a smaller tank to do the treatnent? That way I can completely clean out my big tank and I will use less treatment and the water changes will be easier?

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[Homedog98]

No, the issue is in the gravel and the filter, just treat the whole tank.