Ich!! Help

[KyloRen]

2 days ago I got two yoyo loaches from [big box store] and now one of them has ICH. I've started raising the temperature of the tank to about 86 degrees about 2 degrees every hour at the moment it is at 78. I just ordered some aquarium salt on amazon it should be coming in on friday. I also turned on my air bubbler im not sure if its enough. Should I use a wave maker for aeration too? Do those work like that? I also have plants im worried about will the salt and heat end up killing them? I would move them to my 10 gallon puffer tank but then I would run the risk of infecting my puffer named Kylo(lol). What should I do?

 

[KyloRen]

I also may know the cause [big box store] had two irian red rainbow fish with ich on them but they were in different tanks so I didnt think it would matter, I guess it did but I think the real cause of the outbreak was the huge temperature drop that happened yesterday. Due to a power outage. The tank dropped to 50 degrees and I guess that kicked started the Ich outbreak.

 

[Autumnsky]

Hi,

Stress will cause Ich to take over and the temp will also do that, the 2 together, bam!

You are heading in the right direction for this.

The plants can go into a other tank/bucket with a light, the fish don't need a light.

Many plants don't like salt and really warm water. Any snails, they can go into the tank/bucket too. The plants will be alright though they may have Ich in them. More info and the life cycle here
Ich | The Skeptical Aquarist

Make sure the treatment time is continued after the last Ich is seen, I wait a week after last sightings.

 

[KyloRen]

How will I treat the plants for ich? Also will a basking light(the ones for turtles) be good enough light for the plants? I don't really have any other lights. Should I still do water changes? I forgot I have shrimps should I be worried about the shrimps?

 

[Autumnsky]

Ich requires a fish as a host. When the plants are separate, the Ich will die if the plants don't have any fish with them, to live their life cycle in. Can you look at the basking light and see if it has a K rating a 4 digit number followed by K i.e. 5600K ?

Otherwise you can use a CFL Daylight bulb 5600K-8500K Higher K level will work but but lower you will start loosing plant growth. There are Aqueon plant growing compact CFL bulbs Petsmart and Petco should, and walmart has a different brand ~$10. You can use a desk, architect or clamp light.

You could also move your tank light too.

Move the shrimp they can live with the plants, I was told shrimp don't get /host Ich.

They can't live with threatment using anything with copper, methylene blue, other treatments FYI. And likely they would die in the tank, after using copper.

 

[KyloRen]

I have no idea what kind of basking light it is so I don't think I can tell you the ratings sorry. I have a spare 10 gallon but it doesn't have a filter will the shrimps be okay without a filter? As for the light its 48inches long and the area I have the tank setup on isnt really 48inches long so unless I can fold the light it wont work. My plants aren't really high light plants its dwarf sags, anubias nana, horntwort, java moss and one amazon sword

 

[KyloRen]

How do I apply the salt? is it table spoon per gallon? I have two loaches so should I use less than the recommended?

 

[Autumnsky]

Can check about loaches...
Salt should be mixed according to recommended amount listed in link - enought for the whole tank till dissolved BUT not added all at once. Maybe over a day. Say with 4 divided amounts.
Do a couple really good gravel vacs beforehand & pwc. Then any water you remove you add back correct amount of salt mixed in.

Make sure and read the article I linked on my first post to you.

 

[KyloRen]

Today I noticed that my loach isn't going crazy anymore or rubbing against the ornaments and that the two little white spots arent there anymore. Is it still necessary to add salt?

 

[Autumnsky]

I would say yes based on the life cycle... did you have time to read about the life cycle?

 

[KyloRen]

Yes I did read it a bit and I believe I am on the tomont stage. So I just did a large water change and vacuumed the gravel. I was wondering is it safe to use the water changing equipment in other tanks? or should I allow for it to dry.
I found a small little dot on the yoyo's pelvic fin I guess it didnt all fall off ;/

 

[Autumnsky]

I'm not sure how to clean it best, but I wouldn't use it in another tank until you sanitized it. Just to be on the safe side.

 

[machotaco]

I would recommend taking the temperature closer to 89-90 Fahrenheit. It's really made a difference in my battle with ich. Just watch your fish, they will "tell" you if this is to hot. Then again I didn't use salt because of my plants and Cory's... Wishing you the best of luck with the battle though.


Sent from Luca via magic

 

[KyloRen]

Everything seems good my salt came in today and I added some not sure how much so I tried not to use too much. the one little dot that was on my loaches fin seems to have disappeared so hopefully it fell off and the salt will handle it. As for the equipment i'm thinking about a bleach dip not sure how much bleach to use though.

 

[KyloRen]

I would recommend taking the temperature closer to 89-90 Fahrenheit. It's really made a difference in my battle with ich. Just watch your fish, they will "tell" you if this is to hot. Then again I didn't use salt because of my plants and Cory's... Wishing you the best of luck with the battle though.


Sent from Luca via magic

I actually had it at 90 degrees the fishes didnt seem to mind but I got a little scared and lowered the temp down a little bit about 2 degrees. Do you happen to know how long ich can survive on plants? I have my plants in a spare 10 gallon with the temp at about 86 degrees

 

[Autumnsky]

"One is a long-term salt bath, building up over the first eight hours to a strength of one level teaspoon of common table salt per net gallon of water (and for some salt-tolerant freshwater fishes as much as a tablespoon, the equivalent of three teaspoons), at a temperature that is raised over 86oF. Plain table salt won't affect the pH of the water, but it must be strong enough: the Southern Regional Aquaculture Center reports a case of Ich withstanding a long-term bath of 5 parts per thousand.

Many experienced fishkeepers swear by this traditional salt bath. "

This from the above referenced article.

 

[sam180]

I would recommend taking the temperature closer to 89-90 Fahrenheit. It's really made a difference in my battle with ich. Just watch your fish, they will "tell" you if this is to hot. Then again I didn't use salt because of my plants and Cory's... Wishing you the best of luck with the battle though.


Sent from Luca via magic

So you were able to beat ich without meds or salt, just by raising the temp only?

 

[sinibotia]

I would not use salt with loaches, they do NOT like it.

If you raise your temperature to 86 degrees the ich parasite can no longer reproduce properly. Leave the temp at that for around 10 days and you'll no longer have ich. This is my prefered treatment method for loaches.

Also you're gonna want more loaches; they will be unhappy with just 2 and can even become aggressive.

 

[sam180]

I would not use salt with loaches, they do NOT like it.

If you raise your temperature to 86 degrees the ich parasite can no longer reproduce properly. Leave the temp at that for around 10 days and you'll no longer have ich. This is my prefered treatment method for loaches.

Also you're gonna want more loaches; they will be unhappy with just 2 and can even become aggressive.

I'm trying this method as we speak. My new 240g was just fine until I bought 4 clown loaches (the main reason for the big tank upgrade) and 2 of them had ich. I've debated on trying meds but it seems most of them stain your tank, and everything in it, blue. No thanks. Also nearly half my stock are loaches, so I am super hesitant on trying salt.

 

[sinibotia]

Loaches typically respond badly to many meds and to salt. But I have never had issues with botia loaches and heat.

And I should add that you might want to invest in a quarantine; I know from experience treating a big tank for anything is no fun