Ich Question

[Skai]

I've had Ich in old tanks before but never this bad and never with Plecos (which is what my question is about).

I've got a 35 gal hexagon tank and have a 75 gal capacity filter on it. It's been set up for about seven or eight months now. I haven't tested the water quality today but at last check everything was safe and at the usual levels.
I think the Ich came in on some plants I didn't think to quarantine.

I've got seven black skirted tetras, four gold panda mollies, four creamsicle mollies, two small cory cats, and three small plecos. All of the fish are fairly young and the plecos are the longest at not quite two inches long. I just did a water change (about 30%) with gravel vacuuming last night since I was putting in some actual Ich medication. It was pretty bad on a few of the Tetras. Usually though I do a 10% water change a week with vacuuming. The newest fish are the mollies and I've had them for several weeks now. The plant I added was just added about a week ago.

After adding the Ich medication last night the tetras look SO MUCH better. It really has helped them out. But the Plecos are still pretty well covered in spots. I'm trying to not be too concerned since it was just the first treatment but I am curious if anyone knows how well Plecos normally recover from Ich and if there was anything that could be done besides just treating them and waiting? I've read about salt baths but I've never attempted something like that before. Plecos are kind of new to me, usually I've had swordtails and tetras in my old tanks.

 

[pittbully13]

First off I'm sorry that you're dealing with the issue. I know it can be kind of frustrating but it can be cured . All sick fish should be treated in a quarantine tank but it seems like you have already treated your main tank. If that's the case, I would stick to the directions that came with the medication and continue dosing the main tank. I would also gradually raise the temperature of the aquarium to 80 or 82 degrees. This will help speed up the ich's life cycle. As far as adding salt, I would caution against it, since Cory's and plecos are scaleless fish. I have read people using salt with plecos with no ill affects but I still wouldn't do it.

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[pittbully13]

After using the ich medication for the recommended time , do a big water change 50 to 60 percent as well as a good gravel vacuum. Hope this helps.

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[Skai]

Thanks for the advice. Yes I treated the main tank since the Ich exploded so fast it seemed to be on all the fish to some extent. On a side note, does a really bad Ich on a fish affect the fins and tail? One of my Tetras that had it the worst has gotten severely ripped up tail now and I'm not sure if it's just from how bad the Ich was or if that's a secondary problem that I also need to treat.

 

[Skai]

So, An update.

I lost both Corys unfortunately. I'm still treating the Ich though because, while it was nearly gone on all the fish it suddenly has returned to the Tetras. Is it normal for the Ich to hop back onto the fish even if I haven't stopped treating for it yet?

 

[Delapool]

So, An update.

I lost both Corys unfortunately. I'm still treating the Ich though because, while it was nearly gone on all the fish it suddenly has returned to the Tetras. Is it normal for the Ich to hop back onto the fish even if I haven't stopped treating for it yet?

It would be unusual ime.

What ich medication are you using to treat with?

Also forgive the question, but just in case are you running any carbon, purigen, zeolite, etc in the filters - anything with may soak up the meds?

 

[Skai]

I'm using Marineland Ich Remedy. And the only thing in my filter currently is the sponge and the biofilter material (the remedy made no mention of removing that). Though I have noticed that some time after I do the water change recommended on the bottle the water is crystal clear and then gets cloudy for some reason I can't figure out. All the water quality levels are really good since I've been doing so much water change to try and combat this.

 

[BBradbury]

Treating "Ich"

Hello Skai...

The chances of a healthy fish getting "Ich" is very remote. Aquarium fish stay healthy if you change out a lot of tank water and do it every few days. If you neglect the water and allow wastes to build up, then poor water conditions will stress the fish. When fish are stressed, their immune system weakens and parasites living on the fishes' skin can cause sickness. The parasites live in a dormant state for months on our fish, just like germs on our body.

You treat Ich by improving the water conditions, so the fishes' immune system gets strong again. Work up to 50 percent water changes daily and vacuum the bottom material if you can. Many of the parasites will be living there. Raise the temperature of the tank water to the low 80s, to retard the growth of future parasites. Higher temps can damage plants, though. Add an air stone attached to an air pump to get more oxygen into the water or add a small filter that hangs on the back of the tank. Warmer water doesn't hold oxygen as well as cool water.

Salt is fine as a treatment. But again, too much will damage plants. A teaspoon or two in every 5 gallons of new, treated tap water is enough.

Keep the food to a minimum. Sick fish aren't likely to want to eat and you don't want uneaten food to dirty the tank water. Feed a little every couple of days.

Chemicals, with the exception of water treatment, shouldn't go into the tank water. You never know how fish, plants and even the good bacteria colony will be effected.

You can treat the tank this way until you see improvement in the fish. Then maintain large, weekly water changes for the life of the tank. If you take care of the water, you'll have no tank problems. The fish and plants will take care of themselves.

B

 

[Delapool]

I'm using Marineland Ich Remedy. And the only thing in my filter currently is the sponge and the biofilter material (the remedy made no mention of removing that). Though I have noticed that some time after I do the water change recommended on the bottle the water is crystal clear and then gets cloudy for some reason I can't figure out. All the water quality levels are really good since I've been doing so much water change to try and combat this.

Filter sounds fine.

I have a speculative note this treatment may be slower acting but seems odd as it cleared them up quite quick in your earlier post.

Off to bed. Is it definitely ich returning and not anything else?


http://m.petsmart.com/h5/hub?id=htt...atment-zid36-5210366/cat-36-catid-300046?null


Edit - I've had ich come in with plant water as well.

 

[Skai]

I'm pretty sure it is the Ich returning. I'll try and see if I can't get a picture to post on here when I get home.

 

[Delapool]

Hello Skai...

The chances of a healthy fish getting "Ich" is very remote. Aquarium fish stay healthy if you change out a lot of tank water and do it every few days. If you neglect the water and allow wastes to build up, then poor water conditions will stress the fish. When fish are stressed, their immune system weakens and parasites living on the fishes' skin can cause sickness. The parasites live in a dormant state for months on our fish, just like germs on our body.

You treat Ich by improving the water conditions, so the fishes' immune system gets strong again. Work up to 50 percent water changes daily and vacuum the bottom material if you can. Many of the parasites will be living there. Raise the temperature of the tank water to the low 80s, to retard the growth of future parasites. Higher temps can damage plants, though. Add an air stone attached to an air pump to get more oxygen into the water or add a small filter that hangs on the back of the tank. Warmer water doesn't hold oxygen as well as cool water.

Salt is fine as a treatment. But again, too much will damage plants. A teaspoon or two in every 5 gallons of new, treated tap water is enough.

Keep the food to a minimum. Sick fish aren't likely to want to eat and you don't want uneaten food to dirty the tank water. Feed a little every couple of days.

Chemicals, with the exception of water treatment, shouldn't go into the tank water. You never know how fish, plants and even the good bacteria colony will be effected.

You can treat the tank this way until you see improvement in the fish. Then maintain large, weekly water changes for the life of the tank. If you take care of the water, you'll have no tank problems. The fish and plants will take care of themselves.

B

I'm wary that salt dosage is too low level. It is mentioned in the link below - have you had success with it?

Also wary the temp increase needs to be high enough at around 86F and not just speed the cycle up.


http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_ich2.php

 

[Skai]

Okay, I can't get the picture to work... stupid camera. But I'm sure it's definitely Ich again and it's spread back onto the plecos, which is particularly frustrating since it just got off of them.

 

[Delapool]

Okay, I can't get the picture to work... stupid camera. But I'm sure it's definitely Ich again and it's spread back onto the plecos, which is particularly frustrating since it just got off of them.

That's really weird. All I've used here is MG + formalin or the heat treatment method. Takes a bit to finally go but fish don't really get re-infected either way.

So this is over a week that you have been doing treatment? What is tank temp?

 

[Skai]

Yes, I've been treating for over a week at this point and the tank temp is currently hovering around 84-85 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

[Delapool]

Yes, I've been treating for over a week at this point and the tank temp is currently hovering around 84-85 degrees Fahrenheit.

To be honest I'd either bump it up another degree or two (as per heat treatment method link) or change meds.

I can understand it taking over a week to clear. I've done a similar approach (with really good aeration) and it still took a week to start to go and two weeks to clear the last spot. So even though ich life cycle should be days at that temp, I've found it can stick around for longer.

From memory some fish got new spots or fish that were fine at day 1, then caught it at say day 3 but the white spots were in the main clearing up, there was no serious re-infestation. The fish catching it on day 3 didn't really worry me as at the time I had only one heater and it was taking a bit to lift tank temp.