Ich questions

[black hills tj]

Hey everyone,

When treating ich with heat you are supposed to the leave the temp over 85 for 2 weeks after the spots are all gone. What if the only fish affected die, do you still leave the temp up at 85 for 2 weeks if none of the other fish show symptoms?

 

[papa_bear_21]

Hey everyone,

When treating ich with heat you are supposed to the leave the temp over 85 for 2 weeks after the spots are all gone. What if the only fish affected die, do you still leave the temp up at 85 for 2 weeks if none of the other fish show symptoms?

I honestly would, as you never know for sure how many of the little buggers are hiding. It wont hurt the fish to keep it up for 2 weeks, as long as the temp is steady...

 

[bwaymusgal]

In my experience, yes keep the tank up. I actually keep my tanks up in the 82-84 range as per a suggestion on another forum, and since I started doing that, I've never had ich come back again. My sister does the same thing and hasn't had any ich either. Doesn't seem to hurt the fish at all, just keep it steady as with any temp.

 

[QTOFFER]

I would keep the temp up for the full two weeks also. If one fish in the tank has ich, then the whole tank should be considered infected and treated as such.

 

[Zagz]

Keep the heat over 86, I go for 87-88 for 2 weeks regardless of whether you see the spots or not. That is why we say to keep the temps up for 2 weeks after the last spot is visible. The main problem with keeping tropical fish over 80F is that it speeds up their metabolism and shortens thier lifespan. Not to mention there is less O2 in the warmer water.

 

[Skyrmir]

As others have said, keep the temp up. 99.9% of the ich in the tank is actually in the water and gravel, you only see the few that actually infect a fish. Kinda like cockroaches, if you see one, there's a hundred more in the wall somewhere.