Ich?

[abw0004]

I noticed this morning that my female gold ram was a white speck on each fin. This was noticed today but she is swimming just fine and is eating. There aren't any more specs on her body nor are there any on the other fish. I have had her for three weeks now and the last fish introduced was two weeks ago. Should I be worried? I thought that if it were ich that it would hit when the fish were brand new to the tank, not when they have been there for a while?

 

[abw0004]

Any ideas?

 

[jlk]

If you have only had the ram for three weeks and you also introduced more new fish only two weeks ago, ich is definitely still a possibility. If it appears to be ich, you should treat accordingly. Please ask if you have questions!

 

[abw0004]

What is the best way to treat it? Also is treating for ich and it isn't ich, would that harm the fish?

 

[jlk]

Does it appear like fine grains of sand? Ich will more typically appear (or be more obvious) on the fins and tail before anywhere else but it can be anywhere on a fish (including inside the gills). If the spots are large, it may not be ich and may indicate something else.

Generally, heat along with frequent wcs and good gravel vacs is sufficient to treat most cases of ich in tropical fish. Please ask questions!

 

[abw0004]

Since I have plants I can't do gravel vaccums. What temperature do you recommend? I will need to buy another heater as my current one is pre-set. How often and what percent for the water changes? And would salt help or no?

 

[jlk]

Since I have plants I can't do gravel vaccums. What temperature do you recommend? I will need to buy another heater as my current one is pre-set. How often and what percent for the water changes? And would salt help or no?

You can wave the water along the substrate with your hands towards the vac to help remove any cysts. Temperature ranges recommended are 86-88f. Make sure the temp increase is gradual (over 2-3days) and that you add extra aeration as warm water holds less oxygen. Anything that disturbs the surface will help (reducing water levels so filters splash, adding bubblers or powerheads, etc). Maintain the temp along with frequent wcs for one week after the last spot is gone then gradually reduce it to normal.

Salt can be used by itself (no heat) to treat ich but the salinity needed would kill your plants. It's also not suitable for inverts or scaleless fish (plecos, cories, etc). You can try adding a low dose of salt (@1tsp/5g) and see how your plants handle it. It can always be increased if needed. Make sure the salt is dissolved in some water before adding it.

Alternately, meds can be used but you will need to make sure they are plant-friendly and suitable for all your creatures. Inverts and scaleless fish will be affected to the greatest degree by most common ich meds.

Hope this helps! Please ask if you have questions!

 

[abw0004]

With that temperature being so high, will that kill my fish? I have guppies, neon tetras, dwarf Gouramis, gold rams, clown pleco, mystery snails, and red cherry shrimp. Also, is vacuuming nessesary? I only ask because I will already need to buy a new heater and buying a vaccum I will use once will cost a lot.

 

[jlk]

With that temperature being so high, will that kill my fish? I have guppies, neon tetras, dwarf Gouramis, gold rams, clown pleco, mystery snails, and red cherry shrimp. Also, is vacuuming nessesary? I only ask because I will already need to buy a new heater and buying a vaccum I will use once will cost a lot.

The shrimp and snails can actually be moved elsewhere as they do not contract ich. I am honestly not sure how well they would handle the temps but please ask in the invert section for further advice. Your other fish should handle it ok but they may not be happy about it. Increasing the aeration and increasing the temp gradually is the best approach so they have time to adjust.

Gravel vacs help but are not a must. Heat is the least toxic form of treatment for tropicals so its best to try a natural approach before considering other options.

 

[abw0004]

What percentage of water should I change everyday? Or however many days?

 

[jlk]

If you can manage a decent water change (25-50%) daily, that's great! If not, try to aim for every day or so. The water changes will help with removing the free swimming stage of the parasite and ensure that the water is healthy to help your fish recover.

 

[abw0004]

I just started another thread but you might be a great person to ask! I started raising the temperatures today but I am afraid of going over 84 degrees. Also I did a salt dip for the ram with ich and I almost killed her! It was heart breaking to watch her writhe in pain in the saltwater for 30 seconds. Is this normal?

 

[jlk]

I just started another thread but you might be a great person to ask! I started raising the temperatures today but I am afraid of going over 84 degrees. Also I did a salt dip for the ram with ich and I almost killed her! It was heart breaking to watch her writhe in pain in the saltwater for 30 seconds. Is this normal?

Normal? Yes and no. I am not a fan of salt 'dips' because they are extremely stressful to a fish. They are an effective means to help remove parasites from a fish but need to be used with great caution as they can potentially kill a fish.

The thing to consider here is that unless you are treating the tank at the same time, as soon as the fish is placed back in the tank, he will be exposed to parasites again but he will have some minor slime coat damage and gill irritation from the excess salt making the fish more vulnerable. The bath then becomes nothing more than an extreme stressor.

High salinity salt dips do serve a functional purpose in specific situations and the advice your store offered was not completely wrong- it just was not the best idea for your situation. I would have cut the dip to ten seconds (or as soon as the fish started to roll/tip)- which ever came first then moved the fish to a bucket of fresh water with aeration for half an hour (or until recovered) before moving back to the main tank. This is assuming though the main tank is free of disease. Hope this helps a bit! Please ask any questions!

 

[abw0004]

Okay so today I finally got the temperature to 86 degrees and I have done 30% water changes everyday. Is this all I need to do? I have also done a few salt dips

 

[NinjaTetra]

I just posted a thread detailing my success fighting ich, feel free to check it out. Good luck!

 

[abw0004]

I just read it! But unfortunately I have plants, shrimp, snails, and a pleco so salt won't work. I do have the temperature up to 86 degrees though hoping that will be enough

 

[NinjaTetra]

Oh.... Do you have a smaller tank to move the inverts to? You can try dosing the meds without salt, I just think the salt helps tons. Raising the temperature will mostly just make them reproduce faster.... So you need to do something.

 

[abw0004]

I was told that it will kill the ich at 86 degrees or above. And I don't have another tank unfortunately

 

[Delapool]

I have 86F stops them reproducing, ~90F knocks them off. As temp increases up, then the cycle does speed up yes.

 

[jlk]

High temps along with frequent water changes is usually sufficient to treat ich in most cases. As I mentioned earlier, raising the salinity to .3% will also treat ich (without heat) but this is not suitable for inverts, plants or scaleless fish.