ICK!!!!!!!!!!!!MORE ICK!!!!!!!!!!!!I'm desperate here!!!!

[ADCISCO]

I dont know what to do now guys. I just did the water change and I would say that half of my fish have ick and some of there fins look kind of ragged. I remedicated the tank and soon as I remedicated I noticed I had a dead white tetra....with ONE EYE!!!!!!!! Oh what am I going to do....am I going to loose all my fish?????I cant figure out what is going on my tank and was wondering if it would be ok to use melafix with the nox ich? Oh please if anyone can help me send me an email or anything.....pray or something....I dont want to loose all my fish that I have taken so long to get!!!!!!!!!

 

[Tigerlily]

ADCISCO - I am definitely no expert, but from keeping up with the posts on this site, I've noticed that people using the high heat treatment recommended by Allivymar in her article have had good luck with ridding their tanks of ick, without ridding their tanks of fish... I know you've been medicating, but have you tried the heat treatment? Here is a link to Alli's article... Good luck! I'll be pulling for your fishies!

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=32

 

[Tigerlily]

Here's a link to a thread where someone recently used heat to sucessfully cure ich. He lost only one fish, that was already sick when he started treating. Hopefully this will be of some help to you too! Keeping my fingers crossed...

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=11205&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=10

 

[ADCISCO]

Allivymar has given it to me before but for some reason it wouldnt come up but this time I finally got what you sent me to look at the posts. But still couldnt bring up the artical. I upped the temp but I wonder if I should continue the ich meds???

 

[Tigerlily]

I wonder why the article won't come up? According to that article, all you need is the heat. *Slowly* raise the heat to at least 86 degrees. Here, I've cut and pasted from Alli's article below so you can see what it says about the heat treatment. I don't think you need to use meds with the heat treatment. Maybe Alli will come by and confirm that...

High temperature is an effective treatment.

Ich appears not to be able to survive temperatures above 86F. By raising temps to above 86F one can kill all the parasites; generally, 4-5 days after the temps have been raised above 86F you will see a reduction in white spots on your fish. It is best to continue temps above 86F for at least 2 weeks to ensure all the parasites have been killed. Do not raise temperatures too quickly. 1 to 1 ½ degrees F every 12 hours is best, although if you keep your temps very low you may need to shorten that to 1 degree F every 6 hours. Raising temps too quickly can stress fish. Keep in mind, Ich multiplies more quickly at higher temps below 86F; it is necessary to find a balance between raising temps slowly enough not to stress the fish and quickly enough to keep the fish from becoming too infested with the parasite. Also, be sure all the fish/invertebrates in the tank can handle temps that high; if you’re not sure, do some research and ask.
**High temps reduces the amount of oxygen in the water. Increasing surface agitation, either by lowering water levels if one has a hang on back filters so the water falls further, or adding addition aeration is recommended.

I hope this helps...

 

[ADCISCO]

Thanks alot for doing that for me. I would never find it on my own. I am just getting to know my way around this site.I turned up the heat some......mine is usually on about 82 anyway...so I would imagine it would take a 29 gallon take a while to heat all the way up to 86. I just want that ick gone from my tank and without taking lives of my fish. They just about all have it now and some of them are getting worse since I changed the water and added the ick meds earlier. I guess I am going to hang in there and wait and see what happens.

 

[snapcrackler]

Good luck with getting rid of the ick i hope the elevated temps do the trick.

On a separate note,

If you normally run at 82 that seems pretty warm for normal operations.

I have always run 78 in the majority of my FW tanks.

Just 2cents worth

8)

 

[sweetsuvvyb]

Do you have a thermometer or thermostat on your tank?

If you don't get the temps up to or above 86 degrees F, you're kinda shooting yourself in the foot. As you read, at higher temps below 86 degrees, the ich reproduces faster, which might be why more and more of your fish seem to be getting it. Gotta get that temp up, make sure you've got lots of surface agitation, then you can only wait.

Good luck...

 

[ADCISCO]

Now I have another fish problem. My rainbow fish is starting to get a coating over one of its eyes. I hope you all know I am about to have a nervous breakdown over these fish. Now what do I do? Can I add Melafix????? Oh somebody PLEASE help me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[PhilMar]

I know how you feel, Just hang in there and follow Allivymar's article to the max. I had the same problem (infested with ick) and here I am after 2.5 weeks and ick free . I kept my temp @ 88 degrees and good surface agitation.

Good luck

 

[peter101]

k here's what to do
i've read that you've already pumped up your tank temperature to 82, which is the rgiht thing to do, but i'd suggest even higher - make sure you raise the temperature gradually. incase you're unsure of why you're doing this, this is beacue the ICK cannot live at this temperature and will die, but your fish can.
one of the best meds i've ever used to cure ICK is called QuICK Cure. It took ick out of my 20 gallon in 3 days. This contains Formalin and Malachite Green - chemicals which will kill the ICK parasite, but will stain clear silicone blue, pretty much permanently
just follow the directions on the bottle and you should be fine
good luck
peter

 

[ADCISCO]

Well so far I have lost 3 neons and 1 small gold fish of some sort....which we all know that neons are the hardiest of fish and the gold fish....he was ment for a feeder fish for my sister in laws piranha so I guess so far I feel pretty luck to too have lost my favorites......knock on wood! Its all just so confusing. Can you gt quick cure at walmart? or do you have to go to the petstore? Dont want to make anymore trips than needed.

 

[ADCISCO]

That post made no cents!lol I ment that neons ARENT the hardiest of fish! and that I feel pretty luck NOT to have lost my favorite....Im in the dark typing so anything I type could be a type o!

 

[jsoong]

I can find Quick cure at Walmart up here (& at half the price of the lfs too).

BTW, the goldfish, esp single tail varieties, may not survive 88F heat treatment for the 2-3 weeks needed. The highest recommended temp for goldies I can find anywhere is around 84F. The last time I treated ich I used salt at 0.3% for 3 whole weeks (That is in Aliv's article too) & so far (touch driftwood) there had not been any sign of recurrence.

Good luck with your fish.

 

[ADCISCO]

Still ick!

Well The ones that have it the worst is the barbs which I think started it all!I'm gonna post the picture but you really cant make out how bad it really is and I have only been able to get my tank to 86 degrees...no highter....been that way for 2 days now.