Is this ICH?!?!

[JoeyGeeze]

Hey guys... I really hope not but I was wondering if my barb has ich. This morning I noticed a white dot on its back fin that was definitely not there last night. It's still there after work now. None of my fish arent showing any signs of ich or other problems. There's only one dot on the barb and none on any others. Please help!

Sorry for the bad pics but tiger barbs don't stay still! Haha

 

[JoeyGeeze]

Any thoughts? I'm debating starting to raise the temperature of my tank.

 

[Super_Blueberry]

The pics aren't the best, but it does look like the first spots of Ich. Keep the temp at 86 or so for a week or do after the last spots clears up.

 

[JoeyGeeze]

Ok I've raised the temp up to 79 right now... I don't wanna raise it too quickly and shock my fish. I'm going to raise it up to 80 shortly and 82 in the morning before work.

The only thing that's new In the tank is my Amazon Sword I added Friday night. I wonder if thats where the parasite came from. Ahhh today was a bad day!

 

[Chronos313]

Raise it slowly to 86 and then continue that for 2 weeks after the last spot is seen. Ich can lay dormant in tank so any non normal condition can cause it to spring up in a tank

 

[JoeyGeeze]

So this morning the spot is still on my tiger barb but it looks less prominent. No signs of stress, no other spots, and all my other fish seem fine. All fish ate this morning. The temp was at 80 this morning and I raised the temp to 81. I will raise it up tonight to 83 after work.

I don't know if I'm completely sold on it being ICH yet. Is it possible that i caught it so early that it's just one spot and hasn't multiplied yet?

I've been reading a lot about the parasite and it seems it's most vulnerable in its third stage of life. So, should I make sure I'm at 86 by tonight?

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[LyndaB]

Doesn't look like ich to me. My blood parrots sometimes end up with small pieces of the sand substrate or a tiny particle of flake food on their finnage. Sometimes it's there for a few days and then, voila, it's gone.

Don't raise the temp too high, I just don't think this is ich.

 

[JoeyGeeze]

Doesn't look like ich to me. My blood parrots sometimes end up with small pieces of the sand substrate or a tiny particle of flake food on their finnage. Sometimes it's there for a few days and then, voila, it's gone.

Don't raise the temp too high, I just don't think this is ich.

Thanks Lynda, I was thinking the same thing. I hope you're right. Tonight I will inspect again. I may delay raising the temp much higher until I see more signs that it's actually ich. (keeping my fingers crossed that it's not!)

After the little ammonia scare I had the other day, and now this, this has been a rough fish keeping week!

 

[JoeyGeeze]

Ok so I just inspected and the spot seems to have disappeared. There is still a very faint spot on it's fin, but the bright white spot is no longer. My only concern is that if indeed it was Ich, it has fallen off into the gravel to multiply. Am I going out of my mind here?? Lol

The temp is currently at 80/81.

 

[a.tetreault]

Wait it out for a few days with the raised temp, if you don't see any more signs of ich or anything like that then you can bring your temperature back down to normal.

 

[JoeyGeeze]

Wait it out for a few days with the raised temp, if you don't see any more signs of ich or anything like that then you can bring your temperature back down to normal.

This morning I couldn't see the white spot anymore, I'm really hoping that's a good thing. I will keep the temp at 81 for now just to see how things go. My fish were ravenous when I fed them today! I'm hoping if I don't see anything by Sunday I am OK...

 

[JoeyGeeze]

Ahhh!! Ok I believe I have ich, two different tiger barbs now have one spot each on them. One on his side fin and the other on the back fin. I'm so disappointed!!!

So my temperature is currently at 81, should I start bringing it up to 86? I'd like to rid this naturally with no chemicals. My current fish are kribensis, rainbow cichlid, tiger barbs, kuhli loaches, and a rubber lip pleco. I will also do a water change today, should I gravel vac or just change water? Any help is appreciated!!

 

[LyndaB]

Raise the heat up, and yes, do a gravel vac.

 

[JoeyGeeze]

Raise the heat up, and yes, do a gravel vac.

Thanks Lynda. I'm going to bring it up to 82/83 now and later on go up again. I'm so angry, I've gotten attached to these little guys and don't wanna lose any.

 

[a.tetreault]

you shouldnt lose any since you have caught it early, most fish survive ich when treated properly

 

[JoeyGeeze]

you shouldnt lose any since you have caught it early, most fish survive ich when treated properly

I sure hope so! I'm just going to do the heat method, no chemicals or salt. From what I've read online, people have had success turning the temperature up to 86 for a while.

The good thing is, as of right now I have no signs of stress and all fish are still eating very well.

 

[a.tetreault]

Yup, takes about 2 weeks I just did it with my ten gallon, if you have trouble maintaining a temp of above 86 you can wrap blankets around your tank to keep heat in, just thought I would mention it since a lot of people's heaters don't make it to 86

 

[JoeyGeeze]

Yup, takes about 2 weeks I just did it with my ten gallon, if you have trouble maintaining a temp of above 86 you can wrap blankets around your tank to keep heat in, just thought I would mention it since a lot of people's heaters don't make it to 86

Thanks! My heater goes up to 90 I believe, it's the Hydor inline. I just feel bad for my guys, like I'm baking them in fish soup LOL. 86 is hot!

 

[a.tetreault]

Thanks! My heater goes up to 90 I believe, it's the Hydor inline. I just feel bad for my guys, like I'm baking them in fish soup LOL. 86 is hot!

Hahaha I know what you mean, my boyfriend thought I was trying to cook mine. I had to convince him that I was actually helping them and that I wasn't crazy. Most of my fish actually got a lot more active and colorful at the higher temperatures. The only one who didn't enjoy it was my snail.

 

[JoeyGeeze]

Hahaha I know what you mean, my boyfriend thought I was trying to cook mine. I had to convince him that I was actually helping them and that I wasn't crazy. Most of my fish actually got a lot more active and colorful at the higher temperatures. The only one who didn't enjoy it was my snail.

Yea so far mine have been very active and their appetite seems to have increased.. My girlfriend said the same to me. She said "so you're going to cook your fish in order to make them better?". Yes hahaha.... Only guy I'm worried about is my pleco I know he likes cooler water to begin with.

I actually have a question, I use a python to do my water changes. Is this now infected with ich?? Or does that die once it dries up? I'd hate to get rid of ich and then get it back from my python syphon.