I have a 44 gal breeder stocked with 5 glass catfish, 1 half-banded spiny eel, and one electric blue acara. I recently added some ghost shrimp and a few more plants and ended up with my acara getting ich. Sadly I didn't take any pictures to try and confirm it but im fairly confident it is ich. I started treating with ich-x but after about a week of treatment I noticed some patches of white on a couple of the glass catfish. Unfortunately this morning I found the smallest catfish dead and want to know the next best steps to take. I have an adjustable heater arriving today and was going to switch to treating with higher temps and salt incase the medication was too mich for the catfish (I was already using a lower dose). According to test strips the tanks parameters have been good but I know they aren't the most accurate and plan to get a test kit when I am able. Would appreciate any advice on what I should do, thanks.
Need help on tank with potential ich
- Thread starter idek
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Andy Sager
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Without knowing your exact water parameters and pictures, it will hard to determine the cause of the Ich and a possible medication. That said, are you sure it's Ick and not Epistylis? One way to tell is the location of the spots and whether they are symmetrical in shape or more oblong. Symmetrical would indicate Ick while Oblong would suggest Epistylis. Ick is a parasite that feeds on the fish. Epistylis is a parasite that feeds on the bacteria that lives on the fish so they are treated differently. Heat will help speed up the life cycle of Ick, which is good, but that heat will help the bacteria multiply making the infestation of Epistylis worse which is bad.
Use this chart to determine which you have then we can go forward.
Use this chart to determine which you have then we can go forward.
Appreciate the response. On the acara there were uniform white dots more concentrated on the fins but with some spots on the body and none on the eyes. He doesn't have any more visible signs of ich anymore but still acts as if something is bothering him. The glass catfish definitely fit having epistylis better though as they are patchy. Would the medication have cause the catfish to develop this due to their sensitivity? I've installed the new heater but don't have it turned up high yet. Is there any chance the ich itself is gone and I'm now just dealing with something else or is that not plausible?
Ich has a lifecycle. It's normal for it to go away and then reappear a month or so later when the parasites are again at the infectious stage when it's visible. The only stage that medication is able to kill the parasites is when they are in their freeswimming stage.
The lifecycle stages are infectious stage, where the parasites are visible. After this stage they fall off the fish, make their way into the substrate to reproduce. The new parasites then go into the freeswimming stage looking for fish to infect, and then you return to the infectious.
The speed the parasites go through is temperature dependant. At room temperature the lifecycle is about 3 months. At a typical tropical aquarium temperature about a month. At 30c/ 86f about a week. So you need the medication in the water for the duration of a complete lifecycle to ensure the medication is in the water when the parasites are freeswimming. This is why temperature is important. If you don't raise the temperature you need to be medicating for a month at least, whereas at higher temperature a week is usually sufficient.
The lifecycle stages are infectious stage, where the parasites are visible. After this stage they fall off the fish, make their way into the substrate to reproduce. The new parasites then go into the freeswimming stage looking for fish to infect, and then you return to the infectious.
The speed the parasites go through is temperature dependant. At room temperature the lifecycle is about 3 months. At a typical tropical aquarium temperature about a month. At 30c/ 86f about a week. So you need the medication in the water for the duration of a complete lifecycle to ensure the medication is in the water when the parasites are freeswimming. This is why temperature is important. If you don't raise the temperature you need to be medicating for a month at least, whereas at higher temperature a week is usually sufficient.
Alright, so if im confident it's ich (on the acara at least) and have been medicating for 1.5 weeks without a temperature increase, how much longer should I treat with the increased temperature? The glass catfish are what I'm most worried about at the moment though as I've already lost one and there is another that doesn't look to be doing well. Should they be removed from the tank during treatment (ich-x and 86° water temps) and treated differently?
If you are raising the temperature to 30c/86f you want to keep medicating for at least 5 days after the last sign of infection has left the fish.
With ich you have to think in terms of the aquarium being infected rather than individual fish. If the acara is infected then the catfish are too. Removing them will just mean reinfecting the aquarium once they are returned. If you remove them and treat separately you really need to make sure they have been extensively quarantined before returning them. It's swings and roundabouts really. What's more stressful, a week at a higher temperature with meds, or a month at lower temperature with meds? Although you could go with half dose of meds in a separate tank. I'd opt for the shorter treatment but its one for individual judgement.
With ich you have to think in terms of the aquarium being infected rather than individual fish. If the acara is infected then the catfish are too. Removing them will just mean reinfecting the aquarium once they are returned. If you remove them and treat separately you really need to make sure they have been extensively quarantined before returning them. It's swings and roundabouts really. What's more stressful, a week at a higher temperature with meds, or a month at lower temperature with meds? Although you could go with half dose of meds in a separate tank. I'd opt for the shorter treatment but its one for individual judgement.
Andy Sager
Aquarium Advice Addict
What Aiken said. 
Just an FYI, Glass cats are pretty sensitive fish and not the best tankmates for Acaras. Hopefully they pull through this but if they don't, I wouldn't consider replacing them with more. There are better tankmates for Acaras.
Just an FYI, Glass cats are pretty sensitive fish and not the best tankmates for Acaras. Hopefully they pull through this but if they don't, I wouldn't consider replacing them with more. There are better tankmates for Acaras.
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