Possible Ich?

[shankss69]

Hey all,

I have a 55gal currently housing a Koi and a Blue Channel Catfish. (dont worry i have plans for the koi to be put in a beautiful pond my wifes aunt built) ... i have noticed in the last few days BOTH fish started to Flash quite a bit on the bottom of the tank... I Have looked through many websites and everything is pointing to ICH... what should i do to treat this?... i do have a bottle of maracide.. should i use this product in my entire tank ( as the fish are large enough that i would have to have a pretty big hospital tank )... also i see no white spots at all.. any help would be appreciated! Thank you

 

[HUKIT]

Have you checked your water parameters yet? Everything from a PH swing, to high nitrates, or ammonia/nitrite present to parasites can make fish flash. So start with the basics and check your water parameters. And when was the last water change?

Ich will look like small grains of salt on the fish and is one of the easily identified diseases.

I would hold off on treatment until you know what to treat for.

 

[mudraker]

I agree.

Also, how long have you had the fish?

Ich is a parasite and it won't just show up in your tank one day. It has to come in on a host fish.

 

[shankss69]

hmm seeing that it would have to come in on a host fish and there was no new fish added it would have to be my parameters i usually test once a week but skipped this week.. so i will be doing that... this tank has been set up for over a month now but i cycled with Pure ammonia and redosed MULTIPLE times to make sure everything was okay... so i really cant imagine my ammonia or anything being too high.. i do almost a 40 percent water change once or twice a week because i have read the catfish i have and the koi produce a TON of waste....but thank you for the input and i will be watching my fish closely for parasites and i will test my water this evening..

(sorry didnt see the second post)

I have had these fish for a long time... just had them in a bit smaller tank as i got them both when they were tiny!!...but now thinking back i did notice the catfish flashing one or two times when i first got him but he quit after a day or 2....hmmm

Also incase this is ICH... has anyone used NOX-ICH for treatment?.. if so is it okay to use with my catfish as he is ALWAY on the bottom...on the bottle it says to do a half dose if bottom feeders are in the tank... if not is there any other treatment that someone has used besides SALT that has cured the ich?... and just to make me feel better i have already raised the water temp slowly to 80 degrees...should i take it up to 85 to be safe??... i would hate to lose these guys to something i could take care of...

Thanks again for your help i truly appreciate it

 

[mudraker]

Your koi will not appreciate heat treatment for ich, and the temp has to be over 86 to kill off the parasite. 85 degrees and under only speeds up its lifecycle. 86 and over will kill it.

How long have you had the fish? Ich can live in the gills and not show white spots for quite awhile, but if its been several months, I'd be skeptical its ich as they would probably had symptoms after several weeks, even if it did arrive in one or both of the fish's gills.

I've never used NOX ICH, before. If you are thinking of treating for ich, even if its an iffy diagnosis, I'd use Ich attack by Kordon.

Its an herbal and treats other parasitic infections without the need of heat.

If the only other symptom is flashing from two fish you've had quite awhile, I'd suspect a different type of parasite.

Just my two cents.