ich isn't dissipating

[polosniffer]

I've been treating my tank with "super ick cure" (discussed in a previous thread) for three days, following the instructions on the bottle. However, my juvenile silver shark catfish is still covered in spots. I actually think it's gotten worse than it was when I began treating the tank. The rest of the fish in the tank seem to be doing pretty well - he's the only one who doesn't appear to be recovering. Any suggestions?

[wetmanNY]

Anything useful to you at www.skepticalaquarist.com in the Health & Disease folder, in the Parasites subfolder?

[Cloud-9]

Did you use the full dose? I'm just asking because some medications instruct you to use a half dose in the presence of certain fish. I'm not sure but that could drastically affect the performance of the medication.

http://www.aquariumpharmaceuticals.com/aqfish.html

Personally, I would rather use another medication that would not require me to use a 1/2 for the particular fish in my tanks. I'm not saying that's the problem. It's just a possibility. That could be delaying the cure. You might want to give it a little more time.

[wetmanNY]

Have you raised the temperature to speed up the life cycle of the parasite?

Did you begin with a water change to reduce dissolved organics that would interfere with the medication?

[KateA.]

I can't remember the lifespan of the parasite, but I think it's early yet.

[polosniffer]

I've read the 'skepticalaquarist's section on ich. I'm using the full dose indicated in the directions on the bottle. I did a water change when I began treatment and another on day two when I redosed the tank. I've also removed my filter media and am not using the aquarium lights just in case they could cause breakdown of the benzaldehyde green. I also added some salt to the water. I really can't think of what the problem is - I've never had this much troubkle treating ich. I'll probably do another water change and redose again today.

[Cloud-9]

I lean towards giving the treatment a little more time. Just don't wait too long if it's obviously not working. I am not a big fan of adding salt, or using salt as treatment. But that's just my opinion.

You can also try raising the temperature, as wetmanNY had suggested. That may help. I used to do that back when I used a medication called Aquarisol to treat ich. But I have not had to raise the temperature ever since I started using more aggressive medication. The last time my fish had ich, I used Quick Cure by, I believe, Aquarium Products. My synodontis got better immediately.

You have a lot of options. There are lots of products out there.