Ich Problems

[F.sparverius]

I had a rather large ICH outbreak in my tank and lost a silver dollar and this moring one of my Corys died when he appeared to be ich free. I originally tried methalane blue for nearly a week with no effect then switched to malachite green for several days and was unable to clear up the ich before the silver dollar died. The ich is mostly gone now and any spots that remain on the fish might be wounds from the parasite. I was going to continue adding half doses of the malachite green for a few days to make shure there is not secondary outbreak but the 2 remaining corys do not look particuarly good. They are extreamly sluggish. I was afraid that the malachite may be doing this to them. Thus I put the carbon filters back in and put more methaline blue in the tank after the malachite had cleared * supposably methaline blue is harmless to fish but can kill free swimming protozoan?*. My questions are: Will the malachite green harm the corys and should I use it to make shure all of the ich is gone. And what would any of you suggest that I do to make shure the ich does not come back?

[NJ Devils Fan]

I can't answer your first question, but yes, keep giving the medicine for the time indicated on the directions. Also, raise the temperature slowly to 85 degrees. Keep it there for the time you are medicating.

[wetmanNY]

Look over the Ich material and links at www.skepticalaquarist.com .

[fishypoo2]

Like 'devils fan' said, raise the temp, then stop using the malachite green and methylene blue. These are used to treat fungust, not parasites. Instead, I would first do a large water change, then dose the fish with 1 tsp of salt per gallon and a reliable ich medication, such as Quick Cure. If the medication has any copper in it, then either remove all invertebrates and scale-less fishes (loaches, etc...) or the infected fish. Copper-based medicines have a bad habit of killing scaleless fish and inverts.

[chefkeith]

I just got 8 small clown loaches Yesterday and have had them in a Quarantine tank. 3 of them died this Morning (no real suprize, I did notice that some of these fish seemed awefully stressed when I got them, but still I wanted them). 2 of the remaining clowns have visable signs of ich. So I'm treating all of them for ich.

My plan of attack is to put them in a fresh new q-tank every day. I have 4 - 25 g. rubbermaid containers that I use as q tanks, I bought them for $5 each a few months ago, and they're used just for Q'ing fish and storing fish equiptment.

Everyday I'll put 10 gallons of water in a clean Q tank, treat the water with Amquel, 2 Tbls salt, ich med., and get it to the right temp. Then I'll Feed the fish in the other q-tank. When they're done eating and doing their business, I'll move them over to the fresh q-tank. Then breakdown and clean the dirty q-tank (including the caves, thermometer, and heater), and let it air dry.

I'll probably be doing this everyday for atleast a week or until I have no fish left. But I do expect 3 of them will make it. Thats just how it goes when getting small clowns.

I already have 6 nice healthy Clowns in my main tank, I'm trying to build up a nice school of them. I'm not a fan of buying small clown's, but I just couldn't resist.

[Dahlia]

Quick Cure is malachite green (and formalin). I have used it on corydoras and they were fine. I used it at 3/4th the regular dose.

Due to how easily stressed clowns get I would do daily water changes instead of switching them from container to container. Make sure they have several hiding places and no bright light as well. I'd also recommend using Prime instead of Amquel since Amquel can drop your pH.

[F.sparverius]

Ich is one damned persistant parasit. There are little spots of it showing back up on my rosy barbs. I'm still using the malachite and formalin quick cure stuff and I added salt but the younger cory will not eat and just lays in the corner. I also raised the temperature to 80 degrees but I'm afraid the dissolved oxygen might be too low at night when the filter and aereator are off. I only have a 20 gallon tank and really cannot afford/do not have the space for any kind of Q tank like most of these sites recomend.

This stuff sucks.....

[chefkeith]

I checked the Ph, its about 7.4. The amquel didn't lower the ph at all, its exactly what my normal tap water normally is. I done a before and after ph test with amquel also. Same thing. 7.4. No change. I did just read somewhere that Amquel will lower ph in water that has a poor buffer reserve. I guess my tap water has good buffer reserve.

Don't want to start a debate, but I like the transfer method alot better for curing ich. I can move the fish from tank to tank in about 3 seconds.

I agree, no bright light and a several hidding spots are important.

Attached is a pic of one of my q-tanks.

[Dahlia]

Chefkeith, it's cool your pH is stable. F Sparverius... I'm confused why you say your filter and aerator are off at night? I think if you use Quick Cure without salt your cory should be fine, mine were.