Clown loach with Ick

[_malacandra_]

I have a clown loach who is sick with Ick right now, and so far none of the other fist are affected. We picked up an Ick treatment tablet, but I'm not sure whether to just add it the entire tank or to pull the loach out and treat him in a seperate tank?

[petluvr]

Treat the entire tank. Raise the temp and add salt:)

[_malacandra_]

Okay. We just cleaned the tank and already have salt in there.
So the tablets wont negatively affect the other fish?
And thanks. :)

[petluvr]

What are the other fish and do you have ANY inverts in the tank?

[_malacandra_]

We have three gouramis, four mollies, three swordtail platy's, a pleco, a bamboo shrimp and a rainbow shark. Also a baby platy.

[petluvr]

I don't think most ich medications should be used with inverts. Does the label say anything about use with inverts?

[_malacandra_]

No it doesn't say anything. Well, to be safe I'll just place the loach in a separate tank for the time being while I treat him. Thank you so much for your help though!

[petluvr]

Good luck:)

[svf]

Plain salt is a wonderful ich treatment that doesn't harm anything but the ich itself. I have used it many times and have never lost a fish, plant or invert to it.
Ich is a parasite that invades the whole tank - so taking one fish out to treat it will not take it out of the tank. It has a 3 stage life cycle and can only be eradicated during one of those 3 stages. Raising the temp will speed up it's life cycle, and high enough temps will also kill it.
Raising the temp to at least 84 and adding 1 to 3 teaspoons of salt per gallon will kill it. I add the salt slowly over a day to reduce the stress on the tank. I dissolve the salt in tank water before adding it to the tank, it is much more effective than just dumpong it in. I leave it in for at least a week after the spots are gone, and the partial water changes I do during that time I add salt to replace what I have taken out for the wc. After that time, I just do my normal water change schedule and the salt will get taken out gradually that way. This has always worked with my tanks. Oh, and btw, I just use table salt. Cheap and effective. Can't beat it.
Good luck!

[Lupin]

Use table salt. Be sure it is thoroughly dissolved and add slowly so you won't have issues with your loaches. I used a dose of a tablespoon per 5g.

[Rbishop]

Yep..just table salt, iodized or not. 2 teaspoons per gallon. Temp at 84. Keep it at that concentration even accounting for water changes for a full week after all visible signs gone.