nother clown question(ich)

[evelyn80]

my clowns have ich but im not sure how to treat wat do i do? i know i cant use salt as their catfish and they dont like it so im a bit confused. any help appreciated, thx!

[plaalye]

I don't keep clowns but I've used Kordon Rid-ich with all my botias and many sensitive fish with no problems. I've also used salt but IMO Rid-ich is much easier and more efficient. I'm sure you'll get other opinions. Good luck!

[jake gillespie]

if the tank is just clowns you can raise the temp to 85-90 degrees jsut for a few days see if that helps

[cris gaston]

Hi. There are many products for ich control in the market. However, it may help to understand the life cycle of the organism. The ich that we see on the fish are mature and we can't kill them without killing the fish. After a few days, these will fall off to the bottom of the tank, multiply and then swarm back up to attack the fish in even greater numbers. The cycle completes itself from a few to several days depending on the water temperature. We raise the temperature to speed up the life cycle of ich and the organism sort of "burns itself". It is when the ich falls to the bottom that we can break its life cycle by removing the spores or cysts by siphoning the bottom of the tank 3x a day. A bare bottom tank would be best to use for this procedure. Then, the use of proprietary remedies will be more effective. Hope this helps. Good luck.

[evelyn80]

thx guys! i mite just get a med tomorrow for it seems sooo much easier then 3 vacs a day!

[H3D]

http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php?t=2599

[jaysinnva]

We got rid of it with 50% water changes and a half-dose of Quick Cure every other day, then only dosing twice after the last visible sign of Ich. We didn't put the heat up to 86 because we don't trust the stability of the heater in the QT. Worked like a champ!

[evelyn80]

quick cure ill look for that thx jayssin! and thx for the link h3d

[toddnbecka]

Clown loaches are notoriously prone to developing Ich, even in tanks wher it has never been an issue. Almost makes me believe in spontaneous generation... LOL

[Michi]

Just cured ich in tank with yo-yo loach with maracide with no issues. Just make sure that you avoid copper meds with loaches. I did a lot of research and that was the only consistant bit of information on what was best to use for loaches. Also, you shouldn't raise the temp too much when using meds because both heat and medication will lower the oxygenation of the water.

[Lupin]

Heat and meds are not an issue when you maximize oxygen by increasing surface movements. I prefer to use salt but you have to dissolve it thoroughly and add slowly. Failing to dissolve is the first mistake. Someone tried salt and he admitted he didn't dissolve it killing one clown loach. The next treatment was better and all loaches pulled through the process.

[Rbishop]

Using table salt didn't hurt my clowns...

[evelyn80]

i read 4-5 table spoons of good dissolved salt for 5 gallons? the ich, i i believe anyways, has cliamed 2 clowns thus far :(

[jaysinnva]

I probably also should have mentioned: I used no salt at all, and lowered the water level so my HOB filter on the QT drops farther to agitate the surface more. Sorry for the losses :(

[zeppelin3k]

good greif!

[bluekrissyspike]

loaches r not catfish. and the salt tratment will work, if using chemical meds be sure to remove any carbon frm your filter

[evelyn80]

4 gone and i cant find the last 1 :( to make matters worse the ich has claimed 2 of my 3 julli cories as well! its weird cause there was no ich spots on the and none of my other fish are even affected by it!??