Pictus with Ich

[ticklemepunk473]

I was gazing at my fish the other day and I npoticed that my pictus cat fish had weird tiny white spots on them. I have decided it is ich and I have turned up the temp in the tank slowly and left the lights off as I have read that light helps ich to grow but how high should I let the temp get? Should I get some chemical meds or will this method really do the trick? I am afraid of my fish getting stressed. I have added a power head to bring in more air and they seem to be ok but my pictus aren't eating! They are just swimming in a corner near the powerhead ( all the better to enjoy the new current I suppose) will my fish get better fast enpough not to starve to death with this temperature treatment or will I need to seek more artificial methods?

Cheers!
Emily

[OrionGirl]

Get the temp up to about 84. The additional aeration will definitely help. Start adding salt (mix 1 tablespoon in a pint of tank water to dissolve) and get up to about one tablespoon per gallon. You have to maintain these conditions for 4 weeks after the last visible symptom. I've used this method for a variety of fish, including scaleless fish, with great success.