Help! Ich!

[GT3050]

Well, yesterday i noticed a few of my fish rubbing against rocks in the tank, and now this morning the Oscar has white spots on him and my GT has a few as well. I was wondering what's an effective way to cure them. I have turned up the heat a bit, and I will turn it up a bit more tomorrow morning, I was hoping to get it up to about 82 by tomorrow afternoon. I would like to avoid treating the whole 90 gallons as it would be expensive for me, as I am a student with Xmas presents to buy. I figure the meds to treat my 90 gal would cost about $50 per week. I don't have a hospital tank, but i should be able to get one for fairly cheap, but there isn't anyway that I can fit all my fish in a small hospital tank, so I'm not really sure what to do...Can I cure the ick simply by raising the temperature and adding salt (does salt even help?), and if I have to go buy meds, what is a good one? I know I can get Maracide, is it good? Thanks for the help!!!

[Cearbhaill]

A bottle of Quick Cure should do it for under $10. I've used that one very successfully although any of the many brands like Ich Guard or Maracide will do fine.
You really have to treat the whole tank- the ich lifecycle has stages other than the visible spots and all the fish in the tank have been exposed to it already.

[GoLdFiSh_GrL]

get Kordon Rid-Ich. It cured my Kissing Gourami in 2 days! But you still have to add it for 3 days after the last visible sign. It's also Cory-safe! I LOVE it! Two thumbs up!:D

[ewok]

i think the dosing for salt is something like 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons, but high salt won't get along well with some catfish. rtr or someone should know specifics if they're around.........

[125gJoe]

You can also try a product called Super Ich Cure. It worked nicely for me in the past on other aquariums. I don't get Ich with water temps of around 85 degrees F..

Read the directions -- it may tell you to raise the temperature while treating it..

[Nuff45]

had an ich outbreak three years ago, used no medications, only raised tank temp to 84 degrees. Ich infection cleared quickly. I keep tank temp at 84 degrees +/- 2 degrees, and have no ich and a thriving tank.....anyone need plants?
jmo

[marsupialvomit]

Nox Ich, potent and could bleach your hand blue for a week, but it's so **** strong and cheap.

[Dahlia]

Since you need to go cheap, use salt. I have a 90 gallon and I can appreciate how expensive it is to use a med on it. I believe the dosage is "one teaspoon per gallon" of table salt, but you can search for any of OrionGirl's posts on ich cures if you want more details. Raising the temp to 82-84 degrees also helps. The salt will kill the ich without any other additions, but you need to keep it up even 3 days after the last sign of ich.

[marsupialvomit]

salt can hurt scaless fish such as some catfish and loaches. It's laso hard to guage how much salt you need because most tap water already contains some salt.

[GoLdFiSh_GrL]

I tryed using the salt/heater treatment but it didn't work for me. It eventually becomes more expensive than the regular medication because of all the salt you have to add (if you buy the medium box) If you buy the big one, it becomes more expensive than the medication itself. If you buy the small bottle of Rid-Ich by Kordon, it's around $8 and the 4 fl. oz. should be enough for the treatment. Hope it helps! :D

[beviking]

If you want cheap, buy a 16 oz. bottle of formalin (37% formaldehyde, not the diluted stuff) for 10 dollars. 1 tsp. treats 90 gallons. You can even use it in conjunction with salt if you want to. Be careful though, this is high potency stuff!! You don't want to spill the bottle, get it on you, or inhale too much.
Do a search for ich using the search button (upper right corner) for all the info you want and more.

Make sure to remove any carbon out of your filter b4 and during treatment, whatever you use.

Good luck!

[Dahlia]

It's laso hard to guage how much salt you need because most tap water already contains some salt.

Hmm I haven't heard of this before? Has anyone got any input here?

[OrionGirl]

I have bristlenose, kuhli loaches, SA puffers, and a rainbow shark that were treated with salt and raised temperatures. All came through with no problems and no signs of distress during treatment.

[GoLdFiSh_GrL]

well, as I said it's different for everyone...

[RTR]

Another set of myths is being born.

I would love to see some real reference showing test revealing "salt in most water supplies" unless the reference is to households using salt-exchange water softeners, which is an independent house option, not the water supply.

The appropriate temperature is 85F, not 82-8F. Any elevation of temp is helpful, but if you are boosting the temp, why not use a level which has been proven effective and reported in peer-reviewed scientific lit rather than in board rumors?

Therapeutic levels of sodium chloride have never to my knowledge been shown to be detrimental to catfish or other scaleless fish for the limited duration of treatment, especially compared to the parasitic disease (which can be fatal) or the dyes and heavy metals and such which can also be harmful to fatal for scaleless fish at effective doses.

Chronic use of salt is not recommended for FW catfish, but this is not chronic use.

If you are so terrified of salt, raise the temp to 85 and hold it there three weeks minimum - it will do the job. But you cannot wait until the fish is near death before starting it, you need to catch it early and act decisively. The cysts existing at the start will likely go trough their re-infection stage, so things may look worse for a few day, and severely infected fish may succumb.

I find it mind-boggling that folks are willing to add toxic and/or carcinogenic materials to their tanks, but are terrified of salt.

End of rant and off of soapbox.