rrkss
12-08-2005, 9:50 AM
I just finished curing my planted aquaria for a case of ich that came with my new tetras. Here are the specs.
This aquaria was cycled fishless with live plants (Valisneria, Bannana Plants, Amazon Swords, Elodea (Anacharis)) and has a well established filter.
Ammonia: 0.0
Nitrite: 0.0
Nitrate: < 10
Alkalinity 140 (I add bicarbonate to buffer the water during water changes mostly to prevent ph swings from my CO2 injection)
pH: 7.2
I run CO2 injection and high lighting so I used an agressive ich treatment designed not to hurt the plants.
1. Raised the salinity of the water to 1 tbs per 10 gallons over the course of 24 hours (pretty much one tsp per 10 gallons added to the water every 12 hours)
2. Raised the temperature to 88 degrees farenheit (a little less than 31 degrees Celsius)
3. Treated with maracide following the instructions (According to the maracide bottle, the ich will be exposed to medicine for 7 days but if they are the heat resistant strain, they will cycle in 4 days giving me 3 extra days of treatment)
I left the CO2 injection on so that the fish won't undergo pH shock and the plants seem to be doing fine though the heat slowed down their growth a little bit. All my fish except my cherry barbs seem to have done well, my cherry barbs don't eat as agressively and tend to linger on the bottom most of the time but don't show any clamped fins or any other stress related symptoms. My guess is that when the temperature returns to normal, they will act normal again. Anyways with the ich cured, I wanted to know if lowering the thermostat by 2 degrees per 12 hours would be a too rapid of a change for the fish. I would like to get the temperature back to 77 as quickly but safely as possible.
Thanks
This aquaria was cycled fishless with live plants (Valisneria, Bannana Plants, Amazon Swords, Elodea (Anacharis)) and has a well established filter.
Ammonia: 0.0
Nitrite: 0.0
Nitrate: < 10
Alkalinity 140 (I add bicarbonate to buffer the water during water changes mostly to prevent ph swings from my CO2 injection)
pH: 7.2
I run CO2 injection and high lighting so I used an agressive ich treatment designed not to hurt the plants.
1. Raised the salinity of the water to 1 tbs per 10 gallons over the course of 24 hours (pretty much one tsp per 10 gallons added to the water every 12 hours)
2. Raised the temperature to 88 degrees farenheit (a little less than 31 degrees Celsius)
3. Treated with maracide following the instructions (According to the maracide bottle, the ich will be exposed to medicine for 7 days but if they are the heat resistant strain, they will cycle in 4 days giving me 3 extra days of treatment)
I left the CO2 injection on so that the fish won't undergo pH shock and the plants seem to be doing fine though the heat slowed down their growth a little bit. All my fish except my cherry barbs seem to have done well, my cherry barbs don't eat as agressively and tend to linger on the bottom most of the time but don't show any clamped fins or any other stress related symptoms. My guess is that when the temperature returns to normal, they will act normal again. Anyways with the ich cured, I wanted to know if lowering the thermostat by 2 degrees per 12 hours would be a too rapid of a change for the fish. I would like to get the temperature back to 77 as quickly but safely as possible.
Thanks