Ick Scare.

[BloodThirsty28]

Ok, About 10 days ago I got a new Green Terror. I put him in the QT tank for a week. Checked him every day and finally decided to put him in my 120(I know too early but I couldn't wait, stupid me). So today I was watching him and checking the tank and noticed the white spots on his fins. I instantly got him out and put him back in the 20. He was only in the 120 for about 2 or 3 days.

Started meds in the 20g QT tank that he is in and did a 60% water change in the 120. Added salt and raised the temp to 80*(again in the 120). I REALLY do not want to add meds to the 120 if I don't have to. Just wondering what some of you might do in this situation and what chances do you think I have of the rest of the fish not getting it?


:thud:

[plah831]

I'm confused, do you have medications in the QT tank? If so, you shouldn't use those with salt. In fact, you shouldn't use them at all for ich. Salt/heat is much safer and more effective.

See this article for how to treat it
http://www.aquariumboard.com/forums/articles/25-ich-fw.html

I would say that if you've seen dots on one fish in the tank, that the other fish have been exposed, too. My personal recommendation would be to treat the entire 120. But someone else may say differently.

[Star_Rider]

there are a lot of folks who use salt and a lot of folks who don't/

ich when it is free swiming can't deal with the higher salinity levels..as long as you remove the salt from the tanks after treatment you should be fine..heat is critical in the treatment and heat alone can kill the ich.
there are salt resistant varieties of ich and I am sure some may eventually become resistant to heat( one reason salt and heat is a good treatment.)

but the heat should be higher than 80 to kill the ich generally btw 84-86 is recommended. I raise the temp to 90 with no ill effects in my SA tank.


btw, if you choose not to treat the big tank..keep an eye on it..it is possible some ich may have sluffed off and may be in the tank.

[LtHorn]

i just got over an ick infestation, i put in about 1.5 teaspoons per gallon, of salt, and raised the temp to ~88 degrees. after a few days all of my fish developed the spots, and about 3 days after that all the spots were gone. i maintained the temperature in the tank for about a week, with no new spots. and i am going to do a 50 % water change tomorrow, to lower the salt levels. Now my fish are healthy and playful. the total treatment time was about a week. hope this helps, good luck!

LT

[BloodThirsty28]

I'm confused, do you have medications in the QT tank? If so, you shouldn't use those with salt. In fact, you shouldn't use them at all for ich. Salt/heat is much safer and more effective.

See this article for how to treat it
http://www.aquariumboard.com/forums/articles/25-ich-fw.html

I would say that if you've seen dots on one fish in the tank, that the other fish have been exposed, too. My personal recommendation would be to treat the entire 120. But someone else may say differently.


oops, sorry. I have meds in the QT tank and salt in the 120. I didn't have enough salt on hand to treat both tanks.

Thanks for the information everybody. I haven't dealt with ick for about 5 years now and hadn't had to do this.

[Grundy]

Ich can stay around for 2-3 weeks (the higher temp speeds this up, though) so you should keep the salt in the tank for at least 7-10 days after the spots are gone. Yes, you should treat both tanks as each spot can create dozens or hundreds of new buggers. Hope this helps and good luck!