Hi everyone, I'm hoping for some advice on a different kind of ich question. The day before yesterday my long-finned black-skirted tetras started acting funny so I was watching them pretty closely all day and couldn't figure out what was going on. I had done a major cleaning two days before and I knew they were a bit stressed so I kept my lights low and checked my water parameters. This is a 20 gallon tank and my parameters were: ph - 7.2, Ammonia - 0, Nitrites - 0, Nitrates - 10. Yesterday morning when I got up and turned on my aquarium lights they (the black skirts) were loaded with ich. Thank goodness there is so much information on the search engines of this site! You guys and the great advice you give keep me from going crazy! I went and picked up some meds, removed my carbon filters, raised my tank temp (a bit at a time over the past 24 hrs.) removed my snails to a holding tank and started dosing with API Super Ich Cure (LFS recommended as easiest and most effective) it contains the malachite green and Nitrofurazone that I've read recommended here and the color (so far) hasn't seemed to stain anything. My question is this. Since it took so long to cycle my tanks and I don't want to lose the biologicals that it took so long to establish, I put my filter media in a double freezer bag full of tank water to try to keep it wet and viable. (I use two in my penguin filter with biowheel) Now I understand that I will have to continue to treat my tank for a week after the last spot is gone, can I even hope to keep my filter media or is it a wash? (no pun intended) I'm hoping that keeping it wet in tank water will keep my bacteria viable. Any thoughts or advice is greatly appreciated!
a different kind of ich question
- Thread starter clikens
- Start date
I am sure someone would correct me if I am wrong but though its a long time since I had to deal with ich, I am very sure that the ich meds wont kill your filter bacteria. Put the filter material back in the filter, so that it remains viable, the bacteria need a constant supply of oxygen and food. Your fish still need their waste processed. Also the filter material needs the ich to be killed on it.
Hope your fish recover from the ich.
Hope your fish recover from the ich.
All of the directions I read say to remove the filter media as it contains carbon and will remove the meds from the water before it can do it's work. It also says to keep the filter running (without media) to keep the flow adding oxygen to the water. Is this wrong? I thought I read that on here and on the directions.
I don't know about keeping the media, but I agree I've read to remove carbon when using meds so it won't filter out the meds.
how old is the carbon in your filter media? if its over 2 weeks old, I don't believe the carbon will remove your meds, it becomes inert.
Ideally you'd remove the carbon but leave the 'mechanical' media (floss, etc). The media needs aeration to stay alive.
Does your penguin filter have the carbon sealed inside? Many filters have the carbon separate from the 'mechanical' media. I don't think your's does tho.
OK, so how do we remove just the carbon?
two thoughts...
1) slice the floss on one side and dump/rinse the carbon out.
<or>
2) cut ALL the media off down to the plastic frame, and replace with a bit of old pantyhose tied off at each end (well rinsed of course)
either way you end up with a mechanical (only) filter.
You're gonna need a new cartridge (new carbon) anyway in a couple weeks to remove the meds.
Did you add aquarium salt? Not sure how the BS tetras are with salt. I've had excellent results treating Endler's and platys for ich with salt and raised temps.
Use aquarium salt or kosher salt with no caking agents only...NO iodized table salt either! 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons (or 1 Tbsp in a 20) is a good safe starting point- if it's well tolerated then work up to 1 Tablespoon/5 gal. Dissolve salt in water then add slowly to tank.
frequent gravel vacs every couple days...be patient. It once took me 2 weeks to completely clear an infected fish, + a few days additional QT to be 'sure'.
--Don
Does your penguin filter have the carbon sealed inside? Many filters have the carbon separate from the 'mechanical' media. I don't think your's does tho.
OK, so how do we remove just the carbon?
two thoughts...
1) slice the floss on one side and dump/rinse the carbon out.
<or>
2) cut ALL the media off down to the plastic frame, and replace with a bit of old pantyhose tied off at each end (well rinsed of course)
either way you end up with a mechanical (only) filter.
You're gonna need a new cartridge (new carbon) anyway in a couple weeks to remove the meds.
Did you add aquarium salt? Not sure how the BS tetras are with salt. I've had excellent results treating Endler's and platys for ich with salt and raised temps.
Use aquarium salt or kosher salt with no caking agents only...NO iodized table salt either! 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons (or 1 Tbsp in a 20) is a good safe starting point- if it's well tolerated then work up to 1 Tablespoon/5 gal. Dissolve salt in water then add slowly to tank.
frequent gravel vacs every couple days...be patient. It once took me 2 weeks to completely clear an infected fish, + a few days additional QT to be 'sure'.
--Don
Sorry for not being clearer, yes the carbon needs removal the rest of the media needs to remain in the filter. It would be better to get new carbon depending on how long it has been used, better let the old carbon dry out if you are going to use it again as that will kill any dormant ich on it.
Ok, thanks for the responses, I was hoping to keep the filter media viable as they were new, but ended up cutting the plastic backs out and removing all of the carbon then putting the media back into my filters. Unfortunately mine are one piece units that you can't open to remove or add carbon to, so it was an all or nothing thing without destroying my media (which was why I was hoping to keep it alive in bags of tank water that I changed daily. (from another tank) This API Ick med says it only takes two doses with the temps raised, 48 hours apart and then you re-add the carbon after another 48 hrs. and do a 25% wc and vaccuum. This doesn't seem to be long enough given the 3 part cycle of the ich. Any opinions? I was thinking of doing the 25% wc then dosing again (twice 48 hrs apart) especially since this was a lower dose of meds because of the tetras. I'm just hoping that the lower dose that the tetras require will be enough to ward off anything in the platys that haven't shown visible ich yet, but I know they have it too due to their showing signs of flashing. I lowered the tank water even more today to add more oxygen to my water and raised the tank temp to 82 since they seemed to be tolerating the 80 degrees well enough (they are used to it after the long hot summer we have had) Keep your fingers crossed for me...I'm too new at this to deal with it comfortably! Thanks again for all of the opinions and info...my finned friends thank you too!
I'm just wondering if anyone has an opinion as to retreating the tank with a second round of meds to make sure that the platys are clear. The Tetras required a halved dose of the meds and I want to make sure that half a dose is strong enough to clear the ich in the platys too even though they haven't shown any visible signs of it beyond the flashing. I just don't want to make a mistake, over treat and lose these guys...in the same thought I don't want to undertreat and have to start all over! Thanks, any opinons, imput or ideas are greatly appreciated!
I would treat the tank according to the instructions on the bottle, the ich often is not visible as they are attached to gills. If I remember correctly the ich infests the gills first and then move more onto the body. The chances are that the platys have ich even if you cant see it. An air stone is a good idea if you have one to increase aeration in the warmer water.
