!@#$, ich!!

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Dwarf Puffers

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Dec 11, 2006
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Well, I went in to look at my tank a moment ago, and notice ich on 4-5 of my 6 neons. I'm not yet sure if anything else has it, I don't think my platies, bettas, or white clouds do. There are only maybe 6 spots on one and a couple on the others, but I'm worried as hell.

Do Melafix or Pimafix cover ich? I'm sure I should remove my carbon, I doubt it's anything but a detriment. Need some help soon, I don't really care how it happened (although this week I had slacked on WC's and a couple brigs had died), just how to cure it. I don't really like my neons, but I sure don't want them or any of my other fish to die. Thanks,

-DP :wall:
 

Lupin

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It'd be tricky once you increase the temp. I find neons picky with the temp. The highest they could possibly tolerate is 80 degrees.:shakehead: Salt is another thing for them though the others will be fine with it.
 

Dwarf Puffers

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Grrr. I'll try to set up the spare 10g for the neons, and if I see no one else has ich, I might just take out and/or replace the carbon, change the filter, and do a 50% water change tonight. If anyone else has it, it's either medicate the whole tank (which includes 2 female cherries and brig snails (salt??)), or put them in with the neons (<-- preffered idea).

So, melafix wouldn't help this one? I have some salt, just hessitant to dump it in with my neons... Thanks,

-DP :eek3:
 

Dwarf Puffers

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The cories are fine, 5 males following the female around. 7 eggs in the moss, 4 between her fins. The white clouds are perfectly normal, as are my honey gouramis. My bettas all look okay, I doubt my loach has it. One of my hatchets has it, though, so he'll probably not make it. I think treatment of the sicklies and a large WC should aright my tank... Hopefully.
 

Lupin

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Melafix is not designed to kill protozoa. I can't comment for the snails as I've never tried salt with them but the shrimps will be fine. I've used salt before in a tank containing shrimps and they never even reacted negatively.

The ich will remain in their gills until they become stressed. You might want to ensure they are not stressed or this will really put a toll on them considering ich can stress them a lot. I'd medicate the white clouds, platies and bettas with salt just to be safe. At least, it is safer than most meds. Bettas are noted for being sensitive to most meds.
 

Dwarf Puffers

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So, should I put them in a small container and "bathe" them with salt? Or should I treat the whole tank (still worried about the snails, as in if salt kills slugs, then what happens to snails)
 

Lupin

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There is a med suggested before in Loaches Online website which was used to treat ich on loaches, Maracide. You might want to look into that. The older formula, however, was said to be more effective than the new one.
 

Lupin

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So, should I put them in a small container and "bathe" them with salt? Or should I treat the whole tank (still worried about the snails, as in if salt kills slugs, then what happens to snails)
You don't have a choice. For ich, you must really treat the whole tank otherwise it'll reappear from time to time whenever your fish becomes stressed. You might want to move all fish in a hospital tank and leave the invertebrates there. I doubt and never even heard of ich using invertebrates as their hosts but I may be wrong on this one. I've never stepped myself into invertebrates as much as I do with fish. However, this might possibly help eliminate the ich as they do not have a host that will allow them to thrive. The only downside is this will further stress the fish so it's quite a gamble here. The 'dormant phase' is considered a myth.
 

Dwarf Puffers

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I sure hope all of my fish can fit in the 10g, and it'll be a hell of a lot of work. So, I remove all fish from the 75g, and put them in the medication tank. treat with -add amount here- tea/tablespoons of salt, for -add time period here-. I do a big WC tonight, and put my fish back -enter time here-. Fill in the blanks please, and I'll get to it...
 

Rbishop

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Dec 30, 2005
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I usually go 2-3 teaspoons per gallon....and maintain the treatment for a full week after all visible signs of ich are gone...
 
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