Help! Clown loaches have ick & new fish arriving today!

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closer2fine

closer2fine

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Feb 26, 2008
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Woke up this morning to find my 3 clown loaches have ick (I have them and a pleco in the tank now) I have a shipment of fish arriving today. I only have my 55 gallon - what should I do?

Thanks!

eta: the ick is like tiny white grains of sand on them. other than that they are behaving normally.
my water was tested yesterday & is fine.
 
Last edited:
ct-death

ct-death

Fish & Visitors Smell in 3 Days...
Feb 27, 2007
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GREAT Article here: http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88601

Were the fish in your 'main tank' when they developed Ick? And did you take them out and place them into a QT? I assuem from your narrative that this is so... If this is the case, unfortunately, the Ick could very well be present in the main tank.

1st, I would obviously keep the new fish out of the infected tank to be safe (do you QT your fish?)

2nd, if you do not have a safe place for them, can you ask your LFS to hold them for a short duration to be on the safe side? or are these mailed?

As for the Ick itself, when did you last introduce anything into the tank? Was it the Loaches or something else?
 
closer2fine

closer2fine

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Feb 26, 2008
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Were the fish in your 'main tank' when they developed Ick? And did you take them out and place them into a QT? I assuem from your narrative that this is so... If this is the case, unfortunately, the Ick could very well be present in the main tank.
Click to expand...
they are in my main tank (my only tank)

1st, I would obviously keep the new fish out of the infected tank to be safe (do you QT your fish?)
Click to expand...
I only have one tank.

2nd, if you do not have a safe place for them, can you ask your LFS to hold them for a short duration to be on the safe side? or are these mailed?
Click to expand...
these are mailed & arriving fed ex today.

As for the Ick itself, when did you last introduce anything into the tank? Was it the Loaches or something else?
Click to expand...
the loaches were introduced 2 weeks ago & didn't have any visible ick.
 
closer2fine

closer2fine

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Feb 26, 2008
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ok - I've read the article & am going to start slowly raising the temp (it's at 80 now)

I'll add the salt mixture - but what should I do with the new fish? I cannot afford a whole new set up for the new fish.
 
ct-death

ct-death

Fish & Visitors Smell in 3 Days...
Feb 27, 2007
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New Hampshire
Okay, read the Article attached (I learned a LOT form this).

First, the quick summary is that Ick is only visible for a short duration of its life-cycle. Fish may be infected for a few weeks before visibly showing signs on the infection itself.

Second, Salt tends to be the best and most effective treatment, however, Loaches do poorly with salt applications (there are Meds available as well), so if you decide to go with the salt method GO SLOW (and when complete, reduce the salt very slowly as well).

Third, the entire tank will need to be treated to remove the infected worm-like parasites, and any fish you introduce will already be stressed and thus more susceptable to infections so they will more than likely get Ick if introduced...

A quick (last-resort) method of setting up a QT is to go buy a Rubber-Maid tub for $5-10, throw in a heater, airstone and just do a 100% WC every day. This will at least get you by
 
Sploke

Sploke

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Well you can either spend money on a QT setup - can be as cheap as a 10gal tank or rubbermaid container, heater and sponge filter (and a QT is something you should have on hand anyway) or you can just add the fish to the tank, keep treating it for ich, and hope you don't waste all that money you just spent on fish if they all die from ich.
 
DavidZ

DavidZ

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Sep 20, 2007
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Some people medicate their new fish before they introduce to the main tank, since you have only one tank, you are limited to one option, unless you can get a QT tank setup.
Fish by mail, make sure you aclimate for a longer period of time.
 
Lupin

Lupin

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I don't like treating a new fish before even attempting to introduce them in the main tank. No matter the excuse, a lot of medicines are damaging to the fish. If it isn't broken, why fix it? I'd suggest the 10g quarantine tank operated barebottom with a sponge filter. Quarantine tanks are a must if there is plan to buy more new fish in a few weeks. How will you protect the current stocks if you don't even quarantine?
 
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