Safe Ich med for Clown Loaches?

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Tay690

Addicted to Loaches
Feb 5, 2009
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I have 6 clown loaches and the largest and my personal favourite of the bunch has 3 spots on his tail (wife decided to aim the Air Conditioner at my prize tank and I'm so super thrilled)

I need advice on a safe Ich med for clown loaches...so far my only choices seem to be Quickcure and the junk big als carries (which all the guy named contain copper sulphate)

I would like advice from someone without a vested interest in trying to sell products for the sake of selling

Thanks in advance,
Taylor
 

babysteps

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Feb 15, 2009
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Most Ich medications would be fine. Just use half the recommended dosage. Also, do more frequent water changes (daily if possible. about 30%). All medications put osmostic stress on the fish and often results in poor water quality due to destroying bacterial colonies from prolonged exposure.
Raise your temp to around 80-84f and treat for the recommended period.
 

babysteps

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Please remember that it is also very important to do a gravel vac during water changes when treating for Ich. As the medication works, the ich cysts drop to the bottom of the tank. If left, they will not die, but rather reproduce and you will have to go through the process again.
 

LeahK

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Jul 5, 2007
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I treated clown loaches for ich with Rid Ich Plus by Kordon. Treatment was successful, no casualties. That was almost 2 years ago, and the clowns are still doing great (with their new owner) today.

I followed the instructions at this website: http://www.aquamaniacs.net/forum/cms_view_article.php?aid=27

It took about 12 days of treatment to make sure all the ich was gone. I probably could have quit earlier, but I wanted to be safe. I think I kept treating about 5 days after the last spot disappeared.
I had to continue doing daily water changes after treatment was over, because my tank went through a mini-cycle.

Per their advice, I dosed at full strength and did not raise my temperature:
"Do not increase the temperature (keep the temperature under 80*F/26.5*C). Ich cannot survive at temperatures greater than 86*F/26.5*C, but your fish may not do well at these high temperatures. A higher temperature will make oxygen harder to come by and will increase your fish's need for it. Low oxygen and high temperature levels are stressful to fish... Do not treat Ich with RidIch+ at half dose as some articles claim. The product is safe and effective at the full dosage and is of little value at half strength. Remember that RidIch+ is already at ½ the standard dose of other malachite green/formalin products."

I would like advice from someone without a vested interest in trying to sell products for the sake of selling
I'm a grad student/underpaid logic instructor -- I promise I receive no checks from Kordon. Although if they'd like to start sending me some, they can pm me for details :)
 

Tay690

Addicted to Loaches
Feb 5, 2009
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I know I'm trying to find Rid ich but Big Als apparently doesn't carry it at all...nor do any other LFS i've called in the past 4 hours -_-

Ideally I do want that med...but at this point I don't know what else to do...I just cannot find this stuff anywhere that is quick to grab for me...short of ordering it online

any other ich med suggestions?

thank you very much for your fast reply

Edit: Just called Kordon to find out vendors...they claim big als carries RidIch but i called them and they said they don't have it

she recommended a new ich med they made called ichattack that's supposedly made from 100% herbal extracts that is not as harmful on the fish's skin

anyone heard of this / used it successfully?
 
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LeahK

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Rid Ich Plus is a combo of malachite green and formalin. I think any med with those ingredients would work.
Although, I'm not sure if the recommendation to use at full strength would apply to other formulas....
I've also heard good things about Maracide by Mardel. Apparently, it has a binding agent that enables it to treat ich cysts while they're still on the fish (whereas other meds only treat the free-floating ich, which is why timing is so critical with most of them). I have no personal experience with Maracide though, since I only had that one (fingers crossed) ich outbreak.
 

Tay690

Addicted to Loaches
Feb 5, 2009
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alright well I can't wait much longer or the stores will close -_-
It's quite a mission for me to get to a fish store
I would like to thank both of you for your help and suggestions

I'll keep it updated and hopefully with some good results (fingers crossed)
 

Tay690

Addicted to Loaches
Feb 5, 2009
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Ok I decided on Ichattack due to it's mainly herbal content (figured it would be the easiest on the loaches and Kordon recommended it also)

One thing i'm a little confused on is that it says not to do water changes during the treatment? It says only do water changes to improve water clarity but it is not necessary for medicinal purposes?

http://www.novalek.com/kordon/ich_attack/index.htm

Maybe I'm reading it wrong? What's your take on this?

Thanks again for your replies
 

LeahK

AC Members
Jul 5, 2007
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Perhaps the water changes aren't needed because the med is less toxic.
However, water changes with the water vac still remove ich cysts from the substrate, so I'd probably vacuum the gravel every day, anyway, even if that means doing a small water change.
Make sure to rinse all buckets, water vacs, etc. after use--you can re-infest your tank.
I'll be very interested to hear how this med works. I've always wondered whether the organic stuff is effective....
One more thing, I re-read your first post. You're saying that the ich was brought on by the cooler temps from the air conditioner, right? In my understanding, this might have been a factor, but the vast majority of ich cases are introduced through new livestock or plants. Low-level infections can go unnoticed for some time, because the ich is in the gills or nostrils or other places where we don't see it at first. So, I was wondering, what's the most recent new thing you've put in your tank?
 
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bluekrissyspike

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Mar 24, 2007
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i have had great success treating loaches for ich with salt and heat. i started with half a teaspoon of salt per gallon and increased to one tsp per gallon. i increased the temp to 86.
 
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