HELP!!! Nematodes, Hydra, and ICH!!! URGENT!!!

Jspigs · Nov 25, 2009

I have been overfeeding:wall: and now it is showing

. I have nematodes and hydra. From what I have read the nematodes and the hydra can be remedied by feeding less, I can't do gravel vacuuming because my substrate is eco-complete and if I tried to vacuum it it would all be sucked up by the gravel vacuum.

But the worst thing is the ich, I believe it entered my tank on a ghost shrimp that I recently bought.

I noticed the ich on one or two of the neons a couple of minutes ago. And yes I am sure it is ich, I can't get a pic because my camera is horrible and the neons move very fast, but I can describe it for you: it looks like one or two white specks on one or two of my neons (I can't tell one neon from another so i am not sure if it is one or two neons) the speck(s) are about the size of a grain of salt.

I am planning to use the salt and heat method but I have a few questions.

1.Does the salt and heat method affect shrimp and/or my bio-filter?

2.How much salt and over how many days should I add it?

3.I should raise the temperature to 86 degrees Fahrenheit right?

4.Over how many days should I raise the temperature and how many degrees a day?

5.How long should I continue the treatment for?

Please help me ASAP:1zhelp:, I don't want my fishies to die

.

msjinkzd · Nov 25, 2009

First thing I would do is a nice water change and vac the best you can (I vac in tanks with eco-complete, just pinch off the hose if the eco starts going up the tube and it will release back down). Wipe down the inside glass if you can. Then mix 2tsp per gallon of salt with dechlorinated water. I add it in gradually over two days, some do it quicker. Bump your heater up gradually as well, I go to 84-86. You might increase your aeration if possible as the increased temps reduce the amount of disolved oxygen.

Here is a great article: http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88601

1.Does the salt and heat method affect shrimp and/or my bio-filter?
Won't effect your biofilter and your shrimp should tolerate it fine, just increase aeration during treatment (add an airstone or lower the water line to increase splash)

2.How much salt and over how many days should I add it?see above

3.I should raise the temperature to 86 degrees Fahrenheit right?
yes

4.Over how many days should I raise the temperature and how many degrees a day?
I do it over two days
5.How long should I continue the treatment for?I always treat for two weeks after the last cyst was seen.

Jspigs · Nov 25, 2009

Thank you for your help. I did a water change and I am slowly raising the heat and I am dissolving some salt.

Jspigs · Nov 25, 2009

The salt finished dissolving and I added some of the salt solution to the tank.

The heater is slowly heating up to 80 degrees Fahrenheit and then tomorrow I will gradually increase it a little at a time until I hit 86 degrees Fahrenheit.

trigiver01 · Nov 26, 2009

Best of luck! Fortunately if caught early and treated correctly, ich is simple to eradicate. I always have better luck at 88 F, as some newer ich outbreaks are more heat resistant. You'll want to keep the heat up and salt in for 14 days, as this is the length of the life cycle.

As you probably know, ich goes through various stages. The trophont is the one you see, but there are far more organisms than that in the tank by now. Many of them might be incapsulated in your gravel while they mature. Note that at this stage, salt does not get to them. The heat only accelerates their life cycle unless it is over 86, where it is generally fatal.

You want to make sure and give the organisms incapsulated a chance to emerge so the salt can kill them. That takes about 14 days.


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HELP!!! Nematodes, Hydra, and ICH!!! URGENT!!!

Jspigs

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msjinkzd

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Jspigs

There is always more to learn

Jspigs

There is always more to learn

trigiver01

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