I purchased and Angel Ram one week ago at a LFS that I totally trust and purchase from regularly and have never had any problems and oh no, I am pretty sure it has ick- little white dots on it. So far none of my other fish are affected. I know about quarantine but this is the only tank I have (55 gallon) and in 6 yrs I have never had any disease in the tank so I guess I was lulled into a false sense of security. Anyway, I also have Cory Cats, Plecos and Neon Tetras, White Cloud Mountain Minnows, Cherry Barbs and Ottos. I called the store and my husband is going today to pick up some medicine to medicate the tank. I took the carbon out of the filter and is there anything else I need to know? I have never treated a fish disease before and I am sure my husband wont remember anything the person the the store tells him. Help and Thanks.
Oh Ick- it's ick!
- Thread starter nene
- Start date
Have you considered using just heat and salt to treat it? Regular aquarium salt worked for me the one time I had ich, and you could always add harsher meds later if the salt isn't effective for your fish. I think the idea is that the mobile form of the parasite (where it's looking for a fish to attach to) is much more vulnerable to salt than fish are, and it kills the parasites before they can attach to fish.
Some fish, such as your catfish, can be sensitive to medicines, so make sure to check the label before adding it! You might need a smaller dose with these fish present.
If you increase the heat with any treatment for ich, it will speed up the organism's lifecycle and so treat the disease faster. If you heat it up, though, make sure the fish don't suffer from lack of oxygen (sitting at the surface panting), since warm water holds less of it.
Hopefully you caught it soon enough that all your fish will be fine
Good luck.
Some fish, such as your catfish, can be sensitive to medicines, so make sure to check the label before adding it! You might need a smaller dose with these fish present.
If you increase the heat with any treatment for ich, it will speed up the organism's lifecycle and so treat the disease faster. If you heat it up, though, make sure the fish don't suffer from lack of oxygen (sitting at the surface panting), since warm water holds less of it.
Hopefully you caught it soon enough that all your fish will be fine
Good luck.
I will second using salt and heat. Its inexpensive and not very stressful on fish. Make sure you continue to treat even after all the white spots are gone. I recommend treating for a week after the spots are gone. This is because, like Lady Friesian said, ich is only vulnerable in its free swimming stage and cannot be killed when its in the other 2 stages of its lifecycle.
Read this sticky on ich.... http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1657382&postcount=2. It will help you understand the disease a little better.
Read this sticky on ich.... http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1657382&postcount=2. It will help you understand the disease a little better.
yes, bump temp and use salt.
tho the Ram will prefer the warm water the other fish may not.
rams, especially blue rams, prefer warm water. angel rams are often a balloon morph of the blue ram
add an air stone to help keep the water moving.. this will also help bump the O2 in the tank.
good luck
tho the Ram will prefer the warm water the other fish may not.
rams, especially blue rams, prefer warm water. angel rams are often a balloon morph of the blue ram
add an air stone to help keep the water moving.. this will also help bump the O2 in the tank.
good luck
really you need to invest in a 10 gallon quarantine tank so this never happens to your big tanks. I learned my lesson fast . fish can get ick from being stressed in shipping or buying from pet store to home. never put a fish in a tank before quarantine. good luck.
good luck.Thank you all so much! I feel much better and I am going to call hubby and tell him to also get Aquarium Salt also and I will try that before the medications. How high can I bump the temp? Right now the tank is at 74 degrees. I am trying to compromise between the tropicals and the White Clouds since the White Clouds actually like cooler water.
I also believe temp should be over 82. (I raised it till 86 in my case before.)
You may raise 2 per day not to stress your fish too much.
You may lower water level down and put more air stone / maximize air pump to increase aeration.
You may raise 2 per day not to stress your fish too much.
You may lower water level down and put more air stone / maximize air pump to increase aeration.
Thanks. I have an air pumb and air stone that I will get started today as soon as I get home from work. Again, thanks all.
You can also just use table salt and not pay a premium for aquarium salt. I use the kind without iodine.