55g Ich Explosion! Help w/ Chemical Solutions

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djblac

AC Members
Feb 2, 2006
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Well, I didn't quarantine a pleco, and it gave my community all ich. My tetras and loachs are just covered, and there are some on my prized rainbows. My friend recommended a treatment of Malachite Green Hydrochloride, and i did one treatment today. I noticed I only have about one more days worth of med, so i went to my LFS and got a bottle of copper sulfate, not knowing the difference of chemicals at the time.

My friend ALSO gave me a bottle of sodium chlorite, which recommends NOT to mix with other chemicals.

I've already treated with the hydrochloride, but of these three what would you all recommend?

(I also raised my temp to 86)
 
I am not going to tell you about which med to use - I have no experiance with those. BUT, if I were you I'd get another airstone/pump into the tank to increase the oxygen content. (And/or lower your water level so their is more splash as it returns from the filter.) Also, you will find that most folks prefer to cure ich with salt along with heat.
Cathy
 
Please please please do NOT put copper in your tank!

Copper cannot be removed from the tank. It will bond on the molecular level with the silcone, decorations, you name it. It is toxic to all life and especially to invertebrates. There have been cases where people have used copper in a tank and thereafter have *never* been able to keep an invertebrate alive. Yes, it's that toxic.

Malachite green is toxic to tetrass, especially at higher temperatures. It is also toxic to catfish types as well.

I highly suggest you do the salt+heat treatment as well. The rainbows won't have a problem with either the salt or the heat, just make sure you add a bubble wand or some other aeration as they are very O2 intensive fish.

Roan
 
Miracle!!

Ok so that was all day one, i woke up this morning and things have taken a turn for the WAY better!?!?

OK so almost ALL the ich is now GONE...just yesturday some of my tetras looked saltier than fries from micky d's, now it's hard to find any ich on them at all. Yey!! (?)

I have NO deaths yet, and although the melechite is working, i feel a little safer using the salt/heat method. In parts of my tank the temp got up to 90, so thats a bit scary. I turned the heat down just a tad to help with over heating, but otherwise day two looks great, and YEY for NO DEATH! :)

OK well i'm off for school, i'll treat with salt when i get back...

*My loachs are still the most infected, and they are acting VERY stressed...they bearly will come out from the back of the tank, i'll have to keep an eye on them
 
Big fan of the salt - heat treatment. But please don't add the salt directly to the tank. I use 1 tsp per gallon dissovled in new water I'm adding to the tank after a water change.

NOTE* There might not be any ich on the fish anymore but that doesn't mean its not still in the tank. The little ichs drop off the fish and hatch on the bottom. Darn things!!
 
Just to reiterate on the above post....

The ich is not gone. It is just going through its natural lifecycle. The treatment didn't make the spots fall off your fish. They are in the substrate waiting to hatch, and it is only when they are freeswimming and looking for a host that they are susceptible.
 
thanks for all the advice. I'm still aware that there is a bit of ich left in the tank, there are still spots on my loachs saddly. Hopefully through salt treatments (thanks for the advice on premixxing that solution) we'll kick that ich out...i'll keep everyone updated. it's not over yet ;/
 
Update - Day 3

Here is a recap:
Day 1 - Noticed ich, raised temp to 86/ treated w/ malachite green
Day 2 - Ich has fallen off most fish, only left on loachs. Adjusted temp to even out tank temp (in some areas the temp was 90!) - Ok, so got my tank temp evenly to 86. Treated with salt.

For dosing salt i read does only 1tsp per gallon per hour...I slowly mixxed into my tank 20tsp total yesturday, and i would have done more but you could REALLY tell that i had added the salt to my tank, although i premixxed in a bucket before adding it to my tank, yesturday my tank was not as clear as it normally is...

Day 3 - 20tsp of salt is in my tank, but i can't just dump more salt/water into my tank without taking some water out.

Ok my plan - I need to take out 15g of water....then add 10g of treated 'salt' water to my tank, enough to complete my salt dosing. i read that a recommened final dose of 2tsp of salt per g is recommened, but my tank is full and i need to take water out. How should i go about my final dose?

I can mix 2 buckets of 'salt water' for a total of 10g, should i mix them both @ 10tsp each , raising my total to roughly 40tsp of salt in my tank (20tsp each)? OR i could go for the 2 tsp per gallon and mix them both at 20tsp, adding 40tsp over the course of the day........getting my tank up to 60tsp total? Am i shooting for roughly 90tsp to correctly dose my tank? This seems real high............... (i figure my 55g's water is really around 45-50g)

Ok i hope i didn't confuse anyone, but i just want to do this right the first time...i am using a link from above for all my refernces to salt treatment
 
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