Cannot get rid of ich...
- Thread starter z4mat
- Start date
Same ich problem
I have been treating my 30 gallon tank for ich for almost a week now. I used a combo of increasing temp to almost 85*, using about 2 tablespoons salt per 5 gallons (which I think is a little over 1 teaspoon per gallon), and meds. I first tried Quick Cure which is Malachite Green and Formalin. This did not seem to do anything so I kept the salt and temp the same, did some water changes in between, and then switched to Clout for meds since that also said it will cure ich. I have been using that for a couple days now and the ich is still there, although the fish seem much happier with that in the water than with the Malachite green. I also am seeing a couple of the fish with the bad ich showing signs of secondary bacterial infections, so I also added some Maracyn Plus which I did read was okay to combine with ich treatment. Anyway, that combo did not seem to stress the fish, but the ich is still there. So now I am thinking of just quiting the meds, doing a water change, leaving the temp at 85-86* and going to the straight salt treatment. I could still add the antibacterial stuff for the secondary infections right??? That did not seem to stress the fish. The increase of salt I made from 1 to 2 tblsp per 5 gallon didn't seem to bother them that much either. I am just worried that since the fish that had the ich to begin with, still have the spots after 1 week (and at least 5 days at the higher temp, my meds must not be effective and the fish are getting new infections). Otherwise the white spots should have fallen off the fish by now right, and not reappeared if the meds were working? My organic levels in the tank have been good I think and I have been doing water changes too. I am afraid of continuing with the meds and not seeing any improvement and loosing more fish. By the way, I read that barbs are really prone to ich and believe me, the barbs in my tank were hit the hardest too, and seem to be the toughest to cure. I lost all 3 cherry barbs, and have a checkerboard barb and a Pentazona barb that just can't dump the ich spots. Anyway, I stated my fears about continuing with unsuccessful meds, and stressing the fish + loosing more. Is my best bet at this point to switch to the 2 teasp./gallon salt treatment with the 85* heat. Are you sure this will work and kill the ich? I don't want to loose anymore fish for moving away from meds, but what choice do I have? Thanks for any input!
I have been treating my 30 gallon tank for ich for almost a week now. I used a combo of increasing temp to almost 85*, using about 2 tablespoons salt per 5 gallons (which I think is a little over 1 teaspoon per gallon), and meds. I first tried Quick Cure which is Malachite Green and Formalin. This did not seem to do anything so I kept the salt and temp the same, did some water changes in between, and then switched to Clout for meds since that also said it will cure ich. I have been using that for a couple days now and the ich is still there, although the fish seem much happier with that in the water than with the Malachite green. I also am seeing a couple of the fish with the bad ich showing signs of secondary bacterial infections, so I also added some Maracyn Plus which I did read was okay to combine with ich treatment. Anyway, that combo did not seem to stress the fish, but the ich is still there. So now I am thinking of just quiting the meds, doing a water change, leaving the temp at 85-86* and going to the straight salt treatment. I could still add the antibacterial stuff for the secondary infections right??? That did not seem to stress the fish. The increase of salt I made from 1 to 2 tblsp per 5 gallon didn't seem to bother them that much either. I am just worried that since the fish that had the ich to begin with, still have the spots after 1 week (and at least 5 days at the higher temp, my meds must not be effective and the fish are getting new infections). Otherwise the white spots should have fallen off the fish by now right, and not reappeared if the meds were working? My organic levels in the tank have been good I think and I have been doing water changes too. I am afraid of continuing with the meds and not seeing any improvement and loosing more fish. By the way, I read that barbs are really prone to ich and believe me, the barbs in my tank were hit the hardest too, and seem to be the toughest to cure. I lost all 3 cherry barbs, and have a checkerboard barb and a Pentazona barb that just can't dump the ich spots. Anyway, I stated my fears about continuing with unsuccessful meds, and stressing the fish + loosing more. Is my best bet at this point to switch to the 2 teasp./gallon salt treatment with the 85* heat. Are you sure this will work and kill the ich? I don't want to loose anymore fish for moving away from meds, but what choice do I have? Thanks for any input!
I think everything you need to know is in this thread. 24 hours after I started the salt, fish seem to be doing good, one of Neons has dropped his ich spots. My loach is still infected but not any worse.
The link in FooF's sig will lead you to all the info you need.
Good luck.
The link in FooF's sig will lead you to all the info you need.
Good luck.
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I've moved on to the stage of "excuse to get a bigger tank"!! I got a few balas a while back (failing to do any research 
) and am now set on keeping them!! They're pretty small now, but I think a 180g is in my future 
Glad to see your fish are doing better
) and am now set on keeping them!! They're pretty small now, but I think a 180g is in my future Glad to see your fish are doing better
salt/temp ich treatment success???
Is the use of salt and elevated temps as a treatment for ich acutally a surefire method? I guess I am a little skeptical that the absence of meds will actually work? Has anyone had success time and time again using just 2 teasp. salt per gallon and elevated temps??? Thanks for your input. I want to start it tonight, but have my doubts.
Is the use of salt and elevated temps as a treatment for ich acutally a surefire method? I guess I am a little skeptical that the absence of meds will actually work? Has anyone had success time and time again using just 2 teasp. salt per gallon and elevated temps??? Thanks for your input. I want to start it tonight, but have my doubts.
Salt as far as I know is as surefire as anthing out there. Properly used Formalin and Malechite will be as effective, As with any nasty in our tank, it can be rough, but I've never known ich to beat it yet, and hear a lot of feedback that reinforces this. The other huge factor is the effect of meds vs salt on our fish. quite simply, we can extend the salt treatment longer if we need to, so If we happen to get a really tough strain of ich, we can continue treatment until it is beaten. Typically this isn't so with meds. Additionally salt does not react to organics and therefore stays potent the whole time. Essentially most meds work by oxidizing protiens, which allows them to attack small creatures in a lethal way. They unfortunately attack our fish to some extent as well. This is the stress that is seen, and the reason scaleless fish and delicate fish succomb so quickly.
Salt can be irritating to some fish, but not nearly so much as meds and therefore it can be used for much longer.
One of the harsh side effects of ich is the open wounds it leaves. Some fish nver have any trouble with healing, others do, and often times fungal and bacterial infections will result. The other nice thing about salt is that most meds used for these secondary infections will work in conjunction with salt.
So treatment of secondary infection during treatment for ich is often done.
I would not give up on any treatment in less than two weeks. there are enough variables, to believe that you may not kill every free swimmer in round one. Every article I've ever read has stated treatment for a prescribed amount of time after the last cyst is gone, none of them that I can recall give an up front time frame. Most of us who have been through this have found certain time frames to be normal, but there isn't a set rule of time between start of treatment and the last cyst. If it were my tank, I'd reat with salt, raise the temp and wait it out. when all of the fish are clear I would then start my clock. but not before all cysts are gone. If I had a sticky strain of ich, I'd probably work on getting the salt level a little higher if my fish didn't react too adversely.
BTW there is a strong belief with many folks that salt will help with the secondary infections as well.
Dave
Salt can be irritating to some fish, but not nearly so much as meds and therefore it can be used for much longer.
One of the harsh side effects of ich is the open wounds it leaves. Some fish nver have any trouble with healing, others do, and often times fungal and bacterial infections will result. The other nice thing about salt is that most meds used for these secondary infections will work in conjunction with salt.
So treatment of secondary infection during treatment for ich is often done.
I would not give up on any treatment in less than two weeks. there are enough variables, to believe that you may not kill every free swimmer in round one. Every article I've ever read has stated treatment for a prescribed amount of time after the last cyst is gone, none of them that I can recall give an up front time frame. Most of us who have been through this have found certain time frames to be normal, but there isn't a set rule of time between start of treatment and the last cyst. If it were my tank, I'd reat with salt, raise the temp and wait it out. when all of the fish are clear I would then start my clock. but not before all cysts are gone. If I had a sticky strain of ich, I'd probably work on getting the salt level a little higher if my fish didn't react too adversely.
BTW there is a strong belief with many folks that salt will help with the secondary infections as well.
Dave
:bowing: Well the salt thing is working for me after loosing 3/4 of my fish the rest are doing better! The fish also seem more relaxed at the themp/salt treatment over the meds..Im sold!!!
Now are you all suggesting i keep the tank like this for two weeks?
And do you do 1/4 water change once a week while you are treating them?
Have been treating for 4 days now!
65 gallon tank /plants (live)
5 fruit tetras
2 Cories (lost some)
1 ruby clown
2 frogs
1 wormy worm (dont remember his real name)
He is a long sucker fish that can get agressive, but has lots of room and his own hiding spot..kinda cool! :dance
Now are you all suggesting i keep the tank like this for two weeks?
And do you do 1/4 water change once a week while you are treating them?
Have been treating for 4 days now!
65 gallon tank /plants (live)
5 fruit tetras
2 Cories (lost some)
1 ruby clown
2 frogs
1 wormy worm (dont remember his real name)
He is a long sucker fish that can get agressive, but has lots of room and his own hiding spot..kinda cool! :dance
Salt Rocks
Well, 2 days after starting the S&WW treatment (salt and warmer water treatment), I have noticed a couple of things.
Fish HATE meds. I guess I didn't realize how different the fish were acting with the meds in the water. They became more lethargic, swimming slower, etc. Now that the water is free of meds, my fish are acting the way they used to. They seem to be having fun again.
Using the salt is WAY more relaxing for the fish and actually works. My two neons which caught the ich lost it one day after the salt was in. And best of all, my loach which was heavily infected and who I thought was a goner, is looking way better. After hiding for a day in a spot I didn't know existed under some driftwood, he has come out and seems to be back to his old self. The ich is almost all gone from his fins and he acting like a clown again. I think he misses his buddy though (who didn't survive the ich or the stress).
Meds really screw up the water clarity. 2 days with no meds in the tank and my water looks like it did before I started this whole meds ordeal three weeks or so ago.
I will keep it this way for the full two weeks recommended and hopefully no more fish will be lost.
I lost 1 clown loach, 1 bala and a small guppy due to bringing home a clown loach with ich which wasn't in the visible stage yet (showed up next day). How does one avoid this in the future if a quaratine tank isn't available or was this a rare occurence?
Salt Rocks! :dance
Tony
Well, 2 days after starting the S&WW treatment (salt and warmer water treatment), I have noticed a couple of things.
Fish HATE meds. I guess I didn't realize how different the fish were acting with the meds in the water. They became more lethargic, swimming slower, etc. Now that the water is free of meds, my fish are acting the way they used to. They seem to be having fun again.
Using the salt is WAY more relaxing for the fish and actually works. My two neons which caught the ich lost it one day after the salt was in. And best of all, my loach which was heavily infected and who I thought was a goner, is looking way better. After hiding for a day in a spot I didn't know existed under some driftwood, he has come out and seems to be back to his old self. The ich is almost all gone from his fins and he acting like a clown again. I think he misses his buddy though (who didn't survive the ich or the stress).
Meds really screw up the water clarity. 2 days with no meds in the tank and my water looks like it did before I started this whole meds ordeal three weeks or so ago.
I will keep it this way for the full two weeks recommended and hopefully no more fish will be lost.
I lost 1 clown loach, 1 bala and a small guppy due to bringing home a clown loach with ich which wasn't in the visible stage yet (showed up next day). How does one avoid this in the future if a quaratine tank isn't available or was this a rare occurence?
Salt Rocks! :dance
Tony
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I started the salt & temp treatment last night and am stopping the meds. Just over night, the fish seem happier this morning and I think there are less ich spots on 2 of the fish that had it the worst, whereas I saw no improvement in ich spots during most of the time I was using meds. I will let you all know over the next couple of days how the fish look, but so far things are looking better. I will keep my fingers crossed.
