Cories have Ick! Ack!

[Dobby14]

OMG...I can't believe it, but the two cories in my tank have Ick. A nice man at the LFS gave me a bottle of Aquari-Sol, and I upped the heat to about 85. Female betta also lives in tank (10gal, freshwater, etc.). I treated with Aquari-sol. What can I do next?

 

[fishorama]

I'm not a big fan of copper based ich meds as I believe Aquarisol is but it can be effective. You may never be able to keep inverts again. Follow the directions. Good luck!

 

[BettaFishMommy]

aquarisol is a copper based med, so it will leach into the silicone in your tank and your tank may never be safe for snails or shrimp (the copper will leach back out of the silicone over time).

i'd be doing as large a water change as you can every day (meds break down quickly in water), along with a really good gravel vacuuming every day (to remove cysts from the substrate). try for 75% water change or more if you can. redose the aquarisol for the amount of water you are putting back into the tank. so if the dosage is 12 drops per 10 gallons (as per the bottle instructions), then dose only 9 drops if you have done a 75% water change.

and be sure to remove any carbon from your filter. if your filter is a cartridge style that has carbon in it, just pull out the cartridge and put a chunk of sponge in there. i would leave the sponge in after you're done medicating and not bother with cartridges at all. they're a waste of money and not very effective IMO.

hope it clears up for you! i've only had to deal with ich once (knock on wood!) a couple years ago on a female betta housed by herself. i also used a copper based med (Ich Guard i believe) and it worked really well. the fish was housed in a large bowl with no heater so i treated at room temperature.

be sure to continue medicating for at least a week (some say two weeks is best) after you see the last cyst fall off the fish. terminating medication early can bring the ich back stronger than before.

 

[dbosman]

Follow the directions on the bottle and treat for the recommended time period. Repeat as needed if the first treatment cycle doesn't do the trick. After you finish treatment, water changes will remove the copper. It isn't magic, it's a metal salt.
Speaking of salt, don't add salt to a cory tank. Corys are black water (Amazon), not brackish.

Next time use a fresh bottle of a formalin base product. Old formalin based products can (please note that I said can not will) kill your fish because formalin degrades into formaldehyde.

Raising the temperature of the tank is intended to speed up the life cycle of the trophozoites and trophonts. The cyst on the fish is practically impervious to medications.

The simplest way to rid a tank of Ich, is to take the fish out for a week.

The simplest way to keep Ich out of your display tank(s) is to quarantine all new fish - from any source - for a month, preferably two, in a bare bottom quarantine tank.
Some parasites take a long time to show. Yeah, I do know most people can't practically do that.
I do mix fish from the same shop, from the same day, in the same quarantine tank.

My 5.5 gallon quarantine tank is on my desk. I just moved the previous inhabitants into my community tank after three months. Patience is the most important thing in fish keeping and indeed most of life. It can be very expensive to purchase.

 

[BettaFishMommy]

Next time use a fresh bottle of a formalin base product. Old formalin based products can (please note that I said can not will) kill your fish because formalin degrades into formaldehyde.

how old would be too old for formalin based meds? my Ich Guard is about two and a half years old. haven't used it or opened it since '08. toss it?

 

[Dobby14]

aquarisol is a copper based med, so it will leach into the silicone in your tank and your tank may never be safe for snails or shrimp (the copper will leach back out of the silicone over time).

i'd be doing as large a water change as you can every day (meds break down quickly in water), along with a really good gravel vacuuming every day (to remove cysts from the substrate). try for 75% water change or more if you can. redose the aquarisol for the amount of water you are putting back into the tank. so if the dosage is 12 drops per 10 gallons (as per the bottle instructions), then dose only 9 drops if you have done a 75% water change.

and be sure to remove any carbon from your filter. if your filter is a cartridge style that has carbon in it, just pull out the cartridge and put a chunk of sponge in there. i would leave the sponge in after you're done medicating and not bother with cartridges at all. they're a waste of money and not very effective IMO.

hope it clears up for you! i've only had to deal with ich once (knock on wood!) a couple years ago on a female betta housed by herself. i also used a copper based med (Ich Guard i believe) and it worked really well. the fish was housed in a large bowl with no heater so i treated at room temperature.

be sure to continue medicating for at least a week (some say two weeks is best) after you see the last cyst fall off the fish. terminating medication early can bring the ich back stronger than before.

Thanks again for advice. After first dose yesterday, all 3 fish made it thru the night with the cories exhibiting much more frisky behavior today, foraging about and zipping around. Going to do water change and another round of Aquari-sol. Betta still seems unaffected. Wish me luck!

 

[dbosman]

There should be an expiration or use by date on the package and on the bottle.
The product contains nitromersol, which is a preservative, but I'd still go by the date on the container.

 

[Dobby14]

Came back from lunch to find one of the cories DEAD. Belly up and DEAD. This is way too stressful...I do so much better with furry pets. I'm going to give the betta away, but do I just wait out the other cory til he dies, or would flushing him now be okay? I'm sorry I just can't deal. I'm not a bad person. I have 3 pets at home--1 large dog & 2 cats...ALL FROM RESCUE SHELTERS. But I suck at fish. Advice on flush or not flush please. Thanks.

 

[Debisbooked]

Sorry for your loss. I lost three clown loaches to ich a few years back and never replaced them because of the trauma. Personally, I have a favorite bush outside and lay the dead fish at the base. I don't know why, maybe I think the dead fish will be good fertilizer? Most of my fish are on the small side so this works for me. I have no opinions about the pros/cons of flushing.

 

[Dobby14]

Thanks...he is dying as I type. I feel so bad.