Devastation

S

Steve B

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Mar 9, 2003
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Bucks County, PA
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The population (primarily tetras and cories) of my 55 gallon tank is currently undergoing a severe attack of ich. So far I have lost about 15 of my 22 fish, basically all of my tetras. The infection started (or at least I noticed it) last weekend. At that time I used Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Super Ich Cure which did nothing. Last night, after consulting with the LFS I bought Aquari-Sol which they had recommended. I still lost some fish today so I am not sure if the Aquari-Sol is going to work, though I admit it is still too soon to tell.

Given the devastation occurring in the tank my questions really concern the future. Namely, what is a good product for getting rid of an ich infection? Secondly assuming that some of my cories survive, how do I know if the parasite has been destroyed and it is safe to restock the tank? If I lose everything do you think that my best course would be to break down the tank clean it out using a mild bleach solution and then begin the fishless cycling process all over again or treat the tank with a recommended medication and then restock the tank?

This is depressing, some of these fish I have had for over 5 yrs.
 
Did you remove the carbon? If you leave the filter pads in the tank it will pull out all of the medicine. Also try raising the temp. I have only had ich once and I raised the temp to 84, removed the carbon and used the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals (thats the one with the fish in the lab coat right?) product and everything cleared up in three days. I lowered the temp and haven't seen it since, that was about a year ago. Check out www.skepticalaquarist.com for more info on ick. (Sorry I don't know how to create a link, you'll have to go the old fashioned way)
 
if you raise the temp it will speed up the life cycle of the ich. and if you do lose all of your fish, all you would have to do is let the tank stay empty for a week or two (not sure exactly how long) and the ich will die off because they need a host and cant survive without a host... i think i heard salt hepls too... but im nbot sure if a little bit of salt is ok for your fish
 
Thanks for the input. It looks like I am going to lose all of the tetras as I saw the remaining fish now have white spots. The carbon was removed before treatment. I had used the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals product before (yes the one with the fish in the lab coat) when I had an outbreak of ich before and it worked fine. In fact I don't recall raising the temperature at that time. I do know that by raising the temperature you speed up the life cycle of the ich.

Anyway it appears that I will be starting over again.

K_S_W_I_S_S - If I leave the tank empty for one to two weeks what happens to the bacteria . . . no ammonia, no nitrites and no nitrates? What do they eat to survive? If I add fish at the end of two weeks won't the tank start cycling again since I assume there would be a bacteria die off?
 
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Steve B, what do you think caused the Ich outbreak?? :confused:
 
Ichthyophthirius multifiliis caused the outbreak. When was the most recent fish added to the system?

The bacterial communities won't die. They'll stop multiplying perhaps. If you feel sorry for them, add a pinch of fish food. The community that breaks it down gives off ammonia for the nitrifiers. (Don't add household ammonia-- too strong.)

But you don't have to do a thing. At aquarium temperatures in the seventies, Ich won't last a full week without hosts.
 
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Ichthyophthirius multifiliis is the parasite.....not the cause of the outbreak.
Steve B, any idea what could have caused the outbreak? Did the fish get stressed somehow? Differing water temps during water changes? New fish...? I'm just curious..
 
From Wetman:
(Don't add household ammonia-- too strong.)
Click to expand...
If the tank is empty, why would this be different than cycling? Maybe bring the ammonia level up to 2ppm as oppposed to 5ppm.
 
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