Free Ich

A

Ayrianth

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Sep 13, 2004
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www.thepewterconnection.com
I bought four new fish a few days ago and they came with Ich at no extra charge! Of course it's my fault for seeing some beautiful fish and not waiting to set back up the hospital tank (got nasty due to Hurricane Jeanne) and so now I'm paying the price.


I've been doing some extensive research online and I'm opting for the raised temp and salt solution instead of chemicals for several reasons.



There seems to be a bit of confusion though:

Every site I've been too suggests a ten day dosing (or three days past last seen infection) except for this forum. I'm reading 3 weeks after you last see Ich here. I'm wondering where this information is coming from since I can't find it anywhere else on the net. I don't want to cut short the treatment but I also don't want to keep the temp high and salt bath longer than necessary.

I would like to extend a huge THANK YOU to the suggestion of salt and high temp to you guys! I'd have never thought to look beyond the LFS shelf if I hadn't read it here! :)
 
I'm just a newbie, so don't take my word for it, but I am going through the same thing. I treated my tank yesterday and just got done with my water change. I treated it withick guard. The label says may be repeated, so I would think 10 days would be wrong, but once again, I am not sure. My fish, a firemouth cichlid, seems to be doing better, he's clean again anyway, and I hope it's over. Somebody please correct me if I am wrong, so I can put another dose in tonight. Btw, Where in Fl. do you live. I'm by Sarasota
 
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The reason I suggest treatment at least 3 weeks past the last visible sign of ich is the lifecycle of the parasite. It can take up to 10 days for the cysts to hatch into tomites--if you only treat for 3 days, those cysts are not killed, and the tomites that hatch out will re-infect your tank. Three weeks allows plenty of time for the parasite to hatch and be killed. Is it overkill? Likely. But I'd rather maintain the salt and heat treatment for a solid month or more than deal with constant re-infections down the line.

Treating with medications is a totally different process--you can't maintain the high levels of medication for the full life cycle, since that level of exposure may be damaging to the fish.
 
http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/ich.shtml
This article covers most questions pretty well. I am not completely familiar with Ich Gaurd per se, but it is very well protected through most of its life cycle, and is really only highly succeptable to being killed during the free swimming stage. If I remember correctly some meds (pottasium permagenate I think) can eventually tear down the outer shell of the cysts and kill the ich before it hatches, but this is largely dependant on many tank factors (organics etc.) and not a surefire cure. As Og said It is better to be sure with an extended treatment now and not have to worry about a re-lapse later. I highly reccomend reading the article through completely. There is a lot of good info there.
Dave
 
Lack of a full treatment is the major reason that there is the myth that all fish tanks have ich. My tanks have never had ich, but if I do get (knock on wood) then I will make sure to do a full 3 week or more treatment. Is the treatment hard on the fish? Probably to a degree but then if you stop short you will be doing the treatment over again in the future. So which is harder on the fish?
 
daveedka said:
http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/ich.shtml

Dave
Click to expand...


Dave, I found this article you reference in another post by you. I read it and that's why I went searching further because that's where I first read about three days treatment after seeing ICH.

Here's the quote:
Here's my most important advice: Continue the salt bath or medication three days after you can find no Ich encysted on any fish.


BTW, I started adding salt and raising the temp last night. I completed a full cup of salt and temp of 86 by this evening. I am already seeing improvement in the one fish that has obvious signs of ich. I did lose one fish in the beginning as at breakfast time he was fine but by dinner his gill area and belly where covered. I was surprised at how fast he broke out with it. I check my fish every feeding time for ich because I'm paranoid. LOL

There are a few other fish with 'possible' ich on their fins but I'm not positive. I'm watching them closely also.
 
lereg15 said:
Is iodized salt harmful to the fish? I think I heard that somewhere before. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks in advance.
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From my research I've found that you'd pickle your fish long before you'd kill them with the amount of iodine in table salt. I used salt out of my pantry and the fish are having no problems at all.


I have noticed that while one fish is looking much better, another has additional spots that weren't there yesterday.

I'm wondering if this is normal in the early stages of treatment or if I need to up the amount of salt I'm using. Or maybe even change to chemical treatment.

Any ideas? Thanks!
 
It will take a bit for the salt treatment to kick in. Stick with it. Get the temp up to 86F, lower the water level (to provide extra oxygenation from the filter's falling water) and get the dose of salt to at least 1tsp per gallon (2 would be better).

As for iodized salt, that isn't a problem. In fact I add iodide to my betta tank for the shrimp that live there.
 
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