Update
Bad news. One of the plecos died today. He did have a small scrape on him from before the outbreak, so I would imagine that didn't do him any favors.
As a matter of record for others who might find this useful, I first noticed the ich Sunday (12/9/07) evening and increased the temperature of the tank from 84 to 88 degrees overnight. I also added a UV sterilizer to the tank.
Yesterday (Monday) I did a partial water change in the morning and in the evening to try and get any cysts out of the tank. I also posted pictures above to document the development of the disease. With the increased temperature, I noticed that the plecos were spending more time off of the wood and on the glass in the mid to upper water level. Because of this, I lowered the water level and moved the output from the UV sterilizer to the surface to get the most surface agitation in the tank.
This evening, I got home from school and found one of the pelcos had moved on to a better place (hopefully). I think it might be time to change fields from economics to ichthyology :headshake2:. The amount of infection on each fish has actually appeared to increase instead of decrease as I would expect after nearly 48 hours of heat treatment. Given the shortened life-cycle period at that temperature I would expect to see some change after that amount of time (feel free to let me know if your opinion differs). I will include pictures at the bottom of this post to show the progression. The time lapse is just over 24 hours.
With the current situation of more spots, and a dead pleco, I have decided to try salt in addition to heat at this point. The plecos are quarantined in a 20 gal. (17.3 actual) tank and I have dissolved and added 2 teaspoons of API aquarium salt. I decided to try salt because it seemed like it might be less harsh than copper and I have read that it can have therapeutic effects on wounds.
I added the salt about an hour ago and although I have not had any jump attempts, 2 of the 3 remaining fish are on the glass near the top instead of in the mid water section where they were with just the temperature increase. This is also with the light on which is not typical behavior (I turned the light on to take the pictures). So I will be keeping an eye on them as I increase the salt content. My target dosage is 1 teaspoon per gallon which seems to be the lower bound of an effective salt treatment. I will work towards that level very slowly as I watch the behavior of the fish.
One question I have is does the salt reduce the dissolved oxygen levels in the tank? IE should I bring the temperature back down now that I am adding salt?
So, here are updated pictures and I will update this as things change.
Bad news. One of the plecos died today. He did have a small scrape on him from before the outbreak, so I would imagine that didn't do him any favors.
As a matter of record for others who might find this useful, I first noticed the ich Sunday (12/9/07) evening and increased the temperature of the tank from 84 to 88 degrees overnight. I also added a UV sterilizer to the tank.
Yesterday (Monday) I did a partial water change in the morning and in the evening to try and get any cysts out of the tank. I also posted pictures above to document the development of the disease. With the increased temperature, I noticed that the plecos were spending more time off of the wood and on the glass in the mid to upper water level. Because of this, I lowered the water level and moved the output from the UV sterilizer to the surface to get the most surface agitation in the tank.
This evening, I got home from school and found one of the pelcos had moved on to a better place (hopefully). I think it might be time to change fields from economics to ichthyology :headshake2:. The amount of infection on each fish has actually appeared to increase instead of decrease as I would expect after nearly 48 hours of heat treatment. Given the shortened life-cycle period at that temperature I would expect to see some change after that amount of time (feel free to let me know if your opinion differs). I will include pictures at the bottom of this post to show the progression. The time lapse is just over 24 hours.
With the current situation of more spots, and a dead pleco, I have decided to try salt in addition to heat at this point. The plecos are quarantined in a 20 gal. (17.3 actual) tank and I have dissolved and added 2 teaspoons of API aquarium salt. I decided to try salt because it seemed like it might be less harsh than copper and I have read that it can have therapeutic effects on wounds.
I added the salt about an hour ago and although I have not had any jump attempts, 2 of the 3 remaining fish are on the glass near the top instead of in the mid water section where they were with just the temperature increase. This is also with the light on which is not typical behavior (I turned the light on to take the pictures). So I will be keeping an eye on them as I increase the salt content. My target dosage is 1 teaspoon per gallon which seems to be the lower bound of an effective salt treatment. I will work towards that level very slowly as I watch the behavior of the fish.
One question I have is does the salt reduce the dissolved oxygen levels in the tank? IE should I bring the temperature back down now that I am adding salt?
So, here are updated pictures and I will update this as things change.
