Ich: Is this a good plan?

M

mokoni

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Oct 11, 2005
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Up until Saturday things were fine in my aquarium. I had a younger Jack Dempsey Cichlid and an adult Pink Convict Cichlid. The Convict lived in the aquarium first and the Dempsey was added a month or so later. They got along as well as one could hope for 9 months or so. The Convict was clearly the leader of the two fish. Over the last month the Dempsey passed the covict in size and sometime on Saturday when I was out of town they must have had it out. When I got back the table had surely turned and the Dempsey was terrorizing the Convict. From Saturday to Wednesday the Dempsey continually chased the Convict and wouldn't let the convict eat - he was constantly terrorized by the Dempsey. A friend from work with a large aquarium offered to take the Dempsey and we agreed, even though we didn't want to give him up. Our aquarium would soon be much too small for him so we decided to keep the Convict.

The Dempsey was removed from the aquarium last night and the Convict has hardly moved. I now suspect that he has Ich. It's hard to tell because he's very pale from being so stressed out. His body near his back fin looks very strange (lighter than the rest of his body) and his back fin also looks different. I read the long post on the forum about Ich treatment and I have decided to try salt treatment along with an increase in tank temperature to around 83 degrees. Is this a good idea? I don't know for sure that he has ich but I think it's a safe bet because of the stress he was under. I should also point out that the Dempsey did not have any signs of ich.

Sadly, I found out this morning that the Dempsey was killed by his new tank mates last night. It truly breaks my heart and I feel like I am the one who killed him. He was such a friendly and sociable fish.

Any thoughts and advice is appreciated.
 
that's a bummer about the dempsey. it's not your fault since you were just trying to find him a bigger home, which ultimately is a good thing :)

the ICH plan is a good one. just follow the instructions in the ICH article here at AC. However, I would advise to be sure that it's ICH before you start treatment. it's possible that if he is just really stressed out that raising the temps and adding salt will just make it worse if ICH isnt the problem.
 
How do I confirm that it's ICH? If it is ICH and I delay the treatment for a couple days is it possible that the ICH could kill him? Seeing he's such a pale color it's going to be so hard to get a definite ICH diagnosis.
 
I just want to confirm – you had these fish for 9 months with no health problems prior? Any previous case of ich in this tank? Or, were the fish ever flashing before? Even if the fish was stressed, ich would not spontaneously appear if there has never before been any sign of it. The idea that ich is always present in a tank is a myth. If he’s not flashing, nor has any spots, I would say there is no ich. Right now probably he just needs rest and lots of nice clean water. What you can do for him in the meantime is extra water changes until you decide what, if anything, else needs to be done, i.e. if he develops fungus from being attacked. However, clean water would benefit him there, too.
 
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kveeti said:
I just want to confirm – you had these fish for 9 months with no health problems prior? Any previous case of ich in this tank? Or, were the fish ever flashing before? Even if the fish was stressed, ich would not spontaneously appear if there has never before been any sign of it. The idea that ich is always present in a tank is a myth. If he’s not flashing, nor has any spots, I would say there is no ich. Right now probably he just needs rest and lots of nice clean water. What you can do for him in the meantime is extra water changes until you decide what, if anything, else needs to be done, i.e. if he develops fungus from being attacked. However, clean water would benefit him there, too.
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There have never been any prior health issues with the two fish. The only time the Convict ever flashed is when I once didn't add enough water treatment during a water change and that was a couple months ago. One of the things that he was doing that concerned me was he was hovering around the filter discharge/heater area. I read that fish with ICH will do that to get extra oxygen. Like you said, I read that ICH is always present in a tank so that's another reason I suspected ICH.

I have done two water changes since Sunday (appx. 40% on Sunday with gravel vac and appx. 10% last night). When I did the big water change on Sunday I also changed around the landscaping hoping that the change would cool the Dempsey off a little. Last night I also checked the ammonia levels and they were slightly elevated but that's usually the case when I do a large gravel vac or scenery change.

I will take some photos tonight and post them here. Maybe you can confirm that it is not ICH and that he's just completely stressed out.
 
another thing you can do to reduce stress levels (if that is the problem or a big concern) is to leave the light off for a day... unless you have plants and need the light on of course ;)
 
LunchBox said:
another thing you can do to reduce stress levels (if that is the problem or a big concern) is to leave the light off for a day... unless you have plants and need the light on of course ;)
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I have never had the light on because the fish always freaked out when I tried turning it on. I have even tried covering 1/2 to 3/4 of the light with cardboard but they would swim and dart around like complete idiots. Strangely, however, they swim right up to the glass when taking a flash photograph.
 
mokoni said:
I have never had the light on because the fish always freaked out when I tried turning it on. I have even tried covering 1/2 to 3/4 of the light with cardboard but they would swim and dart around like complete idiots. Strangely, however, they swim right up to the glass when taking a flash photograph.
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hehe well I guess so much for that idea ;)
 
Here's Jobu (the convict). The whiteness on his back near his tail fin and the white on his tail fin is what I thought was ICH. You can see how his fins are in bad shape, too. I uncluded a photo of him when he was healthy and a photo of his dead brother just for the heck of it. :)

jobu.jpg willie.jpg healthyjobu.jpg
 
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