Jungle: Ick Guard 2

kraemerwa2003

kraemerwa2003

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Oct 2, 2006
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I had a large case of ick errupt into my established 20 gallon tank. No idea where it came from since all of my fish are quarantined before added and I treat weekly to prevent parasites. Well, anyways, today I added the recommended dosage of ick guard, removed my carbon filter, and raised the temp from 74 to 76, wanted to raise it a little at a time while I was treating. Well, a few hours after I added everything, I went back to check on my fish and I had lost 3 platys, all of my ghost shrimp and a guppy :( I have used this product before without ever getting these results. I have no idea what is up with all of this!! Water params are all normal at: Nitrate <5, Nitrite 0, ammonia 0, pH 7.4...really frustrated because I know that I'm doing everything right. For tank specs look at my signature.
 
no idea but what i do is increase the temp to 85 degrees and put aquarium salt and works great
 
Thanks, I'm just really frustrated...I'm gonna do a PWC today and go and get a new carbon filter cartridge. No idea what went wrong, but I know it wasn't the ick, cause the ick infested fish are the one's still alive...lol...:huh:
 
tks4d2 said:
no idea but what i do is increase the temp to 85 degrees and put aquarium salt and works great
Click to expand...


How long do you rasie the temp for? And how much salt do you add?

I have a 20 gal tank, and I am starting to see some signs of Ick (Fish make sudden bumps into objects)


Thanks
 
well, I have lost all of the fish in my 20 gallon except 3 black skirt tetras, and a lone guppy, so I did a 50% water change today and gonna wait a week or two before adding new fish. Kinda sad, I really liked the stocking in the 20 gallon, but I get to start over now...oh well.
 
Yeah, I just lost 8 Lrg. Clown Loaches, 10 Cherry Barbs, and 10 Cardinal Tetras to a horrible case of ich. I raised temp. to 84F and used the same product as you, and nothing worked. I've been told that there's this "super ick" out there right now which is pretty much incurable!
 
Amanda (and others), I would definitely recommend salt to treat ich. I've also used chemical treatments and it also killed several of my fish. Salt is even safe to use on scaleless fishes like loaches and puffers. The heat by itself can kill ich, but it's risky because it's also stressful on the fish. The recommendation to turn up the temp in the tank is to speed up the ich life cycle, thereby reducing the amount of treatment time. You can totally keep your tank temp the same as always, but then your treatment time might be 4 weeks, vs just 2 weeks if you raise it to 82-84 degrees.

I haven't read the article on MonsterFish, but the one I always point people to is http://www.aquariumboard.com/forums/articles/25-ich-fw.html
We used to have that article here on AC, but it was lost (along with the author) due to politics.

I've done the treatment exactly as it says in that article, on all my tanks and have not lost a single fish to it! The ich is gone for good, too. The myth of ich "always being in your tank" probably stems from incomplete treatment times. If you stop using salt as soon as the white spots on gone from the fish, the non-fishy stages of the ich parasite are still in your tank. Thus, they just go right back to your fish. Also, it's possible for fish to harbor the parasite in their gills if they've had prolonged exposure to it, and have developed a bit of an "immunity". Then, as soon as they are weakened by stress, Bang! The white spots are back.
 
Thanks Paula. I have added salt to my tank. When I was doing the chemical treatment I also added in some salt, and I actually underdosed even though I said that I dosed correctly :o but anyways, I have continued the treatment with only salt and I did a 50% water change. Hopefully, I won't have any more problems, I can't wait to be able to restock...lol. Thanks for the info I will favorite the site for future reference.
 
I just remembered-- make sure that you mix the salt in a separate container, rather than adding it directly to your tank. If the salt crystals touch your fish, it will burn their skin and gills. Also, every time you do a water change, mix salt into the new water so that old and new are at the same salinity. I used a hydrometer to ensure this, but I'm a compulsive tester :D

You can use any kind of salt, as long as it's NaCl. You shouldn't use marine salt mixes like Instant Ocean, because they contain a lot of other minerals and elements that just aren't needed to treat ich, and might stress your fish. You can use Freshwater Aquarium Salt (which is just rock salt, NaCl) or table salt. I personally prefer the table salt because the smaller grains dissolve much easier. Plus it's way cheaper. You can use iodized salt just fine. The levels of iodine are so low, that you'll "pickle your fish in brine" long before the iodine would harm them.

One last thing: make sure you monitor ammonia and nitrite levels carefully during treatment. While this treatment is much milder than others, it's always possible when you change water chemistry that the biological filter bacteria will be upset. Thus, you might enter a mini-cycle. I didn't really notice this in my tanks, but it's ALWAYS a possibility when anything in one's tank is changed.

Good luck! Please let us know if you have any more help with the treatment. Tons of folks here have done it with great success :)
 
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