please help think I am going to cry Now I have ick :o(

meowfish

meowfish

lurking in the depths below....
Jun 19, 2004
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Hello all, First today I find my poor Angelfish dead at the bottom :sad and now i think that I have ick in the tank. All my platies look like they have the grains of sand on their dorsal and tail fins.I keep the temp at 80 usually and I have 2 mystery snails and the shrimp which was sold to me as a algae eating shirmp(so I am not sure what he is really) How can I treat the tank with the snails and the shrimp in there without them being harmed ad I don't have a quarantine tank(I know bad) If I do the salt temp way how do I do it? I am really lost and so upset...I swear this is the worst day I have had in awhile. Please help.....thanks :sad
 
So sorry to hear about your trouble. I've never personally done so, but I've been informed by several people that anything can be a quarantine tank, that has NEVER had soap touch it. So, for example, you could wash off (but without soap!) a "Rubbermaid" storage box and put some water in there for the snails. Mystery snails are relatively hardy and can live pretty well for a short time, as long as the water is the same quality of what you'd put in your tank. They don't really need much surface agitation, as they can use their "oxygen tube" themselves, and should be fine for a short time. They're also relatively tolerant of temperature, as long as it'll stay stable.

You need to get "Ick-Cure" or something to that effect. There's really no "homemade" way to cure ick. Maybe it would be best to run to Wal-Mart for some Ick-Cure and pick up a small gallon tank for a quarantine tank. I do know that the snails HAVE to be taken out if you're putting in Ick-Cure, but I don't know about the shrimp.

If you have a heater, try raising the temperature to 82 if your fish can handle it. It will speed up the lifespan of the Ick, and hopefully they will fall off and be treated by the Ick-Cure before you lose the fish.
 
i would reccomend getting a bottle of the malechite green drops if you can. i have found that they work better than the fizz-tab kind, and last longer (you can do a full treatment of your tank with only a fraction of the bottle, and keep the rest around to have on hand in case of future problems. before treating, make sure to remove the snails and shrimps. also be aware that this treatment will dye your air tube and silicon corners green. how old was your angelfish? :(
 
The best Ick stuff should have Malachite Green and some other ingredient called Forma-something, I believe. You'll know it when you see it on the bottle, I'm sure, just look for something that looks similar. It's pretty common in Ick medicine.
 
ditto. IMO, the salt is a superior method. easier on all the tank life. good luck!
 
I will only use or condone the use of the salt bath. I lost more fish to an ich treatment than I did to the actual ich (the loss was three pictus cats and three goldfish to the medecine and one pictus cat to a secondary infection), and this didn't even phaze the ich! I later treated the remaining fish with the salt bath, with huge success.
 
I've used salt and heat and medication for treating ich. Salt is way cheaper and it worked better and I think was safer on my fish. I would research the effects on snails before you try it, also some ich medications won't work(will harm) your snails so research what ever product you'll try to use.
Sorry for your loss its hard when we all lose a part of our animal family.
 
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Hi all thanks for the reply. So I woke up this morning and a dead platy now:(
Eeegads.....Looks as if I have some fin rot too maybe. I am going to go buy a 2 or 3 gal today for a q tank for the snails and shrimp. Can I treat for the fin rot the same time as ick? This is feeling hopeless, (my angel was about 3 inches big so fairly old I think)Wish me luck....Thanks.
 
I raised my temp up about a degree a day untill it was 86- left it there for two days, then lowered it a degree a day till it was 82. I had put in a very small amount of salt, and a half dose of copper-safe. I was scared to use copper safe as I know it harms scaless fish (loaches, knifefish) but I treated the tank for a week with it and water changes every other day. Now I see no ick problems and my fish are behaving normally again. No matter what you do, make sure you get lots of info on that shrimp too, I know nothingf abvout them except fr mt cichlids love em', but I am betting they are sensitive to meds. I wonder if they can get ick as well......hmmm.. well sorry about your angel, and- Good luck!
 
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