We've been having a huge problem with ich in our tank. it successfully killed off all of our original inhabitants a couple weeks ago, and even after a complete disinfectant spree, it has returned with our new fish. The first treatment we used was rid ich and it was horrible and didnt even slow it down. Now we are using Mardel Maricide in combination with aquarium salt, no light (since we heard that the light actually helps the protazoa to spread after hatching), raising the temp of the water and vaccuming the gravel for eggs. It looked like we had a good hold on it a couple days ago, but this morning it looked really bad and our kissing gouramie's have tufts of with on the now too, just like my red tinfoil barb had before he passed. Please help me quick! My wife and I cant bear to see another fish go..........
Please help us!
- Thread starter phoenixspade
- Start date
How long has this tank been set up with fish in it? Also, when you buy new fish, how do you acclimate them? Did they all come from the same store? Do you have any test results to post here? (Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, etc...) What about water changes? Sorry to be grilling you here, but these answers will help...
i recently fought ick with only malafix salt and high temps ...the high temps increase the cycle of ick ...they do not kill it ...the reason it seems so agresive is because of the high temps ...i usually take the temp slowly to around 84 degrees and depending on tank my gourami tank for instance i took to 86 ...i used the salt method and used melafix to treat the outside of the fish heal wounds ect ...good luck,,and sad to say that if you do loose the inhabitans ...don't give up ...just bleach dip everything in the tank and start over ,,incedently how liong has this tank been set up , and what size and when you used the ick treatment did you remove your filter?
sky eyes you are much faster than i ...lol
sky eyes you are much faster than i ...lol
the tank was set up for a good week before we got new fish. We let the acclimate by stting their bag in the water for a while and then letting them go in the tank. I know its a stressful process for them and thats proabably how they got it again but i did everything in my power to help it. Sadly, i dont have any reading to give. To be honest Ive had healthy fish for over a year and i didnt use it. i know now the errors of my ways) i would just treat the water with conditioner and detox it. well ive tried the salt and it helped but like i said its come back in force and im not sure what to do. I lowered the temp down again to give the fish a fighting chance but at that point im not even sure if that was a good idea. Im new to fish sicknesses and this one will not go away.
oh and yeah they all came from petsmart and im actually starting to get a little suspicious. usually my wife holds them on the way home to protect them from splashing everywhere and getting more stressed.
My interrogation technique has been honed by many months of working in a pet store, hehe. I had to work on the right way of asking questions to get the information I'm looking for. That's why I ask 'How long has the tank been set up WITH FISH IN IT?' instead of 'How long has it been set up?' See?judgemax said:
got it. ok the tank had fish in it for about a week and a half before i noticed the first breakout. and yeah i removed the filters .
Read the article about ich by daveedka.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39759
Basically, I've successfully treated ich by adding salt and then (and only then) raising the temp to 84. High temps will kill the ich, but it'll also speed them up so you could end up with a worse infestation. Also, I think daily water changes are beneficial, especially if the tank is uncycled (as it might be if you disinfected and started over).
The white tufts probably aren't ich, but might be columnaris. They usually go hand in hand for me, for some reason.
Also, I'd ditch the meds and go with straight salt. The meds always made me feel like I shouldn't change the water--which is probably what you need to be focusing on now.
I don't think the light's of concern.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39759
Basically, I've successfully treated ich by adding salt and then (and only then) raising the temp to 84. High temps will kill the ich, but it'll also speed them up so you could end up with a worse infestation. Also, I think daily water changes are beneficial, especially if the tank is uncycled (as it might be if you disinfected and started over).
The white tufts probably aren't ich, but might be columnaris. They usually go hand in hand for me, for some reason.
Also, I'd ditch the meds and go with straight salt. The meds always made me feel like I shouldn't change the water--which is probably what you need to be focusing on now.
I don't think the light's of concern.
how should i treat the columnaris because thats the last thing i saw on my red tinfoil barb before he went?
phoenixspade said:
Columnaris is usually a result of poor water conditions. OK, actually, it's a bacterium, but the fish get it because of stress from poor water conditions. Anyway, water changes help a lot there--50% daily until the fish start to look better. And keeping the salt in the water probably helps, too. I can't really say for sure on the latter, as I've always had columnaris at the same time as ich.