Signs of ICH on my JD's! How should I attack it?

[jagarundi]

I went to Petland this morning and bought a 150w heater and some quick cure for the ICK. I changed 30% of the water before I put the medicine in, along with some slime coat. The temperature is steady at 84 deg. Two fo the dempseys died this morning before I was able to treat. The remaining Dempsey and the the two Green Terrors are now huddled up together in the corner of the tank behind a rock. Looking at them, I cant' see any signs of Ick. They do have 'clamped fins' though. What could be wrong?

 

[mikedel]

I went to Petland this morning and bought a 150w heater and some quick cure for the ICK. I changed 30% of the water before I put the medicine in, along with some slime coat. The temperature is steady at 84 deg. Two fo the dempseys died this morning before I was able to treat. The remaining Dempsey and the the two Green Terrors are now huddled up together in the corner of the tank behind a rock. Looking at them, I cant' see any signs of Ick. They do have 'clamped fins' though. What could be wrong?

Did you not have a heater until today? Slowly get the temp up to 86. Keep a real close eye on your ammonia and nitrite levels. I would probably do water changes every couple of days for awhile. I would also only feed a small amount every other day for awhile to try and keep the ammonia spike to a minimum. You dropped a pretty big bioload in a tank that you just filled. What kind of filtration do you have?

 

[jagarundi]

Well, sorry to report that all of them have died. The Green Terror was the last to go about 10 minutes ago. I'm going to go and get two more Green Terrors and THIS time, I set up a holding tank that's temperature stabilized and treated already. My filtration is a AquaClear 200 power pump with ammonia remover, charcoal and foam pad inserts. BTW, the remaining two fish didn't have ICK but body fungus. I have since changed the water SEVERAL times and with the few goldfish left, I don't see any signs of distress.

 

[mikedel]

Try adding some cycle when you add your fish. This helps with the cycling of the tank. Or you could buy some Bio Spira, and add a full bio load all at once. If you go the Bio Spira route be sure to keep an eye on your nitrite levels. Bio Spira adds all the bacteria needed to convert ammonia to nitrite, but your bacteria colonies that convert the nitrite to nitrate will still need to be established. Now that you dont have an ich problem you can go ahead and lower your temp back down to 78-80. Sorry to hear about the lose, hopfully you will have better luck with the next batch.


Good Luck,
Mike

 

[daveedka]

http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/ich.shtml
http://www.aaquaria.com/aquasource/salt.shtml

Cat is on the right track, but the details are a little off (please don't take that offensively Cat, no offense is meant at all)
Table salt will work iodized on non-iodized. Ich will still be in your tank as long as you have any fish in there. You can kill it with heat salt or meds, I find meds to be much more stressful to fish than salt. However GT's and JD's are pretty tough fish so meds chould be effective without causing disaster. I know you are past the point of saving your fish, but education is still good in case you ever see this again. Also if you have goldfich in the tank ich will live on them as well, and continue the life cycle. The first artcile is pretty in-depth about ich and how it lives. The second is an article about salt that should clear up any myths or confusion.
Dave

 

[kanakaia]

The only Time my fishes get ich is when they are chilled like a drop in temp from the norm. From what I've been reading in your post it sounds like you did'nt have a heater in the beginng.