Ich cure

[jon carman]

Ich is a ciliated protozoan that attacks a fishes gills and scales. It looks like tiny salt crystals on the body and fins. The infected fish will flash(or scratch) against rocks or substrate. In my fish that have got it, sometimes it looks as though they are bleeding from all the flashing on the rocks. Ich has 3 stages in its life cycle and the best place to kill it is in the last cycle when it is called a thermonts. This is when the newly devloped spores are in the water looking for a host.

1st Treatment- Natural
Slowly raise Temp. to 86 degrees and triple salt. I would do this for 10 days

Be sure to agitate surface because extra salt and high temp reduces dissolved oxygen- this is true with any med also.

2nd way(what I do)
Use Malachite Green- use instructions- remove carbon

I do half the dose because I have scaleless fish. I double the time I treat because of this.

Any other experiences are welcome. There are way more than these two ways. Probably alot better and easier ways, these are just the two I have had success with.

[horton44]

Thanks for info. I had a bad case of this once and I lost a bunch of fish.

[jon carman]

Early detection is key with all disease

[sumo2000]

I've only dealt with Ich once but Rid-Ich+ fixed it asap and all my fish were fine. I always like to hear reviews on other medicines though... just in case.

[jon carman]

Look at the ingredients in the Rid-Ich and post. Mal. Green is just an ingredient not a name brand med. But there are a couple of others that work well too. See if it is different.

[aaron]

Yup, just note that on the temp raising, you need to make sure your fish can live in it. Some fish can't live at 86 degrees. Granted, most can for short time periods.

As for Meds, I don't like using them but will if the case is bad. However when I treat Ich, try to use a sick tank. For instance, my Endler's where in a 55g. Changing 25 to 50 % water change is difficult at that scale. So by moving the endler's into smaller tanks I can do quicker water changes.

I would like to point out if you do the natural method, if you watch the cycle of how ich falls off then re-attaches, you can do a water change right after it falls off. Say a 25%. This helps lower the amount in the tank. If you can't tell from the cycle I would still recommend the water change daily.




Suggestion, pin the topic for others to read up later, or compile a list of the suggestions and pin that topic then close it. Just modify the post to add / subtract anything.

[ree123]

I agree with Arron. Smaller sick tank is easier to treat if one can do this. Of course your entire tank might be sick and you have to treat the display or larger tank.
"Quick cure" and "Clout" are two good remedies along with H2O changes on a frequent basis, as often as every day. During this time don't disturb the substrate or the filter media though.
The formaldehyde in the "Quick cure" is the bomb, IMO.

Thanks for the suggestion for the medication link topic Arron. Why don't you start bookmarking any threads you find with info. about medications and later we can get the info. from you and create such a thread/topic, if enough specific info. is avail. to do so. Meantime, just look back thru various old threads on here to see what all helps your knowledge base.

[aaron]

Sure I'll keep a running tab of it to create an overall one. No biggie.

Though keep in mind on the water changes, you can do a 25% change every 12 hours if it is really bad. But I would only suggest doing this if you are treatment meds and make sure the water going in the tank is the same or approximately the same as the water in the tank. I use digital thermometers to do this and find it quite easy. The reason for making near exact is to keep the heater from overworking. Most people need a care sheet for the heater ... which no one really has. I might write up one and go through the differences between them. It'll have to wait until I have more time though.

[ree123]

Care sheet for a heater ?
Will you explain ?
Can't say I have heard/read of this.
Are you talking about keeping a log of temperatures ?

[aaron]

Not exactly, but you still need to do so, believe it or not how you treat it can damage it. However most companies that manufacture them wont tell you the care facts of a heater. Just for a simple reason... you break it you buy more.

An example for care of a heater is not to put it in the tank and turn it on. It needs time to reach the aquariums temp before being turned on. Wait 4-12 hours... Generally most people don't think twice about it, but by rapidly changing temp of the heater you can damage it.

Here's a prime example, take a glass bottle, heat and cool it and repeat several times a day for a few months. Given the right nudge or force... it will crack, split or break apart. The changing of temp can cause it to weaken the glass, seals etc associated with the heater.

Here's something else, have you ever seen a heater that has water on the inside? it turns the coils to rust. Granted, generally speaking, this is on non submersible heaters... yet it's amazing how even if kept above the water line they seem to still have the same problem.

Even with that said if you haven't seen or had a heater explode or crack, like I have, count your blessings. Generally when you care for a heater you have to keep a log of the temp with several temp readings near and far from the heater. Some brands like Marineland Pro series tends to be 3-5 degrees off what you actually want. Granted, I am a huge fan and use lots of Marineland supplies... but that doesn't mean I go in blindly. I monitor my tanks pretty heavily using some fancy gadgets, lol.

Something else I'd suggest if using heaters (not all aquariums need them) is to stick it on a power strip that has a battery pack. If the power cuts off, the heater will run for 4-8 hours after that point. You can put your pump on a battery pack as well, but I'd keep those on separate packs for longest use. Lights should cut off and stay off if power goes. Keeps you form buying extra battery packs. Though it's not a horrible idea to keep it going on the timer.


I dunno I can rant on this all day. lol

[ree123]

EXCELLENT POINTS for heater care.
Thanks for the input Aaron.

[aaron]

Thanks, when I finish the entire article I'll post it up. I get my new laptop on Monday. Work is spending a pretty penny on it, as I require high performance computers to do my job. My home computer is about to come unplugged as I am about to move.