Illness, Health & Nutrition • Yay. Ich. Best method?

[lilcountrygal]

Would it help if I removed the catfish since he is the most infected or would it no make a difference?

[D*N*R]

I just ended my most stubborn ich battle. Heat and salt did it just go up gradually. My first time meds. did'nt clear it up ? NEW fish

[13razorbackfan]

Would it help if I removed the catfish since he is the most infected or would it no make a difference?

No difference. You need to treat the whole tank. Just keep doing exactly what you are doing and report back in 7 days or sooner if something drastic happens. Just keep up the water changes. If your fish are eating and acting healthy you probably caught it in time and should have no issues. Make sure temp stays at 86. Most strains of ICH will not kill fish if treated in time. You should be ok!

[lilcountrygal]

Thanks, Razor. They're eating like pigs. Hope thats a good sign. Temp is up to about 88. I'll have to watch the temp if it gets warmer around here. I saw the pleco had some spots on him too.

At what point should I be looking for a decrease in the white spots?

[13razorbackfan]

Thanks, Razor. They're eating like pigs. Hope thats a good sign. Temp is up to about 88. I'll have to watch the temp if it gets warmer around here. I saw the pleco had some spots on him too.

At what point should I be looking for a decrease in the white spots?

88 is good...that will really speed up their life cycle. As far as noticing a decrease in spots..it just depends. You should after 7-10 days notice them slowly starting to go away. Sometimes sooner and sometimes later. If your fish are eating then that is great. Just continue doing what you are doing. See....88 isn't so bad huh? It will just make them more active and more hungry.

After a few days you will settle into a routine. What seems like a lot of work right now in a few days will just be routine. The couple weeks will go by really quick.

[13razorbackfan]

Any changes? How do things look?

[lilcountrygal]

Not really. The tank stays at 88 now. I want to say the ich spots on the catfish are fading, but it might just be my eyes. He still has a bunch of them on him tho. I change about 30% of the water daily (missed today tho... just got home a bit ago and wont have time). I'll do a 50% change tomorrow. Its definitely not affecting the other fish in the tank, so at least it isnt spreading. They still eat like pigs. I think I fed them a bit too much this evening because it was probably around 3 minutes until they had the food gone... hence the 50% change tomorrow.

[13razorbackfan]

Ok...good....make sure to vacuum the sand. The vacuuming is the most important part. If your fish are still acting healthy and eating then the ICH has not grown worse which is a good sign. Just keep doing what you are doing and I expect to hear in 5-10 days or so that all the ICH has fallen off the fish. Remember...keep doing treatments for at least 5-7 days after all last signs of ICH are gone. 10 days would be ideal just to be sure.

[RifterFish]

Wow, that is too much work for me. this is my method which works like a charm. I've never used the heat method:
Do not stress too much about this. It is very easily treatable. I like to use Tetra Ick Guard, clears ick fast: dissolvable tablets. First of all, do not follow the directions on the box. It is a waste of time. You can treat the ick quicker and more effectively by following these steps. First, remove the carbon from your filter. Or, if you have empty filter pads just swap it out. You do not want carbon in your filtration as it will remove the chemicals of the medicine and render it useless. Second, drop the tablets in the tank, according to your tank size. Then, do nothing. That is it. Do not do any water changes.The water will turn blue and then eventually clear up after a day or two. Do not replace the water until your next scheduled water change. The ick will clear up within a day or two, but it is necessary to keep the medicine in the water to kill all the ick in the tank. Now, if you notice one or two fish that still have ick while the others are perfectly fine and healthy, it is time to remove that sick fish and put it in quarentine. It will most likely die, but there is nothing you can do for it. There is something much more wrong with it then simple ick or parasites. It will continue to bring the other healthy fish in your tank down. If it is a newly purchased fish, bring it back to the store for a replacement. Do not bother with medicines such as Melafix or Pimafix. Your fish is too far gone already and you would be wasting your money. These treatments are only good at the very first signs of illness. You really have to know your fish and their behavior to notice when something is wrong. pay close attention to each one individually.

[lilcountrygal]

I pretty much know each individual fish. I spend quite a bit of time just sitting by my tank and watching... its relaxing for me

I caught the ich fairly quick due to that. It started on the catfish and a couple spots on a couple other fish.

I actually prefer to try the heat/salt method first. I'm one that believes not to add medicine unless all other options are too far gone. My thought was, try the heat/salt for a couple days, if it doesnt work, then treat the tank with something store bought. After the first two days of water changes, I saw no changes, but no spreading. No spreading to me is a positive sign. This evening I just changed 50% of the water and really believe the ick is slowly receding. The heat/salt is working.

I dont mind doing water changes... it makes the fish happy.

[13razorbackfan]

I pretty much know each individual fish. I spend quite a bit of time just sitting by my tank and watching... its relaxing for me

I caught the ich fairly quick due to that. It started on the catfish and a couple spots on a couple other fish.

I actually prefer to try the heat/salt method first. I'm one that believes not to add medicine unless all other options are too far gone. My thought was, try the heat/salt for a couple days, if it doesnt work, then treat the tank with something store bought. After the first two days of water changes, I saw no changes, but no spreading. No spreading to me is a positive sign. This evening I just changed 50% of the water and really believe the ick is slowly receding. The heat/salt is working.

I dont mind doing water changes... it makes the fish happy.

Yes...keep doing what you are doing. It will clear up...you just have to give it several days to a couple weeks or so. It all depends on the strain and how bad they are infected. If they are all eating and acting normally and it has not gotten worse then you are on the right track.

[RifterFish]

The method I described usually works overnight, sometimes by the next day if it is a bad case. I've had it happen a couple times with new fish from the chain stores. The heat method is okay, but my opinion is the longer they have it and it carries on, the more damage it does. Sounds like your catfish is ill and needs to be quarintined (ignore spelling). Ick normally only attaches to unhealthy fish. I don't normally use chemicals either, but this one is crucial when it comes to saving fish.

[13razorbackfan]

The method I described usually works overnight, sometimes by the next day if it is a bad case. I've had it happen a couple times with new fish from the chain stores. The heat method is okay, but my opinion is the longer they have it and it carries on, the more damage it does. Sounds like your catfish is ill and needs to be quarintined (ignore spelling). Ick normally only attaches to unhealthy fish. I don't normally use chemicals either, but this one is crucial when it comes to saving fish.

No...once it starts to spread at all it is in the tank...they reproduce in the substrate. Isolating fish seldom works. In this case it has spread to other fish already.

I have never seen any meds that can kill ICH overnight. Meds are not effective until after ICH has fallen off fish and is in free swimming stage.

[RifterFish]

Isolating the sick fish is needed to keep the other ones healthy. If the other fish are rid of the ick and are healthy, while one still has it, it is time to remove the fish from the tank. It is most likely terminally ill and it is only a matter of time before it dies. The product has worked for me every time I have used it, and yes overnight on two occasions, and 2 -days on another. The third occasion I had received two poor quality fish from an online pet store. They were skeletal and covered in ick. They came with two healthy ones. I treated the whole tank and the two healthy ones shed the ick quickly, but then got it back about two weeks later. I kept treating until finally I just had to take the two sick ones out all together. They died soon after and the two others survived to become thriving fish. As I said, the med works if you follow the directions I gave and not the ones on the label. Have you ever tried this method? Do not be so quick to dismiss it. I did not discount the heat and salt method. I simply offered an alternative to a long, drawn out process that prolongs the treatment. I learned by the mistakes I made when I first began. Trial and error as they say.

[strat guy]

I got hit with a bout of ich a month ago from some Wal-mart red eye tetras (...learned my lesson...). I raised the temp up to 85F and was treating with Aquarisol with only mild results. I switched to Mardel Coppersafe, and bang, it was gone in like 2 days. I would try that. I've used it in the past for other things, and its a pretty strong product. Most LFS should carry it, but I don't think the big guys do (PetSmart, Petco).