[icewind]

I have a 75 G. with peacock cichlids and clown loaches and bushynose plecos. The tank has been set up for 6 nonths and so far everything has gone really well, I do 2x weekly water changes, water conditons are tested regualarly, the fish have a very good and varied diet. They have all seemed very active and happy. Every night after work, I spend a good bit of time looking the at the fish to make sure if anything looks out of ordinary I can act fast! Yesterday I came home to a full blown case of Ich!! *** never had this before, went to the pet store and got the only thing they had Rid Ich. I only did half the dose because of the clown loaches and bushynose, but it was bad and by tonight after work, I lost 2 of the loaches and a peacock. So far the others seem okay, though some have alot and some hardly any.
I supsect it is because of the new fish I introduced about a week ago, though I still dont understand as they were in the QT for almost 3 weeks and all looked good to transferr them over to the 75 G. So what went wrong?
My other concern is I also have a 55 G. tank I have had for over a year and worry now about cross contamination. I have read that without a host and drying of equippment, such as my Python vacume, the parasites cant live, is this true. If I thouroghly dry out the hoses and let them sit for a few days is it safe to clean my other tanks with it?
Sorry this is so long, I would appreciate any info or tips you could give my ASAP!!!
Also I did a 50% water change before adding more meds to the tank and supose I should continue the tx. for about 2 weeks, while doing regualar water changes, and I took out the carbon. After all the tx is complete, should I throw away the sponges in the canister filter and start with new ones, or will that kill of too much of the good bacterial?

 

[Robin]

If you've still got some loaches then I would do another partial water change--50% using a good quality dechlorinator-- and switch over to the heat and salt method. It works. The one time I had ick in my tank I used it on Clown Loaches and that was 3-4 years ago and all of them are sleek and healthy in my 90 gallon today. I would switch over to the heat and salt no matter what fish you're treating. The directions are in the ich article linked below.

You should have a good test kit to test your water now and for several weeks after you finish treatment. If you notice a spike in ammonia or nitrite then there are ways to deal with it. I don't think you need to chuck the sponges. If you follow treatment directions correctly you will get rid of the ick, everywhere.

If you haven't already please read the ich article below. Knowing the parasites life cycle makes it easier to get rid of them.
Whatever treatment you end up doing fit in as many partial water changes as possible. With every water change you'll be lowering the overall numbers of the parasite in your tank. Not a cure all on it's own but it will help.

ANd please post back with any additional questions

Robin

On the quarantined fish that brought in the ich. Ich can hide in the fish's gills. Also it can take a little while for the parasites numbers to increase to the point where you see enough of them on your fish so that you say: hey, what's that on my fish? :-? :x Also if you did frequent water changes on the Q-tank this would have slowed the ich down.

 

[icewind]

Thank you for responding so fast was glad to see the post when I got home from work tonight!! I did what you advised, another 50% water change and read the site, added the salt and conditioner, even though we are on well water I still add that for stress, and am in the process of raising the temp slowly to about 83-85.
Makes sence what you said about the QT fish, though it raises the question of when to know you are safe to add new fish to the tank, I always thought 3 weeks was safe, but now I wonder! Also, should I be adding salt at every water change after all the ich has cleared up, does it prevent further outbreak? *** always been right on with 25% water changes 2x week, but do not usually add salt.Thank you again for all the help!!

 

[Robin]

Three weeks quarantine is the minimum you want to do, but even with a longer period it's possible to miss something.

On the salt: once you finish the heat and salt treatment, (minimum of ten days), you want to gradually remove the salt via partial water changes and no, I would not keep that much salt in the tank on a regular basis. When the treatment is finished slowly lower the temperature and do daily or every other day partial water changes of 25-40% for a few days. Then just go back to your normal water changing schedule--usually 25% weekly or bi-weekly depending on the stocking of your tank and how much you feed. You just don't want your nitrates to get up over 20ppm between water changes and if you have a low KH then doing more frequent partial water changes will avoid problems there.

Some people do believe that the ich parasite is always in the aquarium, (I personally don't believe this) and only becomes a problem for the fish when the fish is stressed for one reason or another. I've heard it argued both ways by knowledgeable, experienced fish keepers. Either way, I figure if you follow good fish keeping practices the chances are quite good that your fish won't get ich and if despite your best efforts they do, there's plenty of excellent remedies to take care of it.

Let us know how it goes

Robin

 

[icewind]

So I am now on the 3rd day of the salt water and higher temp. tx for the ich, and things look like they are turning around!! Even the only clown loach left is looking alot better and starting to swim around again, so hopefully I will get them all through this! The temp is hovering around 83.8, I will do another partial water change and vacume today, and would like to know if there is a way to clean the vacume so it is safe to use on my other tank, without infecting the fish in the other tank, or should I just buy a new one to use on the other tank?

 

[Flippercon]

Your python can be put in a bucket with bleach and let I soak and scrub with sponge and pipe cleaner. Rinse very well then use a triple dose of dechlorinator and let it sit. Then rinse again. Let it completely dry in the sun . Then rinse again. All should be good after this. Good luck.

 

[Robin]

When you rinse add some dechlorinator to the rinse water

The bleach is a good idea but don't make the mistake I did: I let the bleach sit in there too long and it ate through some of the faucet parts--weakened them to such a degree that they fell apart shortly thereafter.

So glad the fish are doing better.

Robin

 

[icewind]

Just thought I would give you an update on the ich outbreak! I followed your advise and used the salt and higher temps and am on the 3rd week of tx,. and so far it has worked beautifully! Did not loose any more fish, though for several days I really didnt think the last surviving clown loach would make it, he rallied and pulled through! I just added about half the amount of salt in this last water change, and will gradually work it to no salt added at the water changes, and slowly decreasing the temp. Im a little worried, have I done the tx long enough (3 weeks) and it has been several days since I have last seen any signs of the ich. I just want to make sure it doesnt come back. I have not seen any stress in the fish with this tx. they all seemed to handle the 84-85 temps just fine and even the scaless fish did fine with the salt, so I will use this tx in the future. Thanks again for all the advise and encouragement!! =D>

 

[des]

I'm glad to read that you were able to overcome the Ich. Three of my fish recently developed signs of Ich. I did pretty much what everyone recommends and that's increase temperature and added aquarium salt. I'm using Ich Attack by Kordon as well. I hope it works for me too.