20 gallon infested with ich

[evie_07]

I recently bought some gold neon tetras and out of haste I put them directly into the main tank not realizing they had ich. (I was too excited that they even had the gold neons again) Now my tetras (neon and cardinal) and oto cats are definitely infested. I also have guppies and minnows in the tank. I Have had the temp up for almost a week now and I am still seeing spots. I put 1/2 a teaspoon aquarium salt per gallon in and the otos appeared to freak out so i changed out 2 or three gallons of water. Since spots haven't been going away I was planning on adding more salt 1/4 a teaspoon a gallon at a time until I get up to 3 teaspoons. Is this advisable or should I consider a medicine? I have ridich plus by kordon but I am sooo weary of using it since it killed two of my goldfish once.

Any advice? Heat alone does not seem to be working. I have had it at 86 for 3 days and 89.4 now for about 3 days and still spots on the tetras and otos. And I am weary about using salt on my otos. If you can suggested other medicine too I am open to suggestions. BTW I do have an air stone and an aerating ornament going as well as a waterfall affect with the hob filter.

And ps I know I have too many fish in the tank and that minnows are cold water fish but my store sold them to me as tetras and I was going to keep them with some danios in the 20 gallon and move the rest of the fish into a 29 gallon but then this ich mess happened.

 

[OrangeCones]

The spots are made when the organism leaves the fish to mulitply, and its offspring then free-swim to reinfect a host (fish).

If the temperature is at or above 86, the ich should not be able to reproduce. However, it is always wise to do daily vacuuming of the substrate to remove that stage of the ich (doing 25% water changes in the process).

Using Heat to Treat Ich in Freshwater Tropical Fish - Article at The Age of Aquariums - Tropical Fish

 

[evie_07]

I have read that site several times before when treating goldfish with ich. But the white spots I am pretty sure (even what the site says) is that its an indication that the organism is still attached. Which is why I am concerned that there are still so many spots after almost a week of high temps. And catfish are sensitive to salt so I am worried about using my usual form of treatment.

 

[OrangeCones]

You are correct and I was unclear.

At the high temperatures you are using, the white spots are showing a current infestation. With temperatures in the mid-high 80s, once you can see the spots, the organism's current trophont (feeding) phase is ending and they burrow out of the fish. The feeding time can be a few hours to a few days, depending on how well its activities have been destroying the surround tissue of the fish. So when you see the spots, you likely have the feeding and non-feeding stage in the aquarium.

This is why it is important to do daily gravel vacuums to remove as much of the non-feeding phase of ich (tomont). At consistently high temperatures, they should not be able to reproduce, but unless its a bare tank (nothing to break up the 'flow' of water), its possible to still have colder areas.

Have any fish died of this bout of ich? A dead fish's infection can quickly spread to other fish.

Salt is not well tolorated by any scaleless fish.

 

[evie_07]

The new gold neons had died but I had moved them into a smaller tank at that point and I don't believe there are any dead fish in the tank. But i will try removing decorations and plants that might help. I really rather not medicate so I will try that first and look for improvement. I will also start doing daily water changes, which will be a lot easier with out the stuff in the tank. If I was going to treat with meds I was going to take everything out anyway to avoid dying the silk plants.