HELP!! ICK!!!

[FishQueen]

A few days ago I noticed that my female betta, Tovi, had little white dots on her. I figured it was fungus and put Jungle FUngus Clear in the tank cuz when she was at the store, she was in the same tank with a platy with an awful case of fungus. The spots went away after the first day of her treatment... but yesterday Merlyn had the same spots, but more! I put more Fungus Clear in the tank but they haven't gone away... I did some research on it and discovered they have ick! The only reason Tovi's spots went away was cuz they moved on to the next stage and infected Merlyn! AGH! I put some Hex-a-mit in the tank cuz it says it cures white dots... anything else I should do? Should I raise the temp? It's at 79 degrees Fahrenheit. Both of them are still eating like pigs, swimming around, etc. *SICK*

 

[tramca]

I'm no expert but I'd just do what the instructions tell you to on the meds for white spot you are using.
I've heard that you can raise the temp a bit but to be honest I.m not sure how high.
If the fish look heatlthy I reckon they'll be fine.

Good luck.

 

[RogerL]

See the thread I started recently (4/11 I think) on the beginners forum.

I had ich in my 55 gallon community tank but now seem to have it under control.

Raised the water temp to 82 degrees (to speed up parasite lifecycle) and have been adding Rid-Ich in half doses twice a day (rather than a whole dose once a day). Decided not to add salt because I was worried about the plants, although several people have siad that they would be fine at low salt concentrations. I have been doing 20% water changes every other day since I started the treatment.

Bottom line - all the while spots have disappeared in about 3 days and I'm now continuing treatment for a week to make sure the Rid-Ich has a chance to work on the "swimming" stage of the parasite.

No apparent adverse affect on fish, ghost shrimp or plants.

Hope this helps,

Roger

PS I got the Rid-Ich at PetSmart. For my 55 gallon tank I needed the big bottle.

 

[FishQueen]

thanx... the female is a lot worse!! Her fins are clamped really badly and she just sits at the surface... she has a few white dots on her and her breathing seems somewhat labored. The male has who knows how many dots all over him but he's still acting normal... I put in a second dose of hexamit even though it says to use it every other day cuz they are looking so bad... hope that's okay... i don't have any plants or anything to worry about but I don't have salt either sooooo that doesn't help much...the temp is at 83 degrees right now... aaaaagh i'm not sure the female is gonna live!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[RogerL]

Good luck with everything.

I'm not familiar with Hexamit, but be very careful with overdosing any medication. It's definitely best to stick to the manufacturer's instructions. If the fish show any strange symptoms after the second dose do a water change to dilute it out.

What else is in the tank? You need to be especially careful with some tetras and cats.

Roger

 

[FishQueen]

they are alone... they aren't showing any other bad signs... they just kinda sit there with clamped fins... Merlyn hides in the cave and Tovi just sits at the top of the tank...

 

[RC-Fish-Fan]

Since the fish are alone I think you can use Seachem's CUPRAMINE (or Mardel's Coopersafe. I have heard that Cupramine is better) in combination with Maracyn Two to avoid secondary infections. If you do have fungus then you can also use Maroxy up to 5 times before a water change. These three medicines are compatible and if used in the right dosis, they don't stressed the fish.

You need to act fast with Ick.

Once you get rid of it, use Tropical Immune Plus which prevents Ick. I have used it for two years in all my tanks and I haven't had ick since.

Keep us posted.
Good luck.

 

[RogerL]

RC - is Tropical Immune Plus easily available? I don't recall having seen it around (but I haven't exactly been looking for it either!).

 

[RC-Fish-Fan]

Immune Plus

RogerL, I buy the Tropical Immune plus at two online shops:
1. www.petsolutions.com
2. www.thatfishplace.com

Costs approximately $ 11.50 and lasts a long time because small quantity is added at a time. The delivery takes 3 days in my area (Northern VA).

I don't see it in stores.

 

[dana307]

Roger's advice is solid but also take charcoal out of filter and remove non scaled fish, such as plecos.

I did the Ick medicine, 81 degrees, water changes before each treatment, no charcoal in filter, pleco removed for the time being (thank god for having two tanks) and the ick was gone in 3-4 days.

Changed water, added charcoal and a day or two later, added pleco back into the tank. HOpe that helps as well.

 

[RogerL]

Thanks RC - I'll pick some up and give it a go. Prevention is definitely better than cure!

Roger