ICH

[Bruckm]

OK, my fish have it. Are there any fish immune to it?

I followed the treatment. Went with Quinsulex (not supposed to hurt scaleless fish-Corys). Treat on days 1-3-5. Today was day 5. Still see spots on some fish. Others are 'acting' normal again and overall color is better. Still some spots. More on some of them than before. Box says pause 3 days and repeat treatment.

This sound right?

Anyone used Quinsulex before?

 

[Leopardess]

No fish are immune to it.

Never used that med before, but I can tell you this:

Ich has a life cycle of at least 21 days. Ich meds do not immediately kill all of the ich, but rather goes at it in stages, according to the stages of its life cycle that it is in. Meds only affect it while it is free swimming. That means that when the ich falls off your fish and it seems to be gone (when most people stop medicating, mistakenly), "eggs" are still hatching in the substrate.

I've used coppersafe and malachite green before, but not the one you refer to, so I'm not sure how to advise you. What is the active ingredient?

Here is a little bit about ich:
http://www.fishdoc.co.uk/disease/whitespot.htm

 

[kikuchiyo]

Everything you could ever want to know about ich:

http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/ich.shtml

No fish are immune to it, but research implies that a fish that has gotten over ich has some level of resistance to it.

 

[Leopardess]

"but research implies that a fish that has gotten over ich has some level of resistance to it."

And at the same token, it may be a carrier of the parasite. But you don't really need to worry about that yet, just concentrate on getting your fish healthy first

 

[kikuchiyo]

And at the same token, it may be a carrier of the parasite. But you don't really need to worry about that yet, just concentrate on getting your fish healthy first

Very true. I think I read in the Tropical Fishlopedia that those resistant individuals can often be vectors for ich into a healthy tank.

 

[Sheri24]

I have one fish with one white speck on it. I lost a whole tank to ICH before so I'm a little scared. I did a treatment today. I used Jungles ICH treatment. It says one treatment only but everything I've read says different. I don't want to overdo it But I don't want to lose any fish. Am I overreacting?

 

[Lotus]

It's always good to start treating ich immedietly. If you don't think the treatment is working, you should take the meds out and switch to something else. Because of the way the lifecycle works, if you see more spots appearing in the first few days of treatment, you shouldn't worry, as the meds only treat during the free-swimming stage, and the parasite was probably already on the fish when you started. If after a week there are more spots, you know the treatment isn't working. It often takes 20 days or so to get it out of the tank.

 

[Bruckm]

Originally posted by Leopardess
I've used coppersafe and malachite green before, but not the one you refer to, so I'm not sure how to advise you. What is the active ingredient?

Here is a little bit about ich:
http://www.fishdoc.co.uk/disease/whitespot.htm

Are either of those meds Cory/Pleco safe?

The active ingredient is Quinine Sulfate.

I'm now starting the 3rd round of treatment and I'm not happy. At the end of round 2 I still saw 1/2 dozen fish glancing off of plants and driftwood.

 

[Bruckm]

Originally posted by kikuchiyo
Everything you could ever want to know about ich:

http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/ich.shtml

Thanks, I read the whole article there. Basically, we don't know all of the details but....

Now I'm worried about my plants. I got some Anubias, Cyrpts, Java Ferns and this medicine requires the lights to be turned off for 48 hours. On the package it just says "reduce lighting" but I called the company and their response was off for 48 hours.

 

[Bruckm]

Originally posted by Lotus
It often takes 20 days or so to get it out of the tank.

Crap. I can't keep the lights off for that long with this medicine, but I don't want to kill the corys. They're too darn hard to catch with that huge piece of driftwood in there.

If I move the plants to another tank containing no fish could that keep the plants alive?

I'm thinking...treat tank with plants and the 130W of light with the strongest medicine. Without the fish any of the Ich would be in it's free swimming stange and I could keep the plants alive and make sure I don't re-introduce the disease as well. Seem logical?

Then I keep the lights out in their tank as long as necessary.

Just trying to find the best solution.

 

[JWright]

The safest treatment for ich is plain old table salt. Add 1 tsp per 2 gallons, and keep the salt at that level for at least two weeks (if you do a water change of 5 gallons, put 2-3 tsp of salt in again).

After 2 weeks stop maintaining the salt level, it will gradually decline as time goes on and you go on with your regular water change schedule.

Salt in those concentrations is absolutely harmless to your fish, but quite deadly to ich.

 

[ecotank]

It is also a good idea to raise the temp of the tank to about 82 while using the salt treatment. This speeds up the cycle of the ich and allows it to be killed by the salt faster. Of course this depends on if you have any fish that are extremly delicate to temp changes, although most can handle 82 degrees.

 

[Bruckm]

Even to Scaleless fish (corys/plecos)? So, the old high temp + salt cure.
Well, since I've bought this 3rd round of medicine already and started it, I'll finish it. I did also raise the temp and salt level previously, but not above 85 as I've just read.

I've been hesitant to do much in extreme with regard to either temp or salt because of the corys.

 

[Bruckm]

Well, LFS told me 88 for the Mollies/Platys. After telling of the corys he said 84. That's where I've been while treating. 6 days of treatment/3 days off/ 6 days of treatment/ 3 days off/ now day 2 of treatment. Previously I'd reduced the light as the quinine is light sensitive from 130w to 30w and 12 hrs to 6hrs. Now, according to the company that makes the medicine, a min. of 48 hours w/no lights. They clearly got better during the 1st and 2nd treatments, but it was not eliminated.

I guess I'll go 86 and add salt 3 tbs/5G (gradual increaes on both). I hope the corys, pl*cos, and Otos can survive this.

 

[Lotus]

Here is (yet another) exhaustive article about ich: http://www.caloriesperhour.com/fish/notes_ich.html but, it does tell you which meds are plant-safe.

Your plants will be OK without light for up to a week, although you should stop adding ferts/CO2 if you do this. Also, if you increase temps, there is less oxygen available, so you may want to add an airstone if you see the fish at the surface. Turn off the CO2 if you're upping the temps. Some plants won't like high temps. I know all our riccia died when we tried (unsucessfully) with the salt/heat treatment.

 

[Bruckm]

Aye Aye cap'n.