ick question, long story

[svetlana]

I emptied my 10g tank and planned to keep cories some plants and snail colony there (I need snails badly b/c i wanted to go on vacation maybe in Aug. and need food supply for my puffers).
So, I filled it with nice fluorite substr., bought biospira, bought plants for my other tanks and put almost all plants except for extremly lively anubia (thanks God) in there.
ABout plants interestingly, I ordered java moss and X-mas moss and got java moss and java moss. In another place I ordered only java moss and got X-mas moss instead. I know it was stupid to buy java moss b/c I have fast growing one in another tank but it was cheap. So, now i have X-mas moss but got it in some backward fashion
Anyway, it is already very far from my question.
I went to PetsMart that was good to me and took 2 peppered cories and saw a pictus cat which captivated me and i took him too. I also asked for some snails and they gave my 5 nice fat breeding snails which laid tons of nice and fat eggs overnight throughout.
Results: pictus got icky very next day. I started salt and heat (3 tea spoons/every 2.5g = 12 spoons).
One cory got icky in a day after that. Now pictus is almost clear, one cory remains clear, another cory is on cysts stage.
My other plants almost died. Snails also died.
I change almost 80% water every day to remove parasites. There is still traces of ammonia, and nitrites after initial peak gradually getting lower with every day.
My q-s are:
1. for how long i need to keep up with salt after hopefully everyone becomes clear?
2.how long the tank will be "cursed"? Now I will be afraid to start new snail colony there because i will be crazy from anxiety that my puffer's tank will get icky.
3. how i can sterilize tons of java moss or it is better to stay forever in the 10g tank
Uuh.
Crazy life!!!

I still like the pictus and the two little piglets (cories) very much, it's why i am not going to bring them back to Petsmart. I hope they'll survive the ordeal and will live long and happy lives.

Your input will be much appreciated. I read a lot on the topics but still it is nothing as live support and real life experience.

--svetlana

 

[Lotus]

1. Keep up with the salt at least 4 days after the very last spot disappears.

2. There is a lot of debate about whether ich is always present in the water or not. I tend to believe that it is present in most tanks, but fish exhibit symptoms when stressed. Pictus cats are very suceptible to ich, I think every tank I have seen them in at chain stores have ich. It's another great arguement for always quarantining fish. So, as long as your new fish are unstressed, I wouldn't consider the tank to be "cursed."
I soak new plants in a solution of potassium permanganate, which kills most "nasties" including snails.

 

[svetlana]

Thanks Lotus!
I will continue the treatment for more 5-6 days. I am going to petstore today, I thought maybe to pick up some anti-ick med to help along, because my snails died anyway. I only remember that cats are sort of sensitive to them.
Also, where I can find the K permanganate? I've never seen it here, what it looks like on sale?
When worked in a lab it was not a problem but now I'm lost where to look for it.

Thanks!

 

[svetlana]

I bought IchAttack by Kordon aquaherbal. They say that it safe even for live rocks and stuff. It does not have any warning and all. I added a little and will see what happens.
Actually the pictus looks good. My only concern is smallest cory with spots. I think things are looking up at them!

 

[revfred]

I concur with Lotus ... I think the ich parasites are always present. From what I can tell and from what I've read ... it is opportunistic ...in other words a combination of factors can let them become active. Stressed fish, temp fluctuations (supposedly they become more active at lower temps), etc. lead to infestations. I've kept my temps at 80F and have had only 2 outbreaks in the 2.5 years I've gotten back into aquariums. Which promptly were cured with Kordon's Rid-Ich+

 

[svetlana]

I would not argue constant presence of ick parasites in tanks but i believe that with water changes their concentration can become so negligible that they are not able to cause a disease.
I know that I had a huge ick outbreak when i had tank when working in Japan. I did not know at what temp. mollies live and did not turn the heater on. They all got ick, many died and i thought it some kind of fungus. It's how i came to raising the temp. Ick disappeared in a matter of days w/o any other steps from my part.
I think that with temp. fish became stronger and they fought it by themselves somehow. After that however more fish i added in that tiny tank none got the ick but usually mollies killed them. Mollies can be bullies. They gutted new fish on the spot w/o ever giving them a chance. And also mollies breed like crazy. I had only one but gorgeous white male who was a sex machine. Other fish were permanently pregnant by him.
Since then i do not like mollies and even do not look at them in lfs.
Interestingly, when snorkeling in Florida keys bayside i saw some kind of mollies and watched their breeding behaviour. Very nice when in the wild.

 

[Leopardess]

Ich is not always present in the water. It must be introduced.

I am going to link to an ich article written for another forum. I usually don't do this but I think it imprudent not to share pertinent info.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39759

I would continue the salt and heat until at least a week after the last cyst. But I like to play it safe.

I would discourage using any chemical treatments. Salt and heat are usually more effective, less stressful, and won't leave residue in the tank. Especially avoid anything with copper. It will affect inverts (and plants possibly) forever.

 

[svetlana]

Thank you Leopardess,
I actually also believe that tank can be ick-free.
My pictus is looking very good and little cory is getting much better. One cory never had a single spot. Probably, he has good immune system. I glad that i did not return them to petsmart. BTW all pictus cats that they had are gone except for one.
Since i know that they always have these fish i suspect this batch died or on treatment rather then people bought them all.
Anyway my cat looks happy and i give him live worms every other day b/c the tank is not stable and i do not want to overfeed him for fear of amm and nit spikes.

 

[ultimatehipster]

Hi there. I have been helping my mom out with the fish tank since my dad passed away. The temp. dropped and one fish died and one now has ich. I bought ick-attack by kordon and was wondering if you have been having luck with it Sveltana? It's the first day of treatment. Thanks!

29g
-1 cory catfish
-1 clown loach
-1 huge black shark
-1 redtail shark
-2 black mollies
-3 swordtails
-3 sunset platys

 

[svetlana]

I started with salt and heat and after that the ick attack looked like it helped a lot. But now i have really stubborn ick case with bigger fish and it did not look good in terms of efficiency of the med. I treated with it for a week and a half and had ick reccurence. Now i resorted to salt and heat again with supplemental ick attack. True, ick attack is easier and much milder than other meds but its eff. is questionable. If you continue with it, please tell whether it helped you. Maybe i did not have enough patience.

--si