Would this be ick??

[achase]

I believe that I may have ick in my 16 gallon tank. Some of the tetra's have little white spots. I will post some pictures once I charge my camera battery but I was hoping someone could explain to me how I should treat my aquarium for ick. I have aquarium salt on hand and my tank is already at 80F (it is always at this temp).

Thank you in advance!!

 

[achase]

Here is a picture of the fish that I believe has ick. Sorry about the quality the fish would stop moving!!

 

[achase]

I thought about following what this person did because they have plants and tetra's.

i have a 30 gallon planted low tech tank and i recently just battled an outbreak of ich. i used the high heat and salt method and everything was fine. i raised the temp to 80 and i mixed in a ratio of 1 teaspoon of salt per gallon, so a total of 30 teaspoons. i had different hygros, vals, wisteria, sag, and crypts in there, along with tetras. i think the main key is to add the salt solution to ur tank slowly so the fish have time to acclimate. fortunately for me, i work in a vet clinic, so i just took an empty IV bag, filled it with the salt solution, and let it slowly drip into the tank over the course of 2 days. there was no noticeable ich on any fish after about 5 days. but i didnt change the water for another 7 days after the last sign of ich, for safety measure. i think the plants and fish were stressed only a little bit. plants didnt grow as well and fish didnt seem to swim as much. but nothing detrimental to them. hope this helps.

For plants, I have Eel grass (Vallisneria), Anubias and Sword plants. Also I know that kuhli loaches and medications containing malachite should be mixed with caution which is why I would prefer to use aquarium salt.

Also do I need to take out the filter media during this treatment?

Any additional information or advice/corrections would be helpful!!

 

[Goldiegupp]

I would not personally use any medications I would be unsure of considering the plants. I don't know whether or not they would do harm, but to be on the safe side I would do the salt. You can use the ratio (as suggested) of 1 tsp of salt (sea salt-non iodinized-or aquarium salt). From personal experience, I find the sea salt more effective in battling the bacteria. Raising the temperature helps speed up the life cycle of the "enemy". Because ich can only be destroyed at a certain time in it's life cycle, increasing the temperature helps decrease the time it takes to get rid of this pesky infection.
Oh. Ha ha I just now read that you already have a temp of 80 degrees...good. The bacteria should take 7-10 days to be completely eliminated, so don't panic if it takes longer than you expected.

Good luck! Best wishes!

 

[OrangeCones]

Your vals may 'melt' back a bit during the treatment, but should regrow with no problems. The anubias and swords should do just fine.

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

Ich is not a 'bacteria.' No need to do anything different with your filter, just make sure to increase aeration during treatment (warmer water holds less dissolved oxygen). If you have an airpump/airstone, add those, or if you use a 'waterfall' type of filter, lower the water a bit so it splashes more.

 

[achase]

Thanks for the suggestions.
I will follow this article....also it was suggested on another forum that I need to do this treatment for at least a month. Would you agree with this suggestion?

 

[OrangeCones]

I personally have not treated freshwater fish personally for ich except one time when the fish arrived with ich (shipped from 3000 miles away to me). Those fish have lived in the QT tank for months as it has become their permanant tank and I set up a new QT tank. I treated for 2 weeks with those instructions, and did not see any recurrence of ich.

If you use the 86degree temperature, it is supposed to kill the ich's ability to reproduce into the next stage of life so that it cannot reinfect your fish. If they are not showing stress with the high temperatures, it can't hurt to continue for 30 days. At any rate, I would not add any fish to, nor remove fish from, the treatment area so you don't infect other tanks if you have them.