FML... ICH

[Becca]

Soooo... no sooner do we add the new fish to the 150 than we wake up to a tank COVERED in ICH. Didn't see it on the fish before we moved them to the 150, didn't see it in the 150 before we moved the new fish there, but nonetheless, it is there.

It's a planted 150 gallon. Temp is usually around 80, but we've bumped it up. Right now it is 82, will bump again tomorrow and so-on until it reaches 86 degrees.

I've also salted the tank at about 1 tsp per gallon. Not great for the plants and probably not great for the catfish, but there you have it.

Given the size of the tank and the number of fish that are speckled with it, removing fish and salt dips are probably not an option.

Any pointers?

I haven't had ich hit a tank in years and last time it happened it was the dread "super ich" - it hit a tank that was already near 90 degrees (ah, apartment life in the summer) and nothing could cure it. Most of the treatments I'm familiar with are harmful to plants and at least some of the fish in the tank.

We have the following types of fish in this tank:

Tetras - neon, pristella, black neon, glow light, and buenos aires.
Corys - green, pepper, venezuela.
Cichlids - Rams, nannacaras, apistogrammas, rainbows
Plecos - Ancistrus and L183s
Other catfish - Striped raphaels, spotted raphaels, chocolate raphaels, marbled raphaels (amblydoras), glass cats.
Misc - Badis badis.

 

[Becca]

Also, this isn't the pH Creep tank, that's the 29, but I'm guessing the water is similarly hard in this tank, even though the pH tends to be lower. I'm not eager to go cross contaminating my test kits if I can help it.

 

[chriscoli]

Ooooh good luck. Big planted tank....tricky.

 

[dogofwar]

I've gotta ask: did you quarantine the new additions?

Best thing is to bump up the temp...

Matt

 

[jonclark96]

Becca:

Check out this thread:

http://www.capitalcichlids.org/forums/showthread.php?t=11175&highlight=ich+treatment

There was a good discussion on treatment here. The last time I had ich, I cranked the temp up quickly and used salt with good success. I think that our fish are a lot tougher than we give them credit for. In any case, if ich gets bad enough, it can be just as fatal as high temps. Remember to add aeration to help with oxygen content in the water.

Good luck.

 

[festaedan]

I always use copper but I keep large cichlids and catfish so they can handle it, don't
know about tetras though.

 

[Becca]

I've gotta ask: did you quarantine the new additions?

Best thing is to bump up the temp...

Matt

Apparently not long enough... Of course, many of them are fish with white spots...

The Buenos Aires tetras look the worst and they've been in the tank a month or so. The catfish, overall, look the best, including the amblydoras and starlight bristlenose we recently added - that's assuming all of the spots on the L183s actually belong there.

 

[Andrewtfw]

Copper will kill most plants. I use a half dose of quick cure, raise the temp and add a uv sterilizer.

 

[Becca]

Becca:

Check out this thread:

http://www.capitalcichlids.org/forums/showthread.php?t=11175&highlight=ich+treatment

There was a good discussion on treatment here. The last time I had ich, I cranked the temp up quickly and used salt with good success. I think that our fish are a lot tougher than we give them credit for. In any case, if ich gets bad enough, it can be just as fatal as high temps. Remember to add aeration to help with oxygen content in the water.

Good luck.

Thanks - I've got a big powerhead in there with lots of air bubbles coming through the vinturi, plus two Eheim 2217s with spray bars pointed towards the surface.

Also - has anyone had any luck with Kordon Ick Attack? I'm seeing that pop up on some of the planted aquaria websites.

I am hesitant to use anything like malachite green (nevermind that I think it will nuke the plants) because I think it's a carcinogen, and very not safe for pregnant and nursing women.

 

[spazmattik]

I 2nd Jon's method of attack with raised temp (about 86 or so) with salt. Ive also had success with this method

 

[HermsTheWord]

I have used Paraguard with good success in battling ich

 

[dogofwar]

If Kordon Ick Attack is the herbal stuff, I tried it without success. Basically useless.

Heat + UV sterilizer is the best approach...

Matt

 

[mchambers]

I'd be careful with the corydoras and salt. I'd also worry about the peppered corydoras and high temps. Not saying you shouldn't try the high temp and salt treatment, but I'd do some research on corydoras and ich.

 

[rsretep]

Last time I had ich I raised temp to 86 for approx. One week with no salt added and tank was cured. Gotta let the ich go through its entire life cycle so ten days to two weeks may be the solution.

 

[Becca]

I'd be careful with the corydoras and salt. I'd also worry about the peppered corydoras and high temps. Not saying you shouldn't try the high temp and salt treatment, but I'd do some research on corydoras and ich.

Yeah - I know they don't handle it well, which is why I'm not raising it above the "therapeutic" level... The peppered cats may not make it, but trying to catch them out of that tank would add further stress.

The rainbow cichlids actually look more stressed than just about any other fish in the tank

 

[zackcrack00]

This sucks, Becca. I also suggest raising the temp to about 84 or 82. This killed the ich in my 29 in about 3 days.

 

[Avatar]

Au contrare

This sucks, Becca. I also suggest raising the temp to about 84 or 82. This killed the ich in my 29 in about 3 days.

Then your thermometer/heater is giving false readings as that's not even warm enough to stop reproduction: "It has been found that Ich does not infect new fish at 29.4°C/85°F (Johnson, 1976), stops reproducing at 30°C/86°F (Dr. Nick St. Erne, DVM), and dies at 32°C/89.5°F (Meyer, 1984)."

 

[JasonC]

"It has been found that Ich does not infect new fish at 29.4°C/85°F (Johnson, 1976), stops reproducing at 30°C/86°F (Dr. Nick St. Erne, DVM), and dies at 32°C/89.5°F (Meyer, 1984)."

This quote should be printed on laminated index cards and handed out with every fish purchase at the big box pet stores... but then again, if they did that, they wouldnt be able to sell miracle ich cures.. would they...

 

[Becca]

This quote should be printed on laminated index cards and handed out with every fish purchase at the big box pet stores... but then again, if they did that, they wouldnt be able to sell miracle ich cures.. would they...

Indeed. We are raising it a couple of degrees a day until we get to the high 80's.

 

[dogofwar]

Just add an extra airstone or air-driven filter to up the oxygen in the tank when raising the temp...

Matt