Ich Help?

[Mettle]

Alright. So this is really frustrating me and I thought I'd turn to you folks for some suggestions.

About three weeks or so ago I noticed the fish in my tank had ich. Which was in part my own fault, I think, due to water conditions. (Which are fine now - 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrites, 5-10 Nitrates depending on the day I test.) So I started treating the tank. And now, 3 weeks later, I haven't lost any fish but it's still there!

I've tried the following...

Jacking the temp, adding salt with uv sterilizer.

Jacking the temp, adding salt, using uv sterilizer.

Quick Cure with the uv sterilizer.

Quick cure without the uv sterilizer.

Noxich with the uv sterilizer.

Noxich without the uv sterilizer.

And I've been tossing in melafix for good measure...

I just don't know what to do anymore. It just won't get away. And I've noticed now that it's actually spread to my tetras (was originally just on the clown loaches) and I'm not sure what to do. I really just want to get rid of it.

Everyone in the tank is still eating and all that. But I wanted to add some SAEs to take care of some vicious hair algae I'm having but haven't because I don't want to introduce them into a sick tank.

I'm willing to listen to suggestions or pointers. Anything'd help. I just don't know what to do next other than simply get rid of all the fish and start over.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[mseguin]

You havent mentionned what kind of water changes you've been doing so I'll just add this. I've found that with a lot of stubborn cases of ich, a water cahnge does miracles. Not sure if it's becuz of actually lessennig the parasite load or if its decreasing stress and boosting the immune system, but I've found that a lot of times a pretty major water change will often do what quick-cure can't.

[BigDaddy]

And a good deep gravel vac to boot!

[Mettle]

I do two 33% w/c a week (about one third), generally. And both times do a gravel vac as well while doing the w/c.

[BigDaddy]

Well, its a little more radical... but try formalin.

Aerate well (formaldehyde really robs oxygen from the water).  Add 1cc of formalin for every 10 gallons.  Do a large water change 8 hours later.

Repeat until the ich is gone.  The formalin should kill off the parasite during its lifecycle in the water column.

oenology could probably confirm if this would be effective treatment, given salt and heat haven't seemed to do it.

[CdnRednek]

Have you been half dosing due to the clown loaches, being scaleless fish??  If so, and they died, go to a full dose.  It'll help to remove everything in the tank, including gravel.  I've just finished battling ich in one of my tanks for the last 2 weeks.  By removing the gravel, you'll remove most of the baby ich parasites.  It makes the tank ugly as sin, but it'll work.

[Toss]

I would move the clown loaches and raise temp to 81-82F, full dose the tank, 24Hrs, 50% w/c, full dose, 24 Hrs, 50% w/c, full dose and see the result. Treat the loaches separately, they usualy take a long recovery period. O ya, feed high protein food during treatment.

[Mettle]

I've been dosing full blast with the treatment after the first try. Loaches AND tetras are surviving it. I don't know how or why, but I'm not going to argue... I'm also feeding squid on a daily basis. Can't get much higher protein than that in terms of frozen foods! (check those labels, it's insane)

I swear I've come across a new type of ich here!

I'm going to try 30-40% water changes daily for the next few days. Jack the temps again. And add salt. And leave the uv sterilizer on. Hopefully this'll nuke that ich before I actually start losing fish!

[CdnRednek]

Have you removed gravel, plants and ornaments?  That's what finally worked for us.  We stripped our tank three days ago and have not seen any further signs of Ich.  I think we've finally got it beat.  (Knock on wood!!)

[DonCorleone]

Increase the temp higher if your fish can take it. 85F + frequent w/c did the trick for me.

[BigDaddy]

Increase the temp higher if your fish can take it. 85F + frequent w/c did the trick for me.

All that does is speed up the lifecycle of the parasite... you still need something to kill it.

[CdnRednek]

Yes, jacking the temperature does speed the lifecycle of the parasite, but the chemicals (ie: super cure) only kill the parasite when they are juvenile, and not on the fish themselves.  The parasite will drop of the fish to reproduce and that is when you kill it.  While they are on the fish, they basically have a protective layer over themselves, and chemicals don't kill them.  By removing as much as possible from the tank, jacking the temperature, w/c every 2 days, followed by dosing the tank will work.  With higher temperatures, the normal lifespan is about 48 hours.  I am just finishing battling this in 3 tanks (2 community, and a hospital), and it's all that worked.  I hope you have a python!!

[Flawed_Artist]

That sounds pretty bad. Well . . . are you sure it's ich? Could it be velvet or a disease that looks a lot like ich that starts with a 't' that I forget the name of . . . ? Anyways, Hikari and Mirdo partnered up to deliver a new anti-parasitic that's so new, parasites haven't had a time to adjust to it. PM me. I can probably get you some. Worst case scenario, I can probably hook you up with marine salt or formalin, for baths. I've tried both, albeit not many times, but all times, it's worked for me, in the circumstances I tried it in. NB - I used the salt for barbs, African tetras, and goldfish, and it was a last resort. I used the formalin for S.A. tetras, and loaches. Good luck.

Flawed_Artist

[squeeker]

How much salt are you adding?

To treat parasites, 1 level TABLESPOON of salt per gallon must be added to the water.  (Note:  a tablespoon is 3 teaspoons!)

[valiko]

Have you tried RidIch?

malachite green + formalin ...

[Mettle]

How much salt are you adding?

To treat parasites, 1 level TABLESPOON of salt per gallon must be added to the water.  (Note:  a tablespoon is 3 teaspoons!)

:shock:

Isn't that a bit much?

[BigDaddy]

I thought it was a tablespoon to every 5 gallons.

1 tablespoon to every gallon would be a short term bath... but that would mean tearing down the tank and sanitizing it all, otherwise the bath is useless.

[squeeker]

Nope, I am totally not kidding.  A tablespoon per gallon puts salt at a concentration of 0.3%, which is the level required to treat parasites.  This level can be maintained for as long as a month.

For short term baths, I put my goldies in 1.5% or 2%, or 5-6.5 tablespoons of salt per gallon.  They can only stand that for a couple minutes, though.

Most tropicals can tolerate at least 0.2% salt, with the exception of loaches and snails.  The key is to raise the salinity slowly.  What I do is add 1 TEAspoon of salt per gallon on day 1, then again on day 2, and the third and final dose on day 3.  This gets you up to 0.3% with minimal stress to both your fish and your biofilter.

[Julie]

Remove the gravel, increase heat, get that paper towel out and wipe down the sides.  It's amazing what cleaning the sides does, my fish start their site cleaning and lay eggs.


Julie

[Mettle]

If I have to go in a tear apart the tank, removing gravel and such, I'll probably just end up flushing the fish and tearing the whole thing down. Not to sound like a jerk - but I really don't care about the fish that much to go through such an incredible amount of trouble.

And Squeeker... I do indeed have loaches in my tank. So I don't think I'll be pumping the salt up that high.