AHHH! ICH!

[FlareBettaGuy]

I've lately been seeing some white specs on my guppies. It's ich, right? Well, i've been thinking about making that tank a home for my betta instead of the guppies, but this ich just ruined everything. I see little specks in the water, too. No cloudiness, but if you look really closely, you can see particles. When I stir the gravel, specks come out too. I want to make that tank my betta's. But there is the ich. I don't have enough money for some sort of medication right now. I heard that rising the temperature will kill the ich. Is that true? If I get the guppies to another tank and put my betta in, will my betta get the ich? And the filter. There's gotta be some ich in there too, right? Or should I just wash the whole tank and filter out with hot water and start over or something? Is ich deadly? Can it kill a fish? It's a 2 gallon...

 

[mashimaro_0000]

hey flare! having touble again??? i just want to know have you cleaned your tank after your last guppies died? (sry to ask it this way) if not how are you water readings. and how old is your guppy that is in your tank now??? and how is the coverage of the ich on the guppy's body? you have medicaitions?? what temperature is your tank now?

turn temp may help in some sense ( 80F to 82F) is your max. but your fish may not make it. i had the same problem with my new tank. what i did was add aqurium salt, and all "Quick cure" for 2 weeks or so then ich neevr occure since.
this is a painful process just to be patient. the salt dosage varies. i think you better ask others as well.

hope my info helps!

 

[Opcn]

You forgot to quarentine and added something in the past month didn't you.

The Ich protist has no dormant stage (no scientist has ever found one) so if you are clear for two week you are clear forever. so if you leave the tank for two weeks w/o a fish your betta will be fine. And remember to quarentine fish for a month and plants for a week at 70 or above.

Opcn

P.S. the fish will die from the rise in temp long before the ich does if you have just guppie you can bring the Specific Gravity up to about 1. 018 if you do it at the right speed.

Opcn

 

[FlareBettaGuy]

No, I did not clean out my tank. As soon as he died, I removed him. Same goes for the cory. I still have two guppies. I'm not sure about their age, but i've had them for a month now after I got them from the LFS. The ich is mostly on the tail. I think there may be some hidden on the body. The body is white, and so is the ich. And the guppies keep moving, so I can't get a good look. Like I said, I don't have any money at the moment to buy any medications. And the LFS is closed now. Even if I did have money, i'd have to wait till next week to get some meds cause I have to go to school, and when I get home, the LFS will be closed already. It's sorta cold. I don't have a heater. I just heat the whole room (the room is very small) with a heater. Again, I can't afford a heater right now, either. And my tank is only 2 gallons.

The whole tank is really getting dirty and messed up. Whenever I stir up the gravel, I see tons of poop and dead ich and particles and stuff. I can't afford or find a gravel vacumn small enough to clean my tank. Brown algae is growing everywhere in the gravel and glass and plants. The filter media, guppies, and tank water, plus the gravel is full of ich. I really can't take the stress anymore. Maybe when I get older i'll have a tank full of fish. But not now. So i'm going to clean out the whole tank with hot water, let everything sit in hot water for an hour, clean everything, switch to plastic plants, change the filter media, and make the tank a home for my betta. No more non-bettas for me. Nope. Just a betta. Bettas are the first type of fish I ever got. And they are easy to care for. My first betta, Firebolt, lived in an uncycled bowl. He was doing fine. Why? Cause he can breathe air directly. My current betta is the same, except he lives in a plastic bug container. No cycling. And he is doing fine. So if I put him into a big tank with a filter, he is bound to do fine there, too. Hope you guys understand. I don't have the money or time to care for so many fish...

 

[FlareBettaGuy]

It IS okay for a betta to live in an uncycled home, right? Cause a lot of people do that. And I wonder how they manage to live in a cup. There's got to be a lot of ammonia in the cups, cause it's always full of poop. But they survive anyway cause they can breathe air directly.

 

[White Whale]

It IS okay for a betta to live in an uncycled home, right? Cause a lot of people do that. And I wonder how they manage to live in a cup. There's got to be a lot of ammonia in the cups, cause it's always full of poop. But they survive anyway cause they can breathe air directly.

Eight of my 14 guys live in a quart-sized container with gravel and plastic plants. I haven't had a problem - yet. Since you are busy (I'm sure you find the time at least once a day to feed them well) the problem may be keeping them entertained. I place some of the guys near the others and switch them every so often so they don't get used to their neighbors.

I use Amquel to keep the ammonia in check and StressZyme for a type of mini-cycle. Seems to work for me, but I also do 50% water changes twice a week. None of my guys have a filtered tank.

Hope you have better luck next time.

Yes, VIVA LA BETTAS!!!!!

 

[FlareBettaGuy]

Well, i'm going to be putting him into a 2 Gallon with a mignon filter. I will use Aquasafe. He will be all by himself though. I guess I should just print pictures of different bettas and stick them onto the glass or something.

Well, since the tank will be much larger than a quart, and it has a filter, I guess I just need to do 20% water changes every week then?

 

[White Whale]

Sounds like a plan. 33% would be more prudent.

 

[wuvmybetta]

If I get the guppies to another tank and put my betta in, will my betta get the ich? And the filter. There's gotta be some ich in there too, right? Or should I just wash the whole tank and filter out with hot water and start over or something? Is ich deadly? Can it kill a fish? It's a 2 gallon...

ich is in every tank, everywhere, so don't look at it like that.Fish only get ich when they become stressed from water conditions or being bullied etc,etc..find the root of your problem and work from there

 

[FlareBettaGuy]

Well, I don't have a heater, so it gets pretty cold sometimes. Maybe that could be the problem. My betta doesn't seem stressed. He still eats. And my guppies are still eating too. But moving him to another tank would problebly stress him out. I don't know. I heard that they spread fast. But only stressed fish get it, right? So if I take the chance of putting my betta in there, he might or might not get the ich stuff. I think i'm better off cleaning out the whole tank anyway cause there's all sorts of crap in the gravel and filter. The brown algae is also completely ripping up my filter sponge, too.

 

[FlareBettaGuy]

Oh, and is you said ich is in every tank. Even tanks without filters? Like the one my betta is in right now. Hardly any oxygen. Less than a gallon. No filter. Can ich live there? And can they live in those little dinky cups they have in the LFS? Does ich need oxygen?

 

[FlareBettaGuy]

Well? Does ich need oxygen or not?

 

[FlareBettaGuy]

...tryin' to keep this up until I get an answer. I don't want to risk my betta getting ich...

 

[wuvmybetta]

Clean it....but do it GENTLY so that you don't "crash" the tank by removing all of your beneficial bacteria, so don't overclean


If your going to move him he should be fine....in my experience the BEST way to move a betta is to feed him a few minutes before you move him, DON'T net him...scoop him with a cup (I always keep the cups my bettas come in just in case I ever need them) .....float him in his new tank in his cup , pour out half the water in his cup and fill it with his new tank water, then release him a few minutes later. After you release him give him a few minutes to check out the place and then give him a couple pellets to eat (yes you just fed twice but food means security to bettas)


You haven't got a heater huh? THAT could be why your guppies have ich but your betta doesn't. The bettas probably fine, but the guppies may be a bit chilly.

I think ich can pretty muchlive in any source of water, even unfiltered tanks or cups. The best prevention is a balanced diet healthy fish can pretty much withstand a lot

 

[mjs1]

P.S. the fish will die from the rise in temp long before the ich does if you have just guppie you can bring the Specific Gravity up to about 1. 018 if you do it at the right speed.

Opcn

Without any better advice I increased my tank temperature and the ich problem went away. I went up to 28 deg c for about 8 days if I remember correctly. I'm certainly not trying to disagree with Opcn, i'm just talking from unfortunate experience.
During this period and since I have incresed my water change frequency but reduced the volume. maybe that was the real cure?
Good luck :smb: