Api Super Ich Cure And Shrimp....

[rlhirth]

well i had a betta in my main tank that was showing signs of ich i removed him to a QT tank and started treating he only had 2 spots on him so i thought i caught it early well not ealry enough one of my endlers got a spot... i was on my way to work and didnt have time to treat... so my Bf treated the tank ( i thought he took the shrimp out) but he didnt

so is the API super ich cure going to harm my shrimp?

 

[lordofthesea]

check the label. if it contains copper, it will kill all your shrimp - also, if the treatment is blue, it will almost cetainly contain copper. melafix and pimafix are shrimp safe.

 

[rlhirth]

its definately blue but i cant find anything that says if it contains copper... or even anything that says not to use it in shrimp...

theres no ingredients on the label... but online i found "malachite green oxalate, as C.I. Basic Green 4 (oxalate) <0.1%"

and "Currently treating with API "Super Ick Cure" (active ingredients are good ole malachite green and nitrofurazone)"

 

[ExotixMom]

Update: Malachite Green a.k.a. Benzaldehyde Green used in therapeutics, naturally contains NO copper. They form in the earth together, that is all they have in common.
One Neon had Ich, now 2 Neons, 2 Embers and a Guppy have Ich. I have just dosed my 50gal tank, containing 2 glass shrimp with API Super Ick Cure. The shrimp are hiding in a java moss clump as big as my head, and I only after 3 hours of dosing the water, realized they may be in danger. I started researching and the consensus is that because the treatment is blue, so it must have Copper in it, this seems to be what most comments online say. However, checking the chemical compounds themselves, the active ingredient, which everyone is claiming is the same as Copper, Benzalhyde Green/ Malachite Green only shares color and it's made of copper carbonate, which is NOT COPPER.
I will update in a few day as to the health of my 2 shrimp and whether the medicine has affected either of them.

 

[Colin_T]

If the fish has white spot, you need to treat its tank because the disease is in its tank.

Are you sure the fish has white spot?
Bettas are normally kept on their own and this reduces the chance of them getting white spot.

If you overdose with any medication, you can kill the fish or invertebrates (shrimp, snails).

You can treat white spot with heat. Just raise the water temperature to 30C (86F) and keep it there for 2 weeks, or at least 1 week after all the spots have gone. No chemicals needed and shrimp safe.

----------------------

To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "FishForum.net Calculator" under "Useful Links" at the bottom of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.

When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

If you have big rocks or driftwood in the tank, remove these before measuring the height of the water level so you get a more accurate water volume.

You can use a permanent marker to draw a line on the tank at the water level and put down how many litres are in the tank at that level.

Remove carbon from the filter before treating with chemicals or it will adsorb the medication and stop it working. You do not need to remove the carbon if you use salt.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence whenever you use heat or chemicals in the tank because they reduce the oxygen in the water.

 

[Essjay]

Malachite green is not found in nature, it is a synthetic organic chemical. It is called malachite green because it is the same colour as the mineral malachite.
Malachite green is a dye. It is also used in aquaculture to prevent fungus on incubating fish eggs. In aquariums it is used to treat fungal and parasitic infections.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.3109/10915819609008715

The mineral malachite is copper carbonate.

Malachite

Malachite is a green, very common secondary copper mineral with a widely variable habit. Typically it is found as crystalline aggregates or crusts, often ...

www.mindat.org

This does contain copper, but it's not the same as malachite green.

 

[Colin_T]

Malachite Green does nothing to fungus. It's good for killing external protozoan parasites and that's about it.

You're not allowed to use Malachite Green on aquacultured fish for human consumption in most countries because it stays in the fish's system for a while and is a carcinogen.

Methylene Blue kills fungus and bacteria and is regularly used for identifying infertile fish eggs and preventing them from developing fungus. Methylene Blue is regularly mixed with Malachite Green in fish medications because the combination of chemicals kills most things (bacteria, fungus, protozoa) that affect fish.

 

[Byron]

As Colin mentioned earlier (and elsewhere over and over) the safest and most effective ich treatment is raising the water temperature to 30C/86F for two weeks. In most cases this does it. I won't get in to the issue of resilient strains of ich, just do the temperature increase and it will most likely work. Fish are much easier to tolerate higher temperature for two weeks that they are to any of these medications regardless of which ones. Same holds for invertebrates.

 

[ExotixMom]

Malachite Green contains NO COPPER at all. This is the purpose of my post. I questioned if it was dangerous to my shrimp, most info says yes, but the answer is NO.
The only reason I made my post is so other shrimp owners could get a real, definitive answer. I dosed my whole tank 30 hours ago and my littlest guy, Scampi, is living his best life. So I want other shrimp owners to know, API Super Ick Cure with Benzaldehyde Green/ Malachite Green has no adverse effects on shrimp, should they be reading misinformation about how it has Copper in it, when it doesn’t.

 

[ExotixMom]

As Colin mentioned earlier (and elsewhere over and over) the safest and most effective ich treatment is raising the water temperature to 30C/86F for two weeks. In most cases this does it. I won't get in to the issue of resilient strains of ich, just do the temperature increase and it will most likely work. Fish are much easier to tolerate higher temperature for two weeks that they are to any of these medications regardless of which ones. Same holds for invertebrates.

As mentioned before, I dosed the tank

If the fish has white spot, you need to treat its tank because the disease is in its tank.

Are you sure the fish has white spot?
Bettas are normally kept on their own and this reduces the chance of them getting white spot.

If you overdose with any medication, you can kill the fish or invertebrates (shrimp, snails).

You can treat white spot with heat. Just raise the water temperature to 30C (86F) and keep it there for 2 weeks, or at least 1 week after all the spots have gone. No chemicals needed and shrimp safe.

----------------------

To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "FishForum.net Calculator" under "Useful Links" at the bottom of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.

When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

If you have big rocks or driftwood in the tank, remove these before measuring the height of the water level so you get a more accurate water volume.

You can use a permanent marker to draw a line on the tank at the water level and put down how many litres are in the tank at that level.

Remove carbon from the filter before treating with chemicals or it will adsorb the medication and stop it working. You do not need to remove the carbon if you use salt.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence whenever you use heat or chemicals in the tank because they reduce the oxygen in the water.

Before I ever posted here, I dosed the whole tank, allowing for displacement of course, and turned up the heat. I also brought in 2 more aeration bubblers and have kept their lights off (they have a soft-light lamp nearby for circadian purposes).
I am sure it’s Ich, as I have kept fish since 1983 and seen just about everything. The shrimp are what’s new to me. My concern is not my Ichy fish, just if I was hurting my invertebrates.

 

[ExotixMom]

As Colin mentioned earlier (and elsewhere over and over) the safest and most effective ich treatment is raising the water temperature to 30C/86F for two weeks. In most cases this does it. I won't get in to the issue of resilient strains of ich, just do the temperature increase and it will most likely work. Fish are much easier to tolerate higher temperature for two weeks that they are to any of these medications regardless of which ones. Same holds for invertebrates.

I dosed and increased the heat along with other measures. My shrimp being poisoned was my concern. A simple search gives bad answers, so I wanted to answer the original question of “is API Super Ick Cure poisonous to shrimp?” I wasn’t asking for advice, I was posting an answer.
I understand you may not personally dose, but I already had and it can’t be removed. I have dozens of fish in this tank (micro-tank) so I only dosed because it spread quickly and I don’t want to lose anyone…Colin’s advice is great, but I’d already done that. I was just worried about my schrimps.