arggghh ich!

[sharkbait]

Depressing isn't it...

I've read the posts on ich below, which still leave me a little confused.

I have swapped over from an old established tank which I just bought a few weeks ago and have upgraded to a slightly larger tank using the same gravel and water, though have bought quite a few small fish over the last 3 weeks.
last night I spotted ich on two off them, seperated them in a plastic bag and this morning spotted 3 more fish with salt grained size spots.

Perhaps if I'd bought them from a tropical fish shop rather than the local garden centre...however its a bit late now..
(No doubt many of you are shaking your heads and saying quarantine tank, but us newbies I guess have to go through this before we wise up.)

Anyway.
Just how serious is it? Is it the equivalent of the common cold or the black death?

I have released the two spotty fish now as it seems the tank is now infected and added some blue stuff (I can't remember the name) that is suppossed to get rid of white spot.

Reading a thread below, it seems this will not kill the parasite, only the larvae stage. If that is the case although it is good news for the non infected fish, what about the poor spotty ones?


The tank is mixed tetras, a dwarf gourami and some guppies.
Any advice appreciated
Thanks

 

[Alien Anna]

Ich is rather like the 'flu in humans - can kill, but probably won't. Nevertheless, you need to take it seriously and treat right away.

Like flu in humans, it is more common when fish are stressed (such as by a house move). Fish from LFS commonly get ich because the conditions they are kept in (bright lights, nowhere to hide, being fished out of tanks frequently) are not exactly conducive to a quiet life.

Ich is highly contagious and spreads like wildfire. However, it is easy to treat. Get a proprietory, over the counter ich remedy from your LFS or online and begin treating immediately. Whatever it says on the packet, treat for 10-14 days, not 1, 3 or 5 days as many packets suggest, as this will make sure the parasite is well and truly dead.

If you have pet snails in your tank, you'll need to rehome them temporarily as the medicine could kill them. They'll be OK in an unheated bucket for a week or so, given that it's warm this time of year.

If your fish can tolerate it, add Aquarium salt to your tank as this will kill the parasites. Increasing the temperature speeds up the rate at which the parasites become free swimming (and therefore killable) but also decreases the oxygen in the water, so keep it as high as your fish tolerate comfortably (with my guppies that's 76-78F, but with my tetras that's 82F). Also keep an eye on your nitrite levels as sometimes ich treatments can kill off some of the beneficial bacteria in your filter - treat any nitrite spike as you would normally (i.e with water changes and an air-stone).

Ich treatments usually work pretty fast so your fish should look a lot better in a day or two. In the meantime, give them small quantities of good quality food to help them recover.

 

[Jaws]

sounds like the one i got, Mardel Maracide. its blue, and it does color the water a little for the first few hours. my fish did immediately look better as anna mentioned and still do. today im going to start the second treatment.

Reading a thread below, it seems this will not kill the parasite, only the larvae stage. If that is the case although it is good news for the non infected fish, what about the poor spotty ones?

my spotted ones got better, and if its mardel maracide then it says it treats the affected fish and it prevents them from being infected again. im getting the aquarium salt today because many have suggested it. i was also told that i could also get something at my supermarket called "no salt" which was basically the same thing.

 

[Alien Anna]

Jaws - "No salt" is potassium chloride, I believe, and not at all the right thing to put in your tank. If you want to buy salt from the supermarket get pure rock salt (such as Australian Lake Salt) but read the label to make sure it contains nothing but salt. You can also buy marine salt, which is said to contain natural minerals. That's fine as long as the natural minerals are from the salt, and not additives.