Blood Red Parrot Ick Emergency!

[steven530]

Hi there. I have a Blood Parrot Cichlid in a tank by itself that is my favorite fish out of all I have. It's been doing fine for the few months I've owned it but around midnight I noticed little white patches on its fins. I freaked and ran to the store immediately and bought Ick treatment and dosed it. It's now 3am and the white spots have spread all over it's entire body, all fins, mouth, eyes, and HEAVY on the gills. I've owned fish for years and work at a fish store and I've never seen Ick that thick before as it is on its gills at the moment. Is there anything else I can do?? The ick is progressing so quickly that Im afraid my fish will be dead by morning. HELP!!

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

Hi there. I have a Blood Parrot Cichlid in a tank by itself that is my favorite fish out of all I have. It's been doing fine for the few months I've owned it but around midnight I noticed little white patches on its fins. I freaked and ran to the store immediately and bought Ick treatment and dosed it. It's now 3am and the white spots have spread all over it's entire body, all fins, mouth, eyes, and HEAVY on the gills. I've owned fish for years and work at a fish store and I've never seen Ick that thick before as it is on its gills at the moment. Is there anything else I can do?? The ick is progressing so quickly that Im afraid my fish will be dead by morning. HELP!!

You should really know your stuff if you work at a pet store. What are you treating the Ich with?

Increase temperature to 30 degrees. Add some salt, and do massive amounts of water changes.

 

[Colin_T]

I have to disagree with raising the temperature if the fish is heavily infested. That will simply speed up the whitespot's lifecycle and cause more to hatch out sooner. Also the higher temeprature will mean there is less oxygen in the water and this will make it more difficult on the fish.

Have you checked the water quality because whitespot is brought about by stress. Quite often it appears after a water change where too much cold water gets into the tank. Or if the water suddenly deteriorates in quality.

There are a few new strains of whitespot appearing that grow faster and do more damage than earlier varieties. By getting the medication into the tank as quickly as you did you should be able to stop it. But it depends on if the whitespot is immune to the drugs you are using.

As mentioned by DiscusLova do a massive water change and gravel clean. This can help by reducing parasite and cyst numbers in the tank. The salt can help as well by relieving stress.

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

I have to disagree with raising the temperature if the fish is heavily infested. That will simply speed up the whitespot's lifecycle and cause more to hatch out sooner. Also the higher temeprature will mean there is less oxygen in the water and this will make it more difficult on the fish.

Have you checked the water quality because whitespot is brought about by stress. Quite often it appears after a water change where too much cold water gets into the tank. Or if the water suddenly deteriorates in quality.

There are a few new strains of whitespot appearing that grow faster and do more damage than earlier varieties. By getting the medication into the tank as quickly as you did you should be able to stop it. But it depends on if the whitespot is immune to the drugs you are using.

As mentioned by DiscusLova do a massive water change and gravel clean. This can help by reducing parasite and cyst numbers in the tank. The salt can help as well by relieving stress.

The high temperature will speed up the life cycle, and thus kill them quicker. It is one of the main keys to a quick and easy treatment of Ich. If you are having trouble treating the Ich, then try a mixture of copper sulfate (eg. Aquari-Sol) and Malachite Green (eg. Nox-Ich.) Make sure you keep treating even after the Ich is gone, because sometimes the left over eggs will hatch and the problem will pop up again.

What pet store do you work at? If you need to ask about treating Ich, then I feel sorry for your customers ...