fishorama
Fish Crazy
Malachite green is much safer for our fish than methylene blue. Malachite (or Victoria) green also has mild antibiotic effects. I'm of the "age of dyes" from long ago but it still works. To heck with any staining your silicone, I almost never notice the color, white, black, blue or less often green.
There are high temp resistant forms of ich, but raising the temp a bit can speed up the ich lifecycle. That higher temp can stress our fish & reduce water oxygen level. That why it's often suggested to increase aeration, that & ich can often infects the fish gills, unseen by us.
Many of our fish are salt intolerant. It needs to be added over hours (not minutes) or even days to get it to the dosage needed to kill ich. & it should be removed slowly too, via many water changes. TDS shock is a real issue, it used to be called pH shock, but that's not quite right, as we now understand it.
I haven't had ich in many years or lost fish to it & I credit my quarantine tanks. But treating it long enough (10-14 days after ALL signs of ich are gone), with vacuuming water changes every time before redosing. Many believe the "3 day ich cure" actually works...but that's only how long it stays on the fish before dropping off into the substrate & then going into the water column to reinfect our fish. There is NO 3 day cure or even a week...you need to be diligent with both treatment & water changes. It doesn't need to be fatal, but it can be without good care.
There are high temp resistant forms of ich, but raising the temp a bit can speed up the ich lifecycle. That higher temp can stress our fish & reduce water oxygen level. That why it's often suggested to increase aeration, that & ich can often infects the fish gills, unseen by us.
Many of our fish are salt intolerant. It needs to be added over hours (not minutes) or even days to get it to the dosage needed to kill ich. & it should be removed slowly too, via many water changes. TDS shock is a real issue, it used to be called pH shock, but that's not quite right, as we now understand it.
I haven't had ich in many years or lost fish to it & I credit my quarantine tanks. But treating it long enough (10-14 days after ALL signs of ich are gone), with vacuuming water changes every time before redosing. Many believe the "3 day ich cure" actually works...but that's only how long it stays on the fish before dropping off into the substrate & then going into the water column to reinfect our fish. There is NO 3 day cure or even a week...you need to be diligent with both treatment & water changes. It doesn't need to be fatal, but it can be without good care.