Help! Advice on Ick treatment

[marylousnews320]

Hello, I desperately need some advice! I have a 40 gal tank that has been set up and running for over a year and have never had problems. I discovered Ick on my black skirt tetras 2 days ago. I have done a partial water change and increased the temp and added aquarium salt 1 tsp per gal. Here’s the thing. Some of my tetras seem to be looking better already. But not all of them. I know Ick can only be treated when it has come off the fish and before it reinfests them. Should I continue the salt treatment with partial water changes? Or should I start medication now? Please help!!


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[Byron]

What is the tank water temperature now? And what fish species are in the tank? Sometimes heat alone can be effective. In very stubborn cases salt can work, depending upon the species.

 

[marylousnews320]

Hi Byron, Thanks for responding! The tank temp is 87 degrees. I have Black Skirt tetras, guppies and a gourami. I have heard some bad things about Jungle brand “Ick Clear”.


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[Colin_T]

Are you sure it's whitespot (ich/ ick)?

Have you added anything to the tank in the last few weeks?

If you can post a picture of the fish we can confirm it is whitespot.

Have you tested the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH?
If yes, what are the results in numbers?

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The safest way to treat whitespot is to raise the water temperature to 30C (86F) and keep it there for 2 weeks. The whitespot parasites die in the heat and you don't need medication.

Do a 75-90% water change and gravel clean the substrate before raising the temperature. This will remove a lot of the parasites from the tank and gravel and reduce the number that will infected the fish.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

The following link has info on whitespot. The first post on page 1 and second post on page 2 are worth reading.
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/what-is-ich.7092/

 

[Byron]

I basically agree with Colin here.

 

[marylousnews320]

Thank you Colin and Byron!! Your help is truly appreciated!! I’m sure it’s Ick. Unfortunately. I’m going to follow your advice about temp read the link you sent!!Thank you!! I’ll let you know how it goes. Thanks again!!


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[Colin_T]

If it is whitespot, you will probably see spots for a few more days before they start to drop off and die. Then they will reduce in number and in a week there shouldn't be any more on the fish. But make sure you keep the temperature up for 2 weeks.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise the oxygen levels in the water.

 

[marylousnews320]

On did I add anything new, yep. My downfall I think. Thing is I knew better!! I bought a couple of guppies that looked completely healthy at the time. I think they were the culprits!! Lesson most definitely learned on that one!! Thanks so much both of you for your help!


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[marylousnews320]

So I have followed the advice of Byron and Colin and today there are no signs of ICH on my fish! I am continuing the 86 degree temp and have done a 90% water change once all the parasites came off the fish. Cleaned everything in the tank and let it all air dry in the sun. My tank looks pretty happy right now. Thanks again guys for your help!!


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[Colin_T]

It's not over yet. You need to keep the temperature high for 2 weeks.

The whitespot parasites have several stages to their life cycle and dropping off the fish is one stage. The whitespot cysts are now sitting in the gravel and the parasite inside the cysts is dividing and multiplying. In a few days the cysts will hatch and hundreds of new parasites will emerge and start swimming around the water. This is the only time they can be killed, when they are swimming about looking for a new host. They cannot be killed until they hatch out of the whitespot cysts and start swimming around the water.

As long as the temperature is still high, the parasites will die when they hatch out of the cysts.

There will be parasites hatching out for a couple of days yet.

 

[marylousnews320]

Yikes! Ok thanks. I’m keeping the temp up and did a huge Water change. I’m doing a 25% water change every couple days and the temp being around 86 -87. Is there anything else I should be doing now? Should I continue the salt? I read that prolonged salt in the water is not good... thanks for your help!!!


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[Colin_T]

Small water changes don't do anything and aren't worth doing unless you are diluting salt.

You do water changes for 2 main reasons.
1) to reduce nutrients like ammonia, nitrite & nitrate.
2) to dilute disease organisms in the water.

Fish live in a soup of microscopic organisms including bacteria, fungus, viruses, protozoans, worms, flukes and various other things that make your skin crawl. Doing a big water change and gravel cleaning the substrate on a regular basis will dilute these organisms and reduce their numbers in the water, thus making it a safer and healthier environment for the fish.

If you do a 25% water change each week you leave behind 75% of the bad stuff in the water.
If you do a 50% water change each week you leave behind 50% of the bad stuff in the water.
If you do a 75% water change each week you leave behind 25% of the bad stuff in the water.

Fish live in their own waste. Their tank and filter is full of fish poop. The water they breath is filtered through fish poop. Cleaning filters, gravel and doing big regular water changes, removes a lot of this poop and makes the environment cleaner and healthier for the fish.

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You can have salt in the tank for a couple of weeks and it won't harm the fish. But it isn't normally needed for treating whitespot.

 

[marylousnews320]

Hi Colin,
Thanks for all your help. So it sounds like the 25% every other day right now are pointless. At this point, how often should I do major water change then? And what percentage? I want this stuff gone!! Thanks again!


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[Colin_T]

If the tank is established and you don't have ammonia or nitrite problems, then you can leave it until the heat treatment has finished, or you can do it once a week or more often if you like. But once a week is sufficient for most tanks.

I mention leaving the water change until after treatment has finished so you don't have to heat the new water up before adding it to the tank. If you don't mind heating up the new water before adding it to the tank, then you can do water changes during the heat treatment.

I recommend doing a 75% water change and gravel cleaning the substrate once a week. If you have water restrictions then do a 50% once a week or 75% once a fortnight.

 

[marylousnews320]

Sounds like a plan then. I’m going to follow your advice. I’m keeping the water temperature up for 2 more weeks and will do a 75% water change weekly. Thanks Colin!!


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