ich help

[aquarium3]

So I moved my fish from my ten Gallon to my new cycled 38 gallon and I sadly noticed today that they had ich, they have had ich before in the ten gallon but that was like a month ago so no idea where it came from, maybe it was always present and just showed up when I moved them, my question is how should I treat them I can not do the heat treatment because my heater is preset and cannot be adjusted.

 

[NickAu]

Hi

What fish do you have, please include snails and shrimp

 

[aquarium3]

Hi

What fish do you have, please include snails and shrimp

I have 4 cherry barbs,leopard danio, Cory, bumblebee catfish, honey gourami, and a bn pleco.

 

[Colin_T]

Have you checked the water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate & pH?
If yes, what were the results in numbers?

Can you post a picture of the fish so we can confirm it has whitespot (Ich)?

The easiest way to treat tropical fish for whitespot is with heat. You increase the water temperature to 30C (86F) and keep it there for 2 weeks. Then reduce it back to 24-25C, whatever it was before.

Before you increase the temperature, wipe the inside of the glass down, do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate, and clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence when raising the temperature because warm water holds less oxygen than cool water.

There is more info on whitespot and different ways to treat it at the following link. The first post on page 1 and second post on page 2 are worth a read when you have some spare time.
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/what-is-ich.7092/page-2

 

[aquarium3]

Last Time I checked the water quality it was zero ammonia and zero nitrites could not test nitrates because amazon will not ship the tester to me. I am 100% sure it is ich, as much as I hate using medicine I have to because my heater is preset to I think 76, and can not do the heat treatment, should I move the fish to a separate tank to treat.

 

[Colin_T]

There is no point moving the fish to a separate container for treatment, just treat the entire tank and all the contents together.

Use a medication suitable for catfish and other scaleless fishes. If you can't find one for catfish then use a normal medication at half strength.

Treat the fish for 1 week after all of the spots have gone.

To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.
When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "How To Tips" at the top of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.

Remove carbon from the filter before treating or it will absorb the medication and stop it working.

Wipe the inside of the glass down, do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean. And clean the filter before treating. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration when using medications because they reduce the dissolved oxygen in the water.

 

[aquarium3]

There is no point moving the fish to a separate container for treatment, just treat the entire tank and all the contents together.

Use a medication suitable for catfish and other scaleless fishes. If you can't find one for catfish then use a normal medication at half strength.

Treat the fish for 1 week after all of the spots have gone.

To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.
When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "How To Tips" at the top of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.

Remove carbon from the filter before treating or it will absorb the medication and stop it working.

Wipe the inside of the glass down, do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean. And clean the filter before treating. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration when using medications because they reduce the dissolved oxygen in the water.

I am just a little sketched about using meds in the main tank because I heard that you can never get it all out after treatment and do not want it in my tank forever because ich meds contain formaldehyde which pretty nasty stuff, I have API super ick cure I could use.

 

[The Lumpfish Guy]

I am just a little sketched about using meds in the main tank because I heard that you can never get it all out after treatment and do not want it in my tank forever because ich meds contain formaldehyde which pretty nasty stuff, I have API super ick cure I could use.

Just a myth, high levels of water changes after the treatments will remove the medication, and if you are really worried about it add some activated carbon to your filter. That will help remove anything in the water.

Yes It does contain formaldehyde, but this is at a level with is non-toxic to fish (when using the correct dose) let alone humans, Formaldehyde also breaks down within a matter of days into less toxic compounds.

I wouldn't worry about it

 

[Colin_T]

Just do 75% water changes and gravel clean the substrate each day for a week after treatment has finished. Clean the filter after treatment, and as mentioned by Lumpfish, add carbon if you are really worried.

Wash your hands with soapy water after handling medications or working in the tank and you will be fine.

 

[The Lumpfish Guy]

Wash your hands with soapy water after handling medications or working in the tank and you will be fine.

And/or wear some rubber gloves...

 

[aquarium3]

Ok thanks all you guys have been really helpful.