Ich on Discus

[G_Sharky]

I just noticed a couple of grains and it might be ICH on my Discus. The temp is set on 82 F/28 C since they like their water pretty warm. I never had ICH on this tank before and I was wondering if i should just keep a close eye on them now since they are acting and eating normally or should I raise the temp and add salt. My water parameter were fine having 0 reading of Ammonia and NitrIte and NitrAte reading doesn't exceed 5 ppm. What should I do I really don't want to lose this guys

 

[warrion_2000]

raise the temp to about 85F, and add some medicine, there are some very good ich medicines so you don't need to be worried, its not that serious just start the medication asap.

good luck

 

[FrankSlapperinni]

I'm not sure, Most fish keepers will tell you that salt is very bad for plecos and corrys, but then most very experienced fishkeepers say that this is a lie, but in any case, I would hold off on salt/medications not specifically stating that they are safe for scaleless fish.
85 is a little high for catfish (not for discus though), keeping it at 82 should be enough to kill most of the parasites, and doing quick salt baths (much more effective than salting the whole tank) will clear up your discus soon (but I have never kept discus, so I'm not sure if the stress from moving them to a salt bath would make it worse).
The best thing and most important thing that you could do is lot of water changes, at least one every two days, even better at one a day.

 

[G_Sharky]

The temp is at 82 F/28 C right now, I do 25% water change twice a week, I'm not to keen on using Med as some Med would harm the beneficial bacteria and I've been reading that Discus are very sensitive to medication. Would the ICH parasite die on this temp or do I need to bump it up to 30 C?

 

[elgecko]

I've never had ich on my discus, but have used Quick Cure for ich on other fish several times in the past with no ill effect on my tank.

 

[G_Sharky]

Hey elgecko what at what temp do you keep your Discus Tank at a regular basis?. I was told that I should keep them around 30 C all the time, however would this be safe for the other fish like cory's and pleco?. My priority is the Discus but I don't want to see other tank mates suffer for they have a vital role in my tank, they keep it clean from algae and leftovers.

 

[justupgraded15]

Rid Ich + by Kordon has worked wonders for my tank and is safe for scaleless fish and will not harm your biological filtration.

 

[elgecko]

I had to do a conversion of C to F. I keep my tank at 83 F or 28 C.
Do a search on google for the type of Pleco and cories you have and see what most say the temps are they are comfortable with.

 

[G_Sharky]

Just check out your website elgecko and it's pretty good , But I can't find pics of your Discus. Anyways would Temp of 28 C would kill parasites like ICH?

 

[Cian McLiam]

Ich will be pretty much zapped at 30C if its held there for over 4 or 5 days, Discus would also heal quicker at this temp

Salt is a pretty poor treatment for Ich IME, some malachite green/formalin/quinine mix products are great at killing it, but some say that formalin causes head standing behaviour in Discus. you need to turn off lights when using malachite green or it will be partially de-activated.

Try 30C or 86F for a few days, I think the problem will clear up ok without meds. Add an airstone to keep O2 levels up and the ither fish should be ok, Ive tried this with many different varities with no losses, including catfish and tetras.

Ken

 

[G_Sharky]

Turn the temp up to 30 C and on stanby, so far there's no sign of stress on them no flicking or anything like that, they are also eating normally...

 

[elgecko]

G_Sharky,
My pictures of my discus on my web page are found by clicking pets, tropical fish.
or
My main fish page:
http/www.geocities.com/elgecko1989/fish.html

My discus page:
http/www.geocities.com/elgecko1989/discus.html

 

[Shizat]

I would recommend double checking with a discus forum before doing any of these treatments just to be safe.