Ich treatments

[mimifish]

All,

I believe I have an outbreak of ich in my 75 gallon tank. My ammonia & nitrite reading are both 0, my pH is 7.35, temp. is 75F. I have plants, type of fish I have are neon tetras, guppies, swordtails, platys, gouramis, corys, clown loaches, and danios. The affected fish have small white dots or specs on their fins & bodies.

What are some suitable medications/treatments that I can use to cure this ich outbreak? Will medications/treatments harm my biological filtration? What have you all used in the past that has worked really well?

Thanks in advance.

 

[brookie]

first of all i dont think you neede to post it so many times
next
my balloon molly got ich and had a big red dot on it check for that
next seperate the affected fish from the healthy ones if you can
remove active carbon from filters with affected fish
for my fish i used ap cure-ick and it can get rid of ick in about 24 hours it is about $8 but it is worthit and it tells you how to use it

 

[freshwatergal]

The first and foremost thing you should do is a 50% water change (or more). Clean, treated water makes fish happy.

Cure-ich works, but ich will not go away in 24 hours. I do believe it has a life cycle of about 2 weeks.

It might be a bad idea to remove the affected fish, because chances are the whole tank is affected, and you can not see any of the spots on the other fish.

The treatment that I have used, and believe me it works, is to raise the tank temp. to about 85 for a little over 2 weeks. You can add some aquarium salt if you have some, just follow the directions. Raising the temp speeds up the ich cycle, and when the spots drop off your fish, they can not survive in these temps away from the "host". Be sure to watch your fish closely during this time. But be prepared, you might lose some fish still.

HTH
Tiff

 

[fishgeek]

tiff has go it about right there

ich s seen generally in poor quality water , maybe after a water change with a sudden drop in tmperature to suppress the host fish's immune system

the lifecycle is speed up by increased temperature's and as the free swimming stage is the only medically treatable stage it will benefit cure to heat the tank and have the free swimming stage occur more frequently
therefore treatment intrvals should be temperature dependant
ie for tropical fish treat every 5 days

temperatures over 30celsius will stop the free swimming stages from surviving alone
salt is beneficial for secondary bacterial attack of the small skin lesions caused and to help with gill function
do ensure good aeration as both salinity and temperature increase's will decrease oxygen saturations

good luck
andrew

 

[Sea_Monster87]

Do a 1/3 to half water change and then use quick cure.

 

[Cian McLiam]

I have to agree most of the advice given is good but I would be concerned about indiscriminate water changes of over 20%. Test your water, if it tests ok for ammonia, nitrite and PH, do 10% water changes daily, 50% could have a disatrous effect if the tank water hasnt been changed frequently in the last few weeks.
The parasite will have a life cycle of about 2-3 days at temps of 85-86F, so treat for as long as the spots are visible then 3-4 days after they are gone. This will be sufficient to effect a cure but please dont be tempted to over-medicate, Ich is not an emergency in tropical tanks and fish loss can usually be avoided but overdosing on meds will have the opposite effect.
I dont use any meds for Ich, just 10% daily water changes and up to a week at 30C will clear it up in 90% of cases, usean airstone to increse the O2 content of the water.
You have cories so dont add any salt to the water, and with tetras I would use half the dosage stated on the pack. I am not convinced that meds that state on the pack that they are not harmful to filter bacteria really have no effect so watch your parameters while treating.
The most important thing about treating Ich is not to panic, dont over-do the meds and dont swap if one doesnt appear to be working. Dont tear the tank apart and be gentle with the water changes.


Ken