Ich

[challdog]

my favourite tank has had an outbreak of ich.
i'm almost certain that's what it is...
tiny white spots over all of my fish.

1- what low budget methods are there?
2- should i remove my plants/ornaments?
3- help

 

[ron4sum1]

my favourite tank has had an outbreak of ich.
i'm almost certain that's what it is...
tiny white spots over all of my fish.

1- what low budget methods are there?
2- should i remove my plants/ornaments?
3- help

If your fish are alive, you should use a specific treatment or a salt bath. I'm not sure much about this method as certain fish can tolerate certain salt concentration. So it's worth researching first.

If you only got your aquarium with stuff in, without the fish, you can add a high concentration of salt (iodised or non-iodised) and leave it for a couple of minutes. Rinse it totally and hopefully, this will kill the majority of ick in there. Most fish don't get affected by ick despite its presence in the tank because they are "happy" - Correct water parameters/condition. If not, they get stressed, leading to reduced immune system, hence infection. You can do a little bit of research in regards to your fish's preference.

Good luck!

 

[challdog]

is it the kind of thing that will 'blow over' if i keep doing water changes...?

i'm literally stuck for solutions...
i cant move the fish, as i have nowhere to move them to...
and no money for treatments...

 

[ron4sum1]

is it the kind of thing that will 'blow over' if i keep doing water changes...?

i'm literally stuck for solutions...
i cant move the fish, as i have nowhere to move them to...
and no money for treatments...

Ick is a parasite that's always present in most aquarium. It is the immunity of the fish that determines the likeliness of getting that disease. Without having the proper condition for the fish, they get stressed, and more prone to illness. On the other hand, if they're happy - less chance of getting ill.

I believe that there's no other solution. It's either you save up for treatment or they would likely die, which then in turn leads to more fish being bought by you if you decide to continue on your hobby. If you really have no other option, then you can gamble. You can add 1 tablespoon per 5 gallon (around 20 litres) of table salt (Surely, you have some ) Bear in mind that the presence of salt will likely kill your plants. So remove any plants during this procedure.

I hope this would work. If it does, you have to correct your water condition or else, this might re-occur in the future, or other symptoms of other diseases might become apparent.

Good luck!

 

[Rickzayne]

don't use salt if you have scale less fish.

plecs, cory ect

 

[Fishy friend2]

don't use salt if you have scale less fish.

plecs, cory ect

+1

 

[RobberyinCSharp]

The salt bath works very well. I would recommend doing that as well as adding 1 extra tablespoon per 10 gallons of water, and up the temperature of your tank to 85. I am currently suffering from the same issue and this method seems to be treating it fast. Just make sure you have plenty of O2 in the tank!!!

 

[Aquamaniac]

Ich has a cycle.It attaches to the fish,giving him the white spots,falls to the gravel,lay's eggs and dies,the eggs hatch attach to the fish and so on.
You have to understand this to do treatment.

First,you need to raise the temperature of your fish tank.Buy putting the temperature up it will speed up the ich cycle and force it to fall from the fish skin in to the gravel.

Than you give the medicine.

You keep the temperature up and medicine for a few days after the disease symptoms pass and you can lower the temperature slowly and use carbon on your filter to remove any traces of the medicine.

Its a very common and easy disease to do treatment.Some people go for the salt i prefer the medicine,some fish don't like the salt in their water others actually enjoy it.

Be sure to keep the treatment going sometime after the white spots are gone.Because the parasite will not be dead yet it will be in the gravel.