ICH!!!!

[charitetata]

I had recently introduced a Geophagus Brasilinesis to my tank (1 week ago)
He had died after one day. There were no symptoms. My levels in tank are as follows:
PH 7.0
Nitrates Normal (a little high)
Nitrites not exsistant
Ammonia not exsistant
I am doing weekly water changes at 25% (to reduce nitrate levels)
2 days ago I noticed Ich on my fish.
I increased the temp to 80 degrees and added an airline.
I have treated the tank with salt (1 teaspoon per gallon)
My fish were congragated at the top of tank and did not seem interested in eating.
Now, after the salt treatment they are being my fish again. they still have white spots. Should I treat with a med as well as the salt, should I increase my water changes to 2 times a week, and should I repelnish the salt treatment after the water change or every other day?
Tank size 55 gallons
2 New Guinea Rainbow fish, 1 Blue Gourami, 1 gold Gourami, 12 tiger Barbs, 2 Plecos
Any help will be greatful.
I can not bear another fish death.
Thank you
Annie
P.S. What should Nitrates be at? I have been told no higher then 40 but my testing kit says anything below 110 is ok.

 

[Angel Lady]

Hi and welcome to the forum one of the first things you should know never use salt with pleco's they are scaless and salt will burn them it will kill them and raise the tamp to I think it is 85 someone needs to correct me if im wrong on the temp. Get some ich medicine for scaless fish you need to change some of your water out to get rid of the salt mabey a 25 percent then wait a few days and change another 25 percent. You can reduce the nitrates with water changes it should be at 0 along with the rest.

 

[Fishsmurf]

Charitetata,

Hi & welcome, firstly apologies for my delay in answering. Ok, just to add a bit to the advice "fish keeper sharks and mollies" gave you. If at any point you feel like we are teaching you to suck eggs please shout.

The first part is to just say that although plecs do not like salt and yes it will burn them in high concentrations there a train of thought that a small amount of dissolved salt over a short period of time for a treatment such as Ich should be ok, just keep an eye on your plec. If he looks stressed then look at water changes to lower the amount of salt in the tank.

I would also suggest gradually raising the temp (over a day or so) to 84 - 85 and adding an Ich med now. Basically the salt and temp is doing it's part but unless you have another tank you can transfer all your fish to the salt / temp is doing as much as it can by removing the Ich from the fish and into the water itself.

Ich is a fairly hardy parasite and the only time it is really suceptible to medication is at this free floating stage, ie, where it has left the host fish and is looking for a new host.

Now the Ich is free floating, it normally has a 5 - 6 day life cycle to find new host or it dies, by upping the temp the you reduce this life cycle to 3 or 4 days. This is where the Ich med has the chance to work.

So all in all....

25% water change.
Raise temp gradually to 84 - 85 (if your fish will accept this).
Treat with an Ich med (for scaless fish if you can get it, if not I have treated with a normal Ich med at half dose) remember to remove any carbon from filter if you have it (carbon will remove the medication from the water) , follow the treatment for the Ich med right through the course.
One the med has run it's course do another 25% water change and add carbon back into your filter.

Your good to go.....

On the nitrates question again "fish keeper sharks and mollies" was pretty spot on, in an ideal world NitrAte should be at zero all the time but in the real world this doesn't / can't / won't happen. Some areas actually show 40ppm NitrAte straight from the tap !!!???

The figure you have been given of 40ppm is a good guide to keep your fish happy. 110ppm is high but I have heard a figure of 150ppm being banded around as an upper limit. Anyway like I said if you can keep it around a max of 40ppm you will be giving your fish a comfy life.

I hope all of that inane rambling has provided you with some useful info but if you have any more questions please shout.......

Oh BTW the way if you do get time please let us know how you got on, "fish keeper sharks and mollies" & I will both be interested to see things clear up.....

Take care and good luck......

 

[LesGerber]

Fish Keeper and Smurf are right on the money, the only thing that I would add is this. Get a product called Rid Ich, it isnt as strong as others and it is safe for scaleless fish.
When I get that nasty white spot I treat my water daily for 10 along with the increased water temps. After the 10 days then I do an every other day treatment for 4 or 6 days. That way you make sure you got all of them treated and none of my fish suffered ill effects including my 5 inch pleco.
Now as far as salt in your freshwater you have to be careful. I do have salt in mine but only when the fish are under stressful conditions. I NEVER add what the box says though. I always cut it in half as I dont want to create more problems. Again my pleco didnt have a problem with that. Maybe mine is a strange one but I try to let people know what I have done to get my fish healthy.
So far my fish all seem happy and doing well. No losses in over 2 months since last ich outbreak and I even had a platy give birth and another going to pop any day, so I guess things are going well.

HTH

Les