Ich

[lazarusthefishboy10]

Hi all!

I have ich in my 80l aquarium with some pretty expensive fish infected and almost all of them infected. I raised the temperature to 32 degrees celsius, and trying to feed the fish garlic.
I was just wondering if cooking salt that's uniodised and doesn't have any additives will work as aquarium salt.

Thank you!
Lazarus

 

[itiwhetu]

You only need to raise the temperature and then wait for a couple of weeks until all the spots have gone. Depending on the species in your tank you could lift it by another 2 degrees if you like.

 

[lazarusthefishboy10]

You only need to raise the temperature and then wait for a couple of weeks until all the spots have gone. Depending on the species in your tank you could lift it by another 2 degrees if you like.

So, I just have to do that, and that'll get rid of the ich?

 

[itiwhetu]

So, I just have to do that, and that'll get rid of the ich?

Yep, that is the best cure by far. Heat and Time.

 

[lazarusthefishboy10]

Yep, that is the best cure by far. Heat and Time.

Thanks so much! Really means a lot! And one more question, once I see the last few spots on my fish, how much longer should i leave the temperature at 34 to ensure the ich is defeated?

 

[itiwhetu]

Thanks so much! Really means a lot! And one more question, once I see the last few spots on my fish, how much longer should i leave the temperature at 34 to ensure the ich is defeated?

Regardless of when the spots go you need to leave the temperature up for 10 -14 days. The longer the better as long as the fish are not stressed leave it up for the full 14 days.

 

[itiwhetu]

I usually like to put a couple of extra air stones on to my tanks when I have the temperature turned up.

 

[Essjay]

Just to add - the warmer the water, the less oxygen it holds so using air stones helps get more oxygen in.

 

[Colin_T]

Don't raise it to 34C, that can kill some aquarium fish.

30C (86F) is all you need to raise the temperature to. Then keep it there for 2 weeks, or at least 1 week after all the white spots have gone from the fish.

If you have a heat resistant white spot, then raise it to 32C, but 30C normally does the job.

Salt and garlic do nothing to the white spot parasite.

Before you raise the water temperature, do a huge (80-90%) water change and complete gravel clean to remove as many of the parasites from the tank. Clean the filter too.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

 

[OliveFish05]

What kind of fish have you got? When my fish got Ich in my 55 gallon tank, I did daily substrate vacuums after I raised the temp, I am pretty sure the temp speeds up the life cycle of the ich, but doesn't actually kill the stage of ich that lives on the substrate, so the vacuum helped remove that

 

[Colin_T]

The white spot parasite does grow faster in warmer water. This is why most shops say to increase the temperature, to speed up the lifecycle. However, if you don't have medication in the tank or you don't have the temperature high enough (30C/ 86F), then the parasites simply reproduce faster and spread faster.

The only time heat or medication can kill the white spot parasite is when the parasite is free swimming in the water looking for a new host.

The parasite cannot be killed when it is on the fish (white dots).
The parasite cannot be harmed when the white spot cysts are on the bottom of the tank dividing.

The parasite can be killed when the white spot cysts sitting on the bottom of the tank, rupture open and release baby parasites.

 

[lazarusthefishboy10]

So, what I'm gonna do is keep the temperature at 30 degrees and add two air stones to the tank. What are the signs to look for so I know when to add the medication? Thanks a lot for the help!

 

[Colin_T]

If you are using heat (30C/ 86F), you don't use medication because the heat kills the parasites.

If you want to use chemicals to kill the white spot, reduce the temperature to 26-28C and add the medication straight away.

The heat treatment is the safer option and requires heat only, whereas the chemical treatments can be quite harmful to the fish and you, depending on what medication you use.

 

[lazarusthefishboy10]

If you are using heat (30C/ 86F), you don't use medication because the heat kills the parasites.

If you want to use chemicals to kill the white spot, reduce the temperature to 26-28C and add the medication straight away.

The heat treatment is the safer option and requires heat only, whereas the chemical treatments can be quite harmful to the fish and you, depending on what medication you use.

Ok, I'm gonna use heat then. I got an air pump so there's A LOT of oxygen in the tank now. Thanks so much and I'll let you know if I have success or not!

 

[Essjay]

Remember that you need to keep the tank at that temp for 2 weeks, or a week after the last spot disappears. Don't turn it back down as soon as the last spot goes or it will come back.