Ich

[Tanked]

Gerber,

you come off as anything but a smart a$$, maybe smart andI am willing to take all the help I can get right now. I found out the day after I bought the glassfish that paint was human made and it really pissed me off, but thats what I get for being an uneducated consumer in this fashion. it wont happen again. no tampered fish only natural. allie said 10 days of rid ich and 6 days of ecvery other, does that sound good to you too? i have added extra hose and have the ugf going again. thank you for your input. the more you giv ethe better.

thx,

richard

 

[Angel Lady]

this product does not have copper in it it is called coppersafe it is made by Mardel products which I highly recommend they are the ones who makes maracyn and tri sulfa those products are used every day by fishkeepers with a lot of luck and if you use the coppersafe you will be less likely to have ich break outs it treats tanks for up to a month with just a teaspoon per four gallons if everyone would use it you would see what I am talking about I had one case of ich and that is when i first started keeping fish and that has been six months ago I wouldnt tell anyone to use any products with copper in them.

 

[LesGerber]

Yes Tanked, while you was talking to Allie she was getting my input.......She is my better half so I was well aware of the conversation before I even got on....lol

The main concern here is to get your tank back to normal and to do it with the least amount of stress to you fishies......


Les

 

[Tanked]

fksm, thx I am headed to the LFS this weekend and will look into that. the name is a bit mis leading though.

 

[Tanked]

Yes Tanked, while you was talking to Allie she was getting my input.......She is my better half so I was well aware of the conversation before I even got on....lol

well then thank you very much to both of you. I will continue with thetreatment for 5 more days and then goto every other for 6 days. is 24 hours of light to much? I have been running 16 already since the outbreak.

 

[LesGerber]

Fish Keeper, First off there is no reason to get upset, Coppersafe is good for some people I am sure. but this comes from the manufacturers site......This safe, stable, non-staining concentrate, is used for the treatment of ick, velvet, and other external freshwater parasites. Before use, remove invertebrates from the tank. It may be harmful to plants and some snails
Now the point Allie and I was trying to make is this......any product that contains any form of dirivitive of copper is not going to be good on planted tanks.
This from future pet site......CopperSafe is a chelated copper compound that is used for the treatment of infections of : Ick, Flukes (Gyrodactylus), Anchor Worms, Velvet/Protozoan diseases and other external parasites.
CopperSafe, when used as directed, maintains a total copper level of 1.5 ppm to 2.0 ppm in the water. It remains active for over one month in the aquarium.

CopperSafe keeps levels of free copper down while still acting as therapeutioc agent due to unique chelating agent which binds with the copper making it non-toxic to fish but effective against parasites.

So with this information you can see that while this stuff is treated to supposedly make the copper safe to the fish you still have copper. There are alot of people out there that have planted tanks and IMHO this product is no good for their tanks.
Furthermore, any product you use to treat ich will last......as long as you do the treatment right. If treated correctly and you dont introduce any water with the Ich to your tank you can go forever without another outbreak as you have destroyed them all in your treatments.
I am sorry if you are upset Fish Keeper, there was no intent to make anyone mad, just the fact that not everyone can use products like your suggestion. It is of my opinion that products with Malachite Green is better for the treatment of Ich...


Les

 

[Tanked]

ahh I see, I have plants, no good for me, I will stick to the malachite green. thx for the extended research gerber. people like you make this much easier for a newb like me.

 

[LesGerber]

No Prob Tanked.....I thought I sen somewhere where you said you had plants.....Just glad I could help


Les

 

[reg2k2]

I don't think I'd put a set number of days on treatment, tho.
Generally you sh. treat for three days after no spots remain visible on fish.
imo, 24hrs def. too much...wd. prob. just cause more stress.

 

[Angel Lady]

first of all no one is getting upset I just know what works for me and if they are no live plants then why worry about something I have used this product for six months with good luck to I might add it is just like I said I havent had any trouble with any kind of fish worms I think it is because of the coppersafe I might be wrong and I pay close attention to the temps. while doing water changes I make sure that everything is the same when I do a water change. That could be one of the reasons why I dont have any problems with ich velvet or flukes and so on.

 

[cichlidmaster]

Think I'll stay outta this one with the exception of this.........

Maracide by Mardel is IMO the best ich med on the market.

Safe for ALL fish, will not harm biological filtration and in all but the WORST cases of ich a 5 day treatment is all it takes.

I would like to say "GREAT WORK" guys. good info and well rounded posts.

CM

 

[Tanked]

cichlid,

I've got a pretty bad case. 6 days and there is still growth on my glassfish. damn I wish I had research fist about those. damn man tampering. I promised my fish last night that before I do anything else to the tank I will do my research. my own fault, I was new and the guy at the pet store that helped me set up did not know $h!t. He told me to put my fish in and feed them, so I thought this would be easy. 8 weeks later I am scrambling but have a much higher appreciation for all of the wrok neccasary to maintain a healthy happy tank.

thank you all again for the assistance and my soon to healthy fish thank you too.

 

[ostrow]

Chiming in late here. But the problems no doubt started when you added all those fish all at once. Stress, stress, stress. Take it from me, after this is done, if you have lost fish, take your time adding new ones.

There is a lot of dispute on lights. Rose, I know, turns off the lights and wraps the tank in a blanket to make it as dark as possible while treating for ick. So there are many paths to success.

Coppersafe contanes cheleated copper. In other words, it contains copper. Even without live plants, the longterm effects on the fish are a subject of some controversy among many, and I avoid products with cheleated copper.

Now for the part CM would be waiting for me to say, no doubt: many folks have great luck with maracide and you'll find many experts here swear by it. My experience with it was that fish died, ick did not go away. In particular, the loaches did not do well.

Ridich+ may be a safer bet, though I'd still anticipate some losses.

Now, for the part that will seem contradictory, the only product that has successfully combatted whatever strain of Ick my tanks have encountered here in Chicago is Aquarisol. Aquarisol contains copper salts of some sort, I don't entirely understand in what form. But I've been assured and have tested and have discovered no detectable increase in copper readings after use as directed. So free-floating copper ions do not seem to be a problem with this product. My live plants are happy as can be, and the fish are cured.

I invested money in a Turbo-Twist UV sterilizer, and in combination with the Aqauarisol have had no problems with ick since. This was after 6 months of continuous problems. If money is not a severe limitation, the $100 or so spent would be worth it in terms of cost of meds, fish, and time.

But I'd recommend to you sticking with Ridich and using it religiously according to instructions (continuing treatment a minimum of 5 days after EVERY LAST SPOT is gone). Do normal water changes every couple of days, lightly vacuuming the gravel to suck up whatever nasties you can (but don't disturn the gravel in any violent way). Keep the carbon out. Temp can go to 85, but make sure you have good aeration (surface agitation, airstone, etc) if you go that high. I think that is it.

Oh, and yeah, no new fish for a while after it is cleared. Wait a good 3 weeks at least with NO spots during that period on any fish.

 

[Tanked]

I'm going to stick with the rid ich, I have been using it and all but those 2 glassfish are now spot free. the glassfish I gues are a little extra stressed. I've already called my LSF and asked that hold my 2 angels for a while. they are paid for already but they are so pretty I don't want to harm them. they told me no problem. also my pleco is gone this weekend, going to a freind with a 250 gallon tank. he 5 inches now so will love the extra room. he has a quarantine tank 10 gallon that he puts all new fish in before transferring to his main tank. He will fill his 10 gallon with water from my tank and cycle it to get the params in line with his tank before moving the pleco to the main one. will this be ok for the Pleco? seems as stress free as possible.

 

[Mollymomma]

Hi guys

Tanked I'm in the same boat as you..ICK has taken over my tank uggghhh.. I believe mine started due to adding the new platy's ( one has since died) He was bullied from day one.. kept a close eye on him but no luck.. My mollies have it the worst.. Could they have contracted it due to adding the newbie's? from the stress alone?

I have Jungle ick clear....the fizzy tabs ..will this work? The directions say 1 tab for 10 gallons, and again after 24 hours after a 25% water change. But it also says one treatment will be all you need...so with the info here it's not ringing true..

If ick can result from too many changes and stress, won't doing a 25% change every other day be to stressful?

Les your info & research again has been amazing..