I’m brand new to forums and hopefully I’m in the right spot? I need some advice about ick medications in my freshwater tank. I took out the plants and raised the temperature to 84 degrees. I prefer not to use Methaline Blue. The ick has just started on 2 clown loaches and there are German blue rams and small angels not showing any symptoms yet. Thank You
Ick Advice please?
- Thread starter LaurieJ
- Start date
Welcome 
You have posted in the wrong section but hopefully a moderator will move it.
Can you post photos of the affected fish?
Up the temperature a tiny bit more to 86 and leave it there for two weeks. This should cure the ich without the need for any medication.
Repost if it doesn’t work or you are unsure of anything.
Whilst the temperature is raised ensure you oxygenate the water well with an extra airline or two, or by pointing the filter outlet to the surface to agitate the water.
You have posted in the wrong section but hopefully a moderator will move it.
Can you post photos of the affected fish?
Up the temperature a tiny bit more to 86 and leave it there for two weeks. This should cure the ich without the need for any medication.
Repost if it doesn’t work or you are unsure of anything.
Whilst the temperature is raised ensure you oxygenate the water well with an extra airline or two, or by pointing the filter outlet to the surface to agitate the water.
Before a mod moves the thread, You need at least 2 degrees more, Ichthyophthirius multifiliis will go faster under that.
But just a little malachite green in addition will represses ich like nothing. With the heat in addition it can bring a lot of other external parasites off at the same time.
But just a little malachite green in addition will represses ich like nothing. With the heat in addition it can bring a lot of other external parasites off at the same time.
Last edited:
Heat might kill some of the ich, but the main reason increasing the temperature is recommended is because it helps speed up the life cycle of the parasite. Ich has a few life stages. What you see on the fish is an encysted form which has a protective coating. At this stage, medication and heat cannot kill it. Eventually, the cysts fall off and hatch out many microscopic free-swimming forms of the parasite. This free-swimming stage is the one that's vulnerable to treatment.
Ich can be killed by high water temps, but if you have sensitive fish and plants, they might not be able to tolerate it for the entire duration of the treatment. Additionally, it's possible that free-swimming ich can survive the temps, especially if you don't have a thermostat that ensures the temp stays 86-88F. Then, when you lower the temp back down, the ich can come back.
That's why it's recommended to treat with both heat and medication simultaneously. Salt is an option, but can be tricky to dose consistently without a scale, and you need to make sure to properly calculate additional doses to maintain the same concentration when you do water changes. Meds with formaldehyde and malachite green are extremely effective, but aren't safe for shrimp and snails (also, you should wear gloves when handling it). Apparently Seachem Paraguard is a safer alternative to formaldehyde-based meds. Theoretically it should be effective against ich, but I've never used it.
Ich can be killed by high water temps, but if you have sensitive fish and plants, they might not be able to tolerate it for the entire duration of the treatment. Additionally, it's possible that free-swimming ich can survive the temps, especially if you don't have a thermostat that ensures the temp stays 86-88F. Then, when you lower the temp back down, the ich can come back.
That's why it's recommended to treat with both heat and medication simultaneously. Salt is an option, but can be tricky to dose consistently without a scale, and you need to make sure to properly calculate additional doses to maintain the same concentration when you do water changes. Meds with formaldehyde and malachite green are extremely effective, but aren't safe for shrimp and snails (also, you should wear gloves when handling it). Apparently Seachem Paraguard is a safer alternative to formaldehyde-based meds. Theoretically it should be effective against ich, but I've never used it.
Post a picture of the fish so we can confirm white spot.
Have you added anything to the tank in the 2 weeks before this started?
You don't need to remove plants when treating fish.
You can treat white spot with heat (30C for 2 weeks) or use chemical based medications that contain copper or malachite green. Copper kills invertebrates like shrimp and snails. Malachite green is a carcinogen (causes cancer).
For heat treatment you just raise the water temperature to 30C (86F) and keep it there for 2 weeks or at least 1 week after all the dots have gone. You don't need chemicals when raising the water temp to 30C, the heat kills the parasites. The fish you have will be fine with the warm water (30C).
If you want to use chemicals, have the temperature around 24-26C and add the medication. Remove carbon from filter before adding chemical medications.
Increase aeration/ surface turbulence when treating fish with heat or medications.
*NB* Do not use heat (30C) and chemicals because you will kill the fish.
Before you treat the fish or raise the temperature, do a 80-90% water change and gravel clean the substrate. This dilutes the number of parasites in the water and buys you a bit of time to get the treatment started. You should also clean the filter before starting treatment.
There's more information about white spot at the following link. Post #1 and #16 are worth a read.
www.fishforums.net
---------------------
To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.
When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.
If you have big rocks or driftwood in the tank, remove these before measuring the height of the water level so you get a more accurate water volume.
You can use a permanent marker to draw a line on the tank at the water level and put down how many litres are in the tank at that level.
There is a calculator/ converter in the "FishForum.net Calculator" under "Useful Links" at the top right of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.
Have you added anything to the tank in the 2 weeks before this started?
You don't need to remove plants when treating fish.
You can treat white spot with heat (30C for 2 weeks) or use chemical based medications that contain copper or malachite green. Copper kills invertebrates like shrimp and snails. Malachite green is a carcinogen (causes cancer).
For heat treatment you just raise the water temperature to 30C (86F) and keep it there for 2 weeks or at least 1 week after all the dots have gone. You don't need chemicals when raising the water temp to 30C, the heat kills the parasites. The fish you have will be fine with the warm water (30C).
If you want to use chemicals, have the temperature around 24-26C and add the medication. Remove carbon from filter before adding chemical medications.
Increase aeration/ surface turbulence when treating fish with heat or medications.
*NB* Do not use heat (30C) and chemicals because you will kill the fish.
Before you treat the fish or raise the temperature, do a 80-90% water change and gravel clean the substrate. This dilutes the number of parasites in the water and buys you a bit of time to get the treatment started. You should also clean the filter before starting treatment.
There's more information about white spot at the following link. Post #1 and #16 are worth a read.
What is ICH?
This is a common question that is often asked, what is ich and how is it recognisable and what causes it? The real term is ICHTHYOPHTHIRIASIS. OR commonly known as white spot. It is an extremely comon parasite that affects aquarium fish. It is highly infectious and potentially lethal and...
www.fishforums.net
---------------------
To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.
When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.
If you have big rocks or driftwood in the tank, remove these before measuring the height of the water level so you get a more accurate water volume.
You can use a permanent marker to draw a line on the tank at the water level and put down how many litres are in the tank at that level.
There is a calculator/ converter in the "FishForum.net Calculator" under "Useful Links" at the top right of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.
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