Ick treatment in a large aquarium.

[FishSticks]

I noticed 1 or 2 white spots on one of my Pearl Gouramis today and I'm pretty sure it's Ick. I have successfully treated Dwarf Gouramis that had Ick before, but in a 10-gallon aquarium. There's the basic situation. Here are my questions:

I'm going to use QuICK Cure to treat the fish but I was wondering if it would stain my sand blue? I've seen what most ICK medicine could do to the silicon in aquariums, and my sand is 100% silica sand!

I also want to know if treating my tank with QuICK Cure will harm live plants in any way?

It's going to be a pain in the neck to treat a 55-gallon aquarium, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[WILDER]

Never used the products what does it say in the instruction about plants and staining ornaments and things.

 

[ger87410]

Want a quick, almost guaranteed way of killing ich? Raise the temp to around 82f, increase the vacuuming to every other day, and daily water changes.

 

[FishSticks]

Hey I was just going to mention that. I know someone who has a 29 gallon Tetra tank and there was a real bad Ick break out and "supposable" they all got cured in less than 2 weeks with just water changes everyday. I thought he was lying? BTW My temp is already at 82f

The bottle doesn't mention anything about plants at all? But it does say: QUICK CURE will color the water blue - this disappears in a few days. May stain silicon sealant. (My small 10 gallon tank is still blue even after 1 1/2 yrs, but I didn't have sand in that one, so i don't know if it would color it.)

 

[Blue Lobster]

Melafix is good after the ich treatment, it promotes healing of the fish. Just raise the temp like the others said and add some salt, the ich hates salt.

 

[Angry_Platy]

Hey I was just going to mention that. I know someone who has a 29 gallon Tetra tank and there was a real bad Ick break out and "supposable" they all got cured in less than 2 weeks with just water changes everyday. I thought he was lying? BTW My temp is already at 82f

The bottle doesn't mention anything about plants at all? But it does say: QUICK CURE will color the water blue - this disappears in a few days. May stain silicon sealant. (My small 10 gallon tank is still blue even after 1 1/2 yrs, but I didn't have sand in that one, so i don't know if it would color it.)

Get some sand, put it in a container....add a drop of the stuff and see what it does to the sand. That should give you the answer you need

I can see how the water changes would work....it helps because through water changes you are removing the free swimming ich parasites in the water....

 

[Discomafia]

My main tank went thru an ich outbreak and I did 30% water changes + meds every 3 days. I had a couple of new pieces of driftwood, so I wanted to remove the tannins in the water anyways. It took me not even 2 weeks... I detected it early, like maybe the first or second day, and once I confirmed that I saw visible symptoms, I started meds.

Temp raised to around 85F of course. Raising your temp. + good water quality is the best you can do to treat ich. A couple of days w/o food wouldn't hurt either.

As for treating ich in large aquariums, that's what QT/Hospital tanks were made for. Easier to do w/c's and a week or two in a smaller tank won't stunt the fish for life I'm sure...

Oh ya, as for salt, remember that if you have plecos or cories or other catfish, they can't tolerate it in their water... Make sure to check anyways, if you're not sure that is.

 

[ger87410]

U guys are talking about solving your ick in weeks, I solve mine in 2 days max. Not sure what we're doing different...

 

[FishSticks]

Allright I bought this syphon that connects to the sink and takes about 45-60 seocnds to drain 10% of the water and 1-2 mins to fill it back up so I'm going to start medicating and water changes now that it's easier... One more question:

Can I use full dose of medication with the fish I have?

• Dwarf Gouramis
• Pearl Gouramis
• True Siamese Algae Eaters
• Oto's
• Farlowella (Whiptail Catfish)
• Ghost Shrimp

BTW, No one has answered my question about the medication harming my plants

 

[Discomafia]

U guys are talking about solving your ick in weeks, I solve mine in 2 days max.  Not sure what we're doing different...

The ick parasite won't go away in just 2 days... There are 3 stages to the parasite's life, 2 days isn't enough time I think, and so it'll just lie dormant...

And changing 10% of the water won't really be a lot, you have to do at least 25% IMO... You want to keep the water as clean as possible, remember...

Plants? Mine were alright when I used Ick Jungle Guard. If you can't find the product using a google search, PM me and I'll try to help you... Not sure about the brand you're using, as I have no experience with that...

And remember, use half dosage on weak/scaleless fish... Ottos don't always respond well to meds in their tank. 1 of my 3 died after I used Ick Jungle Guard in my old 10G. Not sure about the ghost shrimp though, can't you give them all a smaller tank for the moment? Where's that 10G you said you used to treat ick last time?

Just do a full dose and do more w/c... Do what I did and do a w/c every 3 days... If you really buy enough meds to treat your tank everyday, like is recommended by the product I use, I'll be broke, and tired from changing so much water all the time.

My instructions said dose 5ml for every 10G, and do w/c of 25% plus new doses of meds daily. 25% daily water changes will really make your fish happy, so I guess even they know that clean water is paramount to treating ich. And no stress for the fish, also v. imp for curing them...

Also, don't forget to use an airstone or two to aerate the water as the warmer the water is, the less O2 there'll be... Or remove some water, say 5G, so that there'll be more surface agitation as the water form your filter will have more of a waterfall effect, thus making a lot of surface agitation. I used 2 airstones and lowered my tank's water level, and it worked out alright for me....

 

[FishSticks]

I've read everywhere that large frequent water changes kills Farlowella's. Hmmm, I'll look on the bright side, if my farlowella dies my True SAE's will keep the tank squeaky clean I tore down and completely cleaned my 10 gallon aquarium once my 55 was cycled. I'll go with the water changes and Quick Cure Medication, I'm just really worried about my $100...I mean beautiful live plants BTW, QuICK Cure doesn't have a company web site.

 

[reg2k2]

Aq-Products...no mention of plants, contact info, tho.

 

[Blue Lobster]

Coppersafe might work well too. It has cured ich for me in the past. It is listed as "Safe for Plants"

 

[steelhealr]

Hi...I think you'd better be careful about treating your ich with just temp increases and water changes. Remember...the reason you raise the temp in the tank is NOT TO KILL the organism, but to speed up it's reproductive cycle and thus shorten it's life span by accelerating the steps that it takes to be free swimming. As noted in an above post, the organism is not susceptible during it's phase on the fish nor when it is encapsulated on your substrate...only during it's free swimming phase. When those cysts open, thousands more organisms come out. If you raise your tank temp and don't use meds, I think you MIGHT roll the dice here and possibly increase the risk for overwhelming your tank. Just an opinion. I've been fortunate enough to have 2 ich cures so far. Good luck. SH

 

[laboul]

I have CureIck and have been using it over a week. It didn't hurt my plants but it did nothing about the ick! Si now I'm using the Ick Clear fizz tabs by jungle (tank buddies, whatever) and we'll see what happens.

Good luck getting rid of this disgusting disease.