NO!! My first disease in two and a half years!

[Sean_Buckley]

I noticed tonight that my Red-Tailed Rainbowfish have white spots on their fins. No other fish have it, but I am resealing a tank right after this (screw homework), and I'll move the Cories in there, just in case. I don't have a heater at the moment, I will get one when I get the medicine. Just in case, whats a good Ick medicine? It needs to be Corydoras compatible, just in case. Thanks in advance! I don't know what I would do without this forum!
Sean

 

[NickT]

ICH sux
sorry to hear about your mature tank geting infected.....
i wold remve all your scaleless fish and bup there tank to 82-85F and add a half dose of malachite green/formalyn based meds.
then just do teh same for your other fish just at a full dose and agan bump teh heat to 82f+. treat all the fish that where in that tank and watch any other tanks you have for it.

was there anything that happend to start the ICH infection? temp drops will do it ive herd.

 

[Sean_Buckley]

No, no temperature drops, no new fish, no new plants, decorations, no new nothing. I haven't done anything lately (last 4 days or so) to stress them either (water changes, cleaning the glass). What could be the cause?
Sean
EDIT: Also, how long do I medicate for? What should I do with my plants? Won't the medicine kill them? Will moving them harm the root mass? HELP!

 

[Dwarfs]

You should read the back of the med container to see if they are plant safe That usually says how long to treat as well

 

[NickT]

malachite green is plant safe and so is formalyn.
aperntly ICH can lay dormat for years. dont be to suprised if it happens agan and dotn woirry to much at this point i am shure your goingto make it threw it.
expect a loss or two but thats probly not going to happen... i made it threw an out break without losing any fish to it (maybe an endler but i think he may have been eaten).
malachitegreen and formalyn in low doses is you best friend on all fish ... ones with scales may need a bit more but the bottle will let you know..... plus if you dont know much about ICH check the pinned info or google it.

i can tell you that the ICH will not die intill it is free swiming and it takes temps above 82 to get it undercontrol in any acceptable ammount of time.
@82F+ ICH's life cycle is 3 days long @ 75F+ it can be up to 1 month.... so if it takes one month to mature than it takes about that much time before its gone from the tank.

also make shure you treat for a week or so after you see the last spot.

 

[Sean_Buckley]

So, turn up the temp, switch scaleless fish to another tank, turn up temp in each to speed up the life cycle, to a halfer dose on cories, do a regular dose on scaled fish, and remove carbon? And its malachite green? Does that sound right?
Sean

 

[WILDER]

Yes that sounds fine to me.

 

[WILDER]

Also you can add salt to the tank now you have removed the scaless fish.

 

[Discomafia]

Yea, make sure temp is around 85-86F, and treat for a week after you see last signs of the symptoms... Also, I don't think moving the plants will be such a good idea, and it's not even necessary. Good thing you spotted it this fast, and ich isn't hard to cure if you treat early. Good luck and keep us updated...

 

[NickT]

cure ich ,rid ich and alot of other medications comtain the malachite green.
just look at the back of the bottle and get the one that contains it and formalyn (formaldadhyde<SP) and go by the indacted dosing... exept with teh scaleless fish. they need a half dose.

sounds like your good to go! ich aint that bad it just takes time.

good luck

 

[NickT]

OOPS ) just incase you read where i posted that ICH needs atleast 92f that was a BIG time typo its 82f i changed it alredy but dont go to 92f if you care about your fishes saftey.

 

[Sean_Buckley]

The only fish that have it are the Red-Tailed Rainbows. None of the other fish show any signs at all. No white specks, no shimmying, no scratching, nothing. Should I wait until I see signs? Also, is copper-salts based medicine ok for plants and scaleless fish? I couldn't find any medicines with malachite green or anything.
Sean

 

[WILDER]

Just treat the whole tank now as if you leave whitespot it can kill the fish, it should say in the instructions if it's safe to use on scaless fish, they usually tell you half the dose, I won't do your plants much good but leave them in, don't forget to remove black carbon if you use it, and extra aeration.