not sure what's wrong

[Rayne]

I have been treating my tank for ICK for five or six days. I have 3 comets and a black moor. The comets seem to be fine and don't show any signs of anything but the black moor started by having little bumps on his front fins which seemed to be getting better however last night I noticed that he has a few bumps right next to his gills. The lady at the LFS sold me a bottle of drops that I add to the water and she said it is for ICK and fungal infections. However when I showed her a picture of my black moor she said it looked like ICK so lets assume that's what it is. She really seemed to know what she was talking about.

I have turned up the heat as much as I safely could and have even tried (at the advice of the LFS) to do a double dose of the medication for the passed two days but nothing seems to work. I also removed my carbon filter and now I have to deal with very cloudy water.

The fish have only been in the tank for about a week (the water was properly cycled) and now all this happens.

Please somebody help, I don't want my fish to die, I have had them for more than 4 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[semper fi]

ich can only be killed in the tank when it is free swimming. if it is attached to the host fish the fish shows symptoms of ich. even though the other fish do not show signs of ich, does not mean there is not ich in the tank. alot of people will stop the medication when the fish stop showing signs of ich. ich has to be free swimming to multiply. i would continue the treatment of the tank. when you raised the temp of the tank did you do it slowly? raising the temp suddenly can cause stress in the fish. temps need to be raised 1-2 degrees every other day to avoid stress.

 

[Rayne]

Yes I am continueing to treat the tank and I did slowly raise the temp however the LFS lady said for comets it wasn't safe to raise the water temp too high. I noticed as the temp got higher over the span of four or five days the fish got more stressed. I called the LFS and they told me to lower the tank temp to 23 C and don't go any higher because my fish wern't tolerating it well they were very stressed out.

How long does it usually take to completly get ri of ick in a tank.
P.S. my tank is a 55 gal if that makes a difference.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Also, ich has to be treated for about 21 days as this is the length of the parasite's life cycle. If there is heat then this can be less.

However, as moors and comets are coldwater fish I would not recommend turning the heat up to what would be required to change the length of the life cycle (usually about 82-85F).

Changes in tempature can cause stress to the fish and their immune system and make it harder for them to fight off the ich. They also will become lethargic in warmer water. People keep fancy goldfish, like moors and orandas etc in warmer water but this is not recommended for fish like commons and comets IME.

I have read that doing a light gravl clean daily will help remove the parasites that have fallen from the fish onto the gravel. Of course, you would have to make sure that you replace the meds taken out, ie, if you removed 5 gallons of water, you'd replace 5 gallons worth of meds.

Salt can also help as long as you have no loaches or catfish.

HTH

 

[Nina7777]

Hello there- What is the name of the medicine the petstore sold you? I would try some quick cure. Its the best hting around in my opinion for ich. Plus like miss cheesespecialist said....you can add salt as long as no catfish are in your tank, the salt will defiantely help!

I would lower the temp so your fish don't get anymore stressed out.

Good Luck

 

[harried_mom]

If you have a smaller hospital tank, it might be easier to treat them (less meds, no gravel on the bottom for the ich to hide in, etc.) Also, this would allow you to crank the temp up on your 55 gallon to 85+ to speed the life cycle of the ich. If, after hatching, they don't find a host within 24-48 hours (can't remember which), they die. Often, ich meds stain the silicone sealant on your tank as well - depending on what's in them (e.g. malacite green).