Question About Dosing Medication For Ich

[kelp]

Hey,
I'm currently fighting a second outbreak of ich after a week of introducing more fish. I'm concerned about my clown loaches and BGK because they are both scaleless fish. Last time my clown loaches got ich, and I lowered the dosing amount, but all of my loaches died, and I believe it's because of my high amount of dosing even though I cut the medication in half.

Is Ich like the cold virus where if you stop taking your cold medicine, the virus mutates to become stronger and more immune to medication? I don't want the Ich to mutate into something stronger that will resist further medication and lurk in the confines of my tank.

 

[Corleone]

How long were you rid of it? The parasite is only vulnerable to meds after it drops off the fish and is free swimming, so you need to keep up the dosing for a week after it disappears entirely.

Anything can develop a resistance to medicine, so your cold analogy may be right unless it's a new outbreak entirely. The weakest individuals die first and the strongest last. If it isn't wiped out the first time and comes back, it's reasonable to expect the second outbreak will be the decedents of the most resistant individuals from the first time around.

If it is an entirely new outbreak, sounds like your LFS isn't doing a great job on their end and a 4 week quarantine is in order on all incoming fish.

 

[TetraLinz]

If it is an entirely new outbreak, sounds like your LFS isn't doing a great job on their end and a 4 week quarantine is in order on all incoming fish.

You should always quarantine for a minimum of a month anyway

 

[kelp]

I found my BGK dead on the gravel this morning a day after applying medication.
Ugh, I really think that the medication is killing my fish. A day after applying medication? Are you serious? This is what killed my clown loaches last time, too. Two days after applying medication, my clown loaches passed. Is there anyway that the fish could survive ich without any medication. The medication is called Ick Clear and I cut the dosing to a third...

 

[Davo86]

Hi Kelp
Try gradually turning the heat upto around 28C and if possible leave the light off for a few days
After googling around, its seems pretty clear that Ick Clear is not the best product on the market, and with only reading your posts so far i'd agree,
I have both clown loach and a BGK and have treated (successfully without casualties) for white spot in the past using a product called WS3 which is failry strong stuff IMO.

I'd def say try a better product

 

[kelp]

Can I get some recommendations for Ich removal products that can be found in America. A remedy that other members have used that is tried and true, perhaps because Ick Clear is a POS. Even though I only had the BGK for a week, he was the best.

 

[Davo86]

Can I get some recommendations for Ich removal products that can be found in America. A remedy that other members have used that is tried and true, perhaps because Ick Clear is a POS. Even though I only had the BGK for a week, he was the best.

See if you can find some malachite green,

 

[kelp]

Alright, could not find malachite green, but I found Coppersafe. Just did the first application of Coppersafe. Hopefully this will cure the ich without any casualties.

 

[kelp]

Also, I understand that clown loaches click, right? Anyways, I was watching TV, and I heard them clicking, and one of them is turning grey and tackling the other loaches?? There's four clown loaches. I don't know if they were doing that before because the ich has really made me pay attention to their behavior. Is this normal? The loaches are still eating furiously, so I think that's a good sign. I'm just so spooked after, what I believe, the first medication was the cause of the loaches' deaths.

Edit: I just read that the clicking noises come from when the loaches extract air from the surface. Ugh, am I going to have some future trouble? I just set up the air pump if the loaches aren't getting enough air.