Update on ich

[Perbud]

Still one dot on one tetra’s eye .Is this ich?
Temps was at 82 for 7

 

[Perbud]

Now at 86 for 4 days.lost 2 corys and 1 tetra.

 

[JuiceBox52]

Could you post a pic?

 

[mbsqw1d]

Dried almond leaves can be good for Ich

 

[jimwg]

Now at 86 for 4 days.lost 2 corys and 1 tetra.

Cories are stressed at temperatures above 75 degrees and most tetras on average get stressed above 78 degrees. You cooked your fish. It amazes me how so many people in these forums describe Ich as a deadly disease when in fact it is the treatments which are killing the fish. Hasn't anyone ever heard of Coppersafe?

 

[Byron]

Cories are stressed at temperatures above 75 degrees and most tetras on average get stressed above 78 degrees. You cooked your fish. It amazes me how so many people in these forums describe Ich as a deadly disease when in fact it is the treatments which are killing the fish. Hasn't anyone ever heard of Coppersafe?

I agree that the treatments more than ich itself are the cause of fish losses with ich, but I do not agree with the rest.

The only safe way to effectively eradicate an infestation of ich is to increase the teemperature to 30C/86F for one to two weeks. Most tropical fish can easily handle this. I have twice done it with two different tanks of wild caught cories (50-60), loaches, characins (tetras, hatchetfish and pencilfish), Farlowella, and barbs. If it is a particularly stubborn ich, as sometimes occurs, adding aquarium salt with this temperature can work, I did that once.

None of the so-called ich treatment chemical concoctions will work as safely or effectively as heat alone, or heat & salt if necessary (rarely is). I learned this from Dr. Neale Monks, and in discussions with Ian Fuller about Corydoras he too agreed on the heat over chemicals.

The OP here did cause more stress by not following our instructions in two other threads. The initial heat increase was not anywhere near sufficient to deal with ich, so that did add stress to the fish with no benefit.

 

[jimwg]

I agree that the treatments more than ich itself are the cause of fish losses with ich, but I do not agree with the rest.

The only safe way to effectively eradicate an infestation of ich is to increase the teemperature to 30C/86F for one to two weeks. Most tropical fish can easily handle this. I have twice done it with two different tanks of wild caught cories (50-60), loaches, characins (tetras, hatchetfish and pencilfish), Farlowella, and barbs. If it is a particularly stubborn ich, as sometimes occurs, adding aquarium salt with this temperature can work, I did that once.

None of the so-called ich treatment chemical concoctions will work as safely or effectively as heat alone, or heat & salt if necessary (rarely is). I learned this from Dr. Neale Monks, and in discussions with Ian Fuller about Corydoras he too agreed on the heat over chemicals.

The OP here did cause more stress by not following our instructions in two other threads. The initial heat increase was not anywhere near sufficient to deal with ich, so that did add stress to the fish with no benefit.

It is actually never safe to dramatically increase the water temperature on fish. When refilling a water change it's actually safer to have the new water a little cooler than a little warmer than the original. I see this nonsense on fish forums all the time about raising water temperature and using salt to treat a parasite as fragile as ich which is easily treated with Mardel's Coppersafe or any medication containing malachite green (with very careful following of instructions) It is true Coppersafe isn't safe for inverts but neither is salt for them or even some fish like plecos (not to mention plants).

Personally I haven't had a case of ich in over 25 years because I learned quick not to do dumb stuff that stress my fish.

 

[Byron]

It is actually never safe to dramatically increase the water temperature on fish. When refilling a water change it's actually safer to have the new water a little cooler than a little warmer than the original. I see this nonsense on fish forums all the time about raising water temperature and using salt to treat a parasite as fragile as ich which is easily treated with Mardel's Coppersafe or any medication containing malachite green (with very careful following of instructions) It is true Coppersafe isn't safe for inverts but neither is salt for them or even some fish like plecos (not to mention plants).

Personally I haven't had a case of ich in over 25 years because I learned quick not to do dumb stuff that stress my fish.

Heat is still significantly less problematic for most tropical fish species than any of these remedies. Coppersafe is not really "safe" for fish, they have a much lower tolerance level than humans. And malachite green should absolutely never be placed in an aquarium with fish. MG is also carcinogenic to humans, though that is perhaps outside this discussion on fish. Some of these products also contain formaldehyde, another highly toxic substance to fish.

A temporary increase in temperature, temporary being 10-14 days, will not cause anywhere near the level of stress to most species than would the afore-mentioned substances. And when I have professional marine biologists, ichthyologists and microbiologists agreeing on this, I tend to listen. They are the experts with far more knowledge and understanding than all of the rest of us combined.

 

[jimwg]

And when I have professional marine biologists, ichthyologists and microbiologists agreeing on this, I tend to listen. They are the experts with far more knowledge and understanding than all of the rest of us combined.

Fallacy of appeal to authority. I could say "citation please" but I know better. I remember now why I left this forum before. Good grief.

Bye

 

[Perbud]

Just as a post script...I have had temps now for 7 days at 82F followed by a 50 percent water change and a subsequent increase in temps to 86F.All through this period I have been treating with Petco herbal based parasite remedy....Results so far,lost about 4 corys and two tetras. Only one fish has remaining dot on eye..Turned down heat to 82F today .

 

[JuiceBox52]

You gotta keep the heat up for a few days after the spots disappear or you'll have another outbreak

 

[Derekshatch]

I had ich a while back and used methyline blue and raised the temp slowly and my corys dident die only the tetras but I caught it to late. So it is not the heat that killed your corys.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Copper is not good for cories. I had to turn my heat up to 87F in order to kill the ich. That, salt and garlic seem to have done the trick. @jimwg you can take your negative attitude somewhere else. We don’t tolerate being rude to members who are trying to help. You think you know it all but obviously you know very little. @Perbud, you’re doing just what I was doing. Trying something, freaking out, and then stopping your plan of treatment. Why are you lowering your temp if you still have one spot? You will soon have fish covered in ich again. I finally had to up the temp and stick to a plan. It has been almost 2 weeks at 87F and I plan to leave it 2 more weeks. It can take up to 5 weeks to get rid of ich. My tetras and cories are doing fine at the 87F. I also covered the tank to reduce stress on them and to keep me from staring at them 24/7. I finally got smart enough to listen to @Byron. I suggest you do too.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Just as a post script...I have had temps now for 7 days at 82F followed by a 50 percent water change and a subsequent increase in temps to 86F.All through this period I have been treating with Petco herbal based parasite remedy....Results so far,lost about 4 corys and two tetras. Only one fish has remaining dot on eye..Turned down heat to 82F today .

82F is not enough to kill the ich. You’re stressing you’re fish by doing that with no positive results.

 

[Perbud]

Thank you all for your input on ich..my tank is finally ich free..