Why Do I Keep Getting Ich?

[andywg]

im guessing you are getting ich from low water quality. or stress on the fish

Then you are guessing wrong. You get ich from bringing something afflicted with ich into the aquarium (such as a fish, decor or plants). It has no dormant stage and if you get it and treat effectively so that all the ich are killed, it will not come back unless re-introduced.

As a side note, ich cannot tolerate being dried out. If you want to make sure a tank is clear of ich let it completely dry out.

water changes should be caryed out with room temp water, you acheive this by making the water 24 hours before adding it,

Should you? I have been doing mine straight from the tap, as does pretty much everyone with a large tank. When I am changing 100 gallons a week I am not going to be leaving vats of water around the flat. Even in the middle of winter changing a regular amount (10-20%) is not going to lower the temp by more than a couple of degrees C, and this is more than fine for any fish to take, even the somewhat fragile rays.

weekly water changes are essentual, i'de say twice weekly both 10% so you do a 20% water change weekly.

2 10% changes are not the same as 1 20% change. The second 10% change will removes some of the water that has only just gone in at the last change. After the first 10% change, 10% of the water is new water, meaning the second change will remove 1/10 as new water. The result is that 2 10% changes are actually 19% of the original amount changed, not 20%. A small amount when talking about 2 10% or 1 20% changes, but it becomes more of a factor when comparing 2 25% with a 50%, so it is important that people reading (rather than yourself) understand the maths.

diet (the high lighted are not nesasary, it will say what they are for)
diet should be varied to keep you fish in good condition.

Actually, flake foods are designed (after scientific research) to contain all the nutrients a fish needs for life. If a fish will take flake then you can feed it on flake for life and be sure to get it all the nutrients it needs.

 

[PrairieMom]

So is it safe to salt my tank, add meds and raise the temp with that snail in there?

 

[gourami_fan]

Doing all three is a bit overkill for the fish. You first have to raise the temp and wait a few hours or days till the ich falls off the fish. Then you would add the med or the salt, depending on which one you prefer to use. Don't add both of them in. If you are using salt, make sure it is a salt used for aquariums not regular table salt. Since you already have the med, then it'll be more convenient to use that instead.

As for the snail, or any scaless fish, they would probably die from the medication or salt. Half the regular dose for the tank works for scaless fish, but I really don't know how a snail would react. Best to put the snail in a different tank.

 

[PrairieMom]

Doing all three is a bit overkill for the fish. You first have to raise the temp and wait a few hours or days till the ich falls off the fish. Then you would add the med or the salt, depending on which one you prefer to use. Don't add both of them in. If you are using salt, make sure it is a salt used for aquariums not regular table salt. Since you already have the med, then it'll be more convenient to use that instead.

As for the snail, or any scaless fish, they would probably die from the medication or salt. Half the regular dose for the tank works for scaless fish, but I really don't know how a snail would react. Best to put the snail in a different tank.

ok... I have nowhere else to put that snail. ugh. in my past experience the white spots never totally leave the fish, they just re-appear in different spots. Is it a waste of time to try to treat the ich while the spots are present?

 

[gourami_fan]

They protect themselves by building that white cone thing around them. I guess you can try to treat with the med and then use it again 3 days later, and see how it goes from there. Do weekly water changes and siphon all the waste from the gravel if you can. It is probably going to take atleast a week or two to get rid of them.

 

[jasondjdelashmit]

Is it a waste of time to try to treat the ich while the spots are present?
[/quote]

no as soon as I see spots I raise the temp to 85 then add 2 tsp of salt for every gallon of water.
add the salt slowly like over an hour or two. and watch fish for signs of stress.

 

[freddyfish]

They protect themselves by building that white cone thing around them. I guess you can try to treat with the med and then use it again 3 days later, and see how it goes from there. Do weekly water changes and siphon all the waste from the gravel if you can. It is probably going to take atleast a week or two to get rid of them.

MAKE SURE THE CARBON IS OUT OF YOUR FILTER>>SORRY JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE YOU KNOW

cause the meds will not work at all if the carbon is in the filter ...

Good Luck Mate

 

[korin123456789]

ok... I have nowhere else to put that snail. ugh. in my past experience the white spots never totally leave the fish, they just re-appear in different spots. Is it a waste of time to try to treat the ich while the spots are present?

Well i had ich before and i have a snail & pleco and they were both fine with the increase temp and salt and about 7-10 days later all was back to normal
important to increase temp slowly and decrese slowly also and i added 1tbs for 5 gl and make sure to do a few water changes afterwads to et most of the salt out
i'm no professional but this worked for me
good luck
p.s. i had tried store med but i found the salt worked better for me and less stressfull for my fishies