my clown loach has got bad ick (whitespot). how should i treat it ?

Question

the other fish in the tank dont look like they have it , but i also have a black ghost knife fish and i have heard they dont like these chemical treatments and can kill them. ive heard salt can cure ick has anyone tried this and what success have u had ?

Answer 1

My fish have had ick before. I used Quick Cure and on the back of the bottle there are directions follow them. They tell you to use part of the recommended dosage. I have scaleless fish and none of them died. I had to treat the tank a few times but I got rid of the Ick. Do not put salt into your tank scaleless fish can not have ANY salt.

Answer 2

Clown Loach Ich

Answer 3

I had a black ghose knife fish and a clown loach and an asian upside down catfish in a 30 gallon, the clown loach got ich, i raised the temp to 82 degrees and added aquarium salt, 1 teaspoon per 10 gallons and i added Jungle Ick Guard at half dosage and i had them in a 30 gallon tank. I lost no fish, everyone survived and i still have my loach and upside down catfish. The ich was gone within a week.
When turnin up the temp, i did it two degrees a day so as not to stress the fish out. I also added extra aeration since warmer water doesnt hold much dissolved oxygen. (air stone and air pump)

Answer 4

First of all - Ich is an Ectoparasite that has 3 different stages. If your fish have very small white spots on them (kind of like someone salted them) then you definitely have Ich. However - buying meds at this point is a waste of money because the parasite is not vulnerable to meds in this stage. Once the white spots have fallen off the fish - they go down into your gravel/substrate and begin an encysted stage where a single Ich parasite multiples up to 2,000 different ones. Once they become free swimming - they are vulnerable to meds/salt, but not before that point.

I just got through treating one of my tanks with Maracide Concentrate by Virbac Animal Health, and Evaporated Sea Salt. All you honestly need though is Salt. If you have a biolocial filter which has carbon in it , and treat with meds, you will need to take them out all together (because if you don't they will just remove your medication from the water). Salt by itself however you don't need to do anything but put it in and raise the water temp.

Salt, and raising the water temp to 85-86 degrees (provided your species of fish can tolerate that temp) is the best way to treat this mess. I wish I would have had the article out on Wiki before I started my treatment. Could have saved a ton of time and money had I done that. I'll post it for you here in my sources. The guy who wrote this truly is the Internet authority on Ectoparasitic treatments. Just use Evaporated Sea Salt, and warmer water and you will be ok. Go to the website in my sources and read the article out there. You will have a full understanding (more than you ever wanted to know) once you read it.

Good luck, and hope the info helps!


*****P.S. EDIT*****
Please do not listen to these others out here telling you that Salt is a bad thing in treating Ich for your Loaches (they are flat wrong). Just read the article in my sources and you will find what's true in treating this mess. Good luck!

Answer 5

Both the clown loach and the ghost knife are what is called scaleless fish. They do not have scales like other fish. Because of this, they are much more sensitive to medications.

The best way to treat them is by raising the temp of the tank to 85 degrees for 5 days. The heat will kill all phases of the ich parasite, including the eggs laid in the tank.

If you decide to use medication instead of heat, only use half of what it perscribes for regular fish.

Answer 6

Slowly increase the temp in the tank to about 82 degrees. No salt. Check the petstore, I think it's called Formalin, has a dosage on there for fin less fish. Be very careful though, loaches don't like meds, can burn them.

Answer 7

Clown Loaches are very prone to whitespot and it is very contagious. Chances are the other fish have it but arent showing signs yet. Check this site out it references adding salt to the tank. Good Luck!!

Answer 8

Raise the temperature in the tank to 95 degrees for three days..the ick will fall off and die..then slowly crank down the temp to 80 degrees ... all will be fine. Ick does not need meds to get rid of it..temp does it every time. Good luck

Answer 9

The Clown Loach is a fun, playful and interesting fish. With its unique snake shape, great personality and feeding habits, the Clown Loach makes an aquarium complete. They are recommended for most community aquariums.

Clown Loaches are a peaceful and friendly fish. Many have reported being able to hand feed their Clown Loaches. They are very active fish, swimming constantly and they especially seem to enjoy bubble walls. Any tank with Clown Loaches should have at least three, as one will feel insecure and two will fight. Often Clown Loaches will be found lying on their sides. This does not mean their dead, their just resting. Although some hobbyists recommend a rocky substrate because the Clown Loach enjoys digging, a rocky substrate tends to wear down the delicate barbels of Botia Macracanthus and so a sandy substrate is preferred. They should have plenty of hiding places, but they do tend to get stuck in small openings, so be careful. Moderate plant and rock decorations are recommended. The Clown Loach loves to eat snails! This can be a curse or a blessing. If you have an unwanted snail outbreak from new plants, etc. a few Clown Loaches will help to crush the infestation. On the downside, it is not advised to keep decorative snails, such as the Apple Snail in a tank with Clown Loaches.

The Clown Loach gets its name not only from its playful personality, but also from the orange and white stripes that line its body, much like a Tiger Barb or Clown fish. They have long narrow snake like bodies. They move around by waving their body, much like an eel. Clown Loaches can reach a size of 10 to 12 inches at maturity.

The Clown Loach, or Botia macroacanthus is originally from Indonesia and Borneo.
Specific Care Information: Relative Care Ease: Relatively Easy

Clown Loaches are a hardy species. They should be in water with a temperature between 77 and 84 degrees Fahrenheit. Their water should have a pH in a range of six to seven and a half.

Clown Loaches are a little more prone to Ich than most fish. Special care should be taken when the Loaches have Ich, or Whitespot. There is a lot of debate about which chemicals can be used safely with Clown Loaches. Many Ich treatments contain copper, and some sources state that is okay for Clown Loaches, while others say it should be avoided. In either case, no matter what chemical is used for treatment, Clown Loaches (and all other scale-less fish) should ONLY get HALF to three-quarter strength treatment. This is because their skin is so thin, and more than that will usually poison the fish. Make sure to read the label on the Ich treatment; some will specifically say not to use on scale-less fish. When treating, it is a good idea to turn out the light and cover the tank; it reduces stress on the Loaches and Ich has been found to thrive in light and colder waters. You can raise the temperature with the Clown Loaches to between 80 and 82 degrees Fahrenheit during treatment; even if the Ich treatment says it is not necessary, once again, Ich does not thrive in warmer waters. Take care not to keep invertebrates (snails, crabs, etc) in the tank during an Ich treatment or they will inevitably die. Also, check with your vet or local fish store about keeping amphibians in the tank during an Ich treatment.

As far as the causes of Ich in Loaches, the most prominent cause is stress. When at your local fish store, make sure that more than three Clowns are kept in a tank together before considering purchase. They are very social fish and get lonely easily. Also, the larger the fish, the older it is, and the greater chance of survival the fish will have. Moving (from the fish store to your tank, in between tanks, etc) is the most stressful thing your Clown will ever have to go through. They see a net - they hide. It helps to carefully remove decorations if you are moving more than one fish, or they will squeeze into impossibly tiny nooks and crannies. Also, Clown Loaches have a sub-ocular spine the protrudes from beneath the eye, therefore when using a net to catch a Clown Loach, you should be careful not to allow this spine to caught on the net. A Clown Loach will most likely display signs of illness, especially Ich, during and after a move. Special care should be taken at these times.
Breeding and Propagation: Relative Breeding Ease: Difficult

Clown Loaches will not breed until they reach sexual maturity, which does not occur until later in life and only when the fish is large (7-11 inches). This fish is VERY difficult to breed in captivity. It has been reported that there has only been one documented case of a successful spawning in captivity, in the United Kingdom in the late 1990s, about five years ago. One of the reasons they are so difficult is because Clown Loaches grow at a rate of about 1 inch per year, it will take up to 8 years for them to be even viable breeding adults. If you do attempt to breed a lower pH level should be used, around six, and water changes should be implemented to help stimulate breeding. Male and female Clown Loaches are indistinguishable. This fish is also interesting because it can change sex as needed to promote breeding con

Answer 10

i actually had a algae sucker that had horrible ick what i did was i separated it from my aquarium so that none of the other fish would get ick and i cured it by giving it treatment seperatley