How do you treat ich?

Answer 1

Raise the water temp to around 82-85 degrees and add 1 tbs salt for every gallon of water. The next day add 1 more tbs of salt per gallon of water and ich should be gone in a week or so. About 3-4 days after all the white spots are gone, do a big water change to remove the salt.

Answer 2

1st I would like to ask what type/s of fish we are treating? Some fish cannot handle the copper or malcite green that some ICK meds contain. This is how I have done before, safe for all fish. SLOWLY raise tank temp to 86ish degrees(1 degree per hour or 2). Now day 1, gravel vac(50% H2O change) all substrate and add 1T aqua salt per gallon. D2 50% with gravel vac and replacement water needs 1T aqua salt per gallon removed. Remember aqua salt is only removed by water taken out, not evaporated. Repeat this process for 7-10 days. ICK is a parasite with a life cycle of 5-28 days approximate. The high temps speed the process up to 5-6ish days. It has 3 stages=1 is on the fish(visable, what you see as "salt grains") 2 is cyst form which falls of the fish and is usually in the gravel(substrate). 3 is free swimming form( which is the only time this parasite can be killed). The gravel vacs help eliminate the cysts. While the salt does not really kill the parasite, it helps the sick fish in question, by actually irritating the fish and creating good mucus on the skin to help the fish heal, and fight the disease off itself. Best to keep lights off at all times. After the treatment, water changes without salt(to remove salt), and slowly decrease temps. Sorry I'm good with fish, but bad on comps and cannot paragraph. Also as the salt and high temps decreases oxygen in the water, use a airstone or powerhead to keep the water oxegenated.Good luck.

Answer 3

The easiest way to heal a fish without spending any money at all is just cranking the heat up a little bit. This increases the fish's motabalism. Also, the size of the fish makes a big difference. A tetra with ich/ick really dosen't stand much of a chance but I have a footlong catfish that has had it pretty bad and is still going strong!

Answer 4

There are three main treatment options for ich:

* An ultraviolet steriliser
* Store-bought medications
* Heat, salt and darkness


Ultraviolet Sterilizer: This is not an effective treatment, although some aquarists swear by it. The idea is that the sterilizer kills the free-swimming tomites as they pass through it. It does indeed kill them, but unfortunately tomites can attach themselves to new hosts very quickly, and therefore do not all pass through the sterilizer. It is therefore very difficult to completely eradicate ich by this method alone, although it is useful as an aid to slow down infestation.
Store Medications: Generally considered very effective against ich, although it is advisable to repeat the treatments several times to ensure all the parasites are eliminated (regardless of the �instant cure� claims made by the manufacturers!). Common chemicals used in these preparations are Malachite Green, Formalin, Quinine (hydrochloride or sulphate) or Copper. These medications should be handled very carefully, especially Malachite Green and Formalin which are highly toxic to humans. Wear gloves, don't breathe in the fumes, don't get any into your eyes or on your skin. They can affect the tanks cycle so it is wise to test the water parameters regularly during treatment. They are also not good for plants and invertebrates (e.g. snails) so remove these from the tank before treatment. Malachite Green can also stain the interior of the tank, especially the silicone sealant. How do these medications work? They interfere with the internal workings of the parasite cells; Malachite Green inhibits cell respiration, for example, thus preventing the cell from achieving essential metabolic functions.
Heat, salt and darkness: This is surely one of the most hotly debated topics in fish keeping! The suggested treatment procedure is as follows:

* gradually increase the tanks temperature to 80 degrees F.
* add salt to a solution of 3 teaspoons per gallon (in increments of 1 tsp per gallon every 12 hours).
* keep the tank in darkness by switching the light off and covering it with cloth or paper.

Answer 5

Ich is very simple to notice, your fish could scratch on rocks and theyll have white spots on them too. To treat ich is simple too. All you have to do is buy ich medicine from the petstore. I use this stuff called Pimafix and it works great.

Answer 6

there are chemicals you can buy at your local walmart to treat ich

Answer 7

There is also additives medicines for the water available at pet stores.

Answer 8

just get ick removal medicine. they only cost 2 dollars at petco. it takes 2 days for it to kill those nasty parasites so your poor fishie might not make it...*sniff*