Can my fish survive Ich? I'm so upset :'o(?

Question

I cleaned my tank but only vaccumed the rocks didn't do the full treat like I usual do and now they all have ich it is so upsetting I became teary eyed as how to explain to my 4 yr old that they whole tank is done for. Or is it? Could I get meds tomorrow and they survive? How can I raise the temp I read that some where. Or b/c of the white spots are they dead already Help please Thanks Samantha

Answer 1

Yes 4 of my fish had it even after medice and died. Butt 1 survived just put your fish in a different little tank and putt medicine in it and clean out the big one, once his better put him back or itll spread weirdly

Answer 2

Do you have a heater on your tank? You'll need one in order to do the heat treatment, and it would help your fish stay healthy in the future by keeping the temperature stable. Ich is extremely common but can normally only attack fish that have been weakened by stress. Water that is too cold for the fish is a perfect environment for ich.

I wouldn't recommend the medicine. It's strong medicine, hard on the fish, and unnecessary if you're willing to put in a little elbow grease. You'll have more live, healthy fish in the long run, too.

The heat treatment really works! I've gotten fish through without a single loss using just heat and darkness. You can't just do it for a few hours though. The treatment works because ich can't breed when the water is above a certain temperature and you have to keep the temperature raised for 10 days to make absolutely sure that all the ich in the water have lived their full lifespan and died without laying more eggs.

This is what I did:

1) I turned the temperature on the tank heater up by 2 degrees every hour. I went all the way to 91 degrees because I read that this weakens/kills the ich and stops them from feeding on your fish. If your fish start acting stressed by the heat (swimming erratically or spastically) you can stop at 86 degrees, which is the target temperature to keep the ich from breeding. It is important that you do this gradually so your fish aren't stressed by the sudden temperature change.
2) I also covered my tank with a blanket; you can use cardboard, a tarp -- anything to keep it as dark as possible in the tank. This makes it difficult for any juvenile ich free-floating in the water to find a host fish to latch onto.
3) I did a 25% water change and vacuumed the gravel. This helps thin out the population of free-floating ich and ich eggs in the gravel. I did this daily for the whole 10 day treatment.
4) After the 3rd full day at 91 degrees, I slowly reduced the temperature to 86 and left it there for the rest of the treatment. Again, don't do this any faster than 2 degrees per hour, and don't worry if you can't get your tank up to 91. The 86 will take care of your problem.

I fed my fish as normal throughout the treatment and kept them in the dark the entire time, except when I was doing the water changes. I didn't add any salt.

IMPORTANT: The white spots will probably disappear off of your fish very early in the treatment. This is part of the ich's life cycle; the adults are dropping off to drift to the bottom and lay eggs there. There are still free-floating ich in the water ready to attach themselves to your fish and still ich eggs in the gravel ready to hatch and become free-floaters. DO NOT stop in the middle of the treatment just because your fish look fine and you can't see the ich anymore or your fish will have ich again before you know it. Ich is a parasite, like fleas, and your goal is to get rid of the ich completely.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Sure they can survive. Ich doesnt mean its the end.
Increase the temperature of your tank to around 85-88F. This will speed up the life cycle of the Ich that you see currently attached to your fish. Turn the temperature down to 80-82F after 8-10 hours.
The same time you turn up the heat, add 1 heaped tablespoon of Aquarium salt (not table salt) for every 5 gallons of water in your tank.
Vacuum the gravel of your tank twice a day for the next 2 weeks, making sure you vacuum the entire surface area of the floor.
You can also treat with Malachite Green (Ask at Petsmart/ Walmart etc..) Remember to add salt to the water when you top up after a water change.1 tablespoon/5 gallons.
Some of the fish may die, remove the dead fish straight away.

Note: Malachite green should be used with caution with scaleless fish, tetras and catfish.

Answer 4

Quick! Turn your aquarium heater up to 80degrees Farenheit. Ich can't live above 79.

First thing in the morning, get to the petstore and buy Mardel CopperSafe. Don't waste your time and money on other products. This is the only one that works. Follow the directions on the package.

No, they aren't dead yet, with the spots, but need to be treated very soon. I've brought back fish with ich, so it's possible.

Also, don't feed them for a day or so, so their bodies can heal.

Good luck, hope they make it!

Answer 5

The lengthy answer has almost all of the known cures for ich,one more thing that I have read about is total darkness for a period of 2 weeks. There is definitely a life cycle that the ich bugs follow,and elevated temperatures do accelerate it. Be very careful with meds for ich ,some of them are really potent,and dangerous. The salt treatment also may help. Good luck,PeeTee

Answer 6

Get the ich meds. If it dies within seven days you couldn't have saved it. Remember to follow the directions!!! Take out any carbon in a carbon filter if you have one.

Answer 7

i also have a tank and went through the same thing, just buy some meds and put it in the tank. if there is only a few fish that seem to have the disease, put them in a separate tank and treat themas well.

Answer 8

You can get rid of ich without your fishies dying.
Just go to the pet store and buy some ich medicine

Answer 9

Ick is NOT a death sentence. They can survive, and it might not be too late, but you have to do the treatments as soon as you can and follow the directions TO THE LETTER.
Pay close attention to the part where you have to repeat the treatment.
Good luck

Answer 10

there is medicine to put in the water to get rid of the ich