What's the best way to treat ich?

Question

I noticed today that one of my fish has ich. He has been in my tank for about a year now so I don't think it would be from the fish store. Anyways, I don't want my other fish coming down with it. What's the best way to treat it and prevent it? Thanks.

Answer 1

You can isolate the fish in a hospital tank and treat him separately, but because he's in the same tank as your other fish and has been for a year, I would just treat the whole tank. If he looks like he's going downhill fast, you can try moving him to a hospital tank, but in my experience moving them can be more stressful than just keeping them in the main tank.

Anyway, I would not advise treating with a medication or chemical. They wreak havock on your biological system and they're really hard on the fish as well. Instead, I recommend using aquarium salt. It's just as effective in killing Ich, but it won't kill your plants, fish, good bacteria, etc.
Start by doing a large 50% water change to clean the water and remove some of the parasites.
Then add 1 rounded tablespoon of aquarium salt per 5 gallons of water to the tank.
You can increase the temperature by a degree or two to speed up the process.

Ich has 4 life stages, and it's only killable during ONE of them, so it's just a matter of waiting it out. At 78F, it takes 4-6 days for the lifecycle to be complete, so I recommend leaving the salt at this concentration for 2 weeks to be sure to completely eradicate the ich and prevent any recurrences. Once the two week period is complete, you can resume doing weekly water changes and eventually all traces of salt water will be removed.

Answer 2

Unless you have recently added a new plant or fish or a decoration from another tank, there should be no way an ich parasite could be in your tank. Their life cycle is only 7 days and that includes the period when they are attached to a fish. If you have not seen ich for a year, there is no ich in the tank. However, if something infected was added and ich has made it into your tank, here is the best way (IMHO) to cure it. It has always worked for me when I have used it.

If you have already tried medication without results, there is another way to cure ich. The other approach is to actually destroy the organism with heat, and can be combined with the salt treatment, but not with meds.

The data that was studied (including a report by the Southern Regional Aquaculture Center) suggests that most strains of Ich cannot reproduce at temperatures above 85ºF. To use this temperature treatment approach, slowly (no more than 1 or 2 degrees per hour) raise the temperature to 86ºF, while maintaining strong continuous surface agitation to oxygenate the water.

This is extremely important because water holds less O2 at higher temperatures. (This is why meds should not be used in conjunction with high temp – most Ich treatment products also reduce oxygen levels. Less available oxygen, combined with the respiration difficulties an infected fish is already faced with, could be fatal.)

The adjusted temperature should be maintained for approximately 10 days, or a minimum of 3 days after all signs of the parasite have disappeared (the life cycle of the parasite is 7 days).

Do not discontinue treatment when the spots go away. This is critical, because we know that the parasites are visible only as a white spot (trophont) on the body of the host, and not during the reproductive or free-swimming stage. We also know that trophonts on the gills are impossible to see. After 7 days all of the parasites will have lived out their life cycles and should be dead. The extra three days are a prophylactic measure to ensure that all of the parasites born on the first day of elevated temperature will die before the temp comes down.

Answer 3

I will agree with Zoe in treatment, and as she mentioned, ich has 4 cycles, only one of which is on the fish. Two are where they are swimming in the water and one is where they are hatching new parasites in the gravel, so removing the fish not only stresses the fish, but does not completely address the problem because the ich is still in the tank. The tank needs to be treated for ich as well as the fish. And this, also, is why it takes so long to treat ich, because it may seem like it's gone because you don't see it on the fish, when really, it's laying down in the gravel getting ready to hatch a new batch. The only time ich can be killed is when it first hatches out of the gravel before the hard shell forms on its body. So, you have to catch it at just the right time to kill it. Raising the temperature speeds up ich's life cycle. So, patience and persistence is required to make sure you really got it all.

Answer 4

One of the first things you can do is quarantine it. Put it in another tank with a filter and airstone (set it up like any other tank, don't add decorations or gravel (or anything) though, just water. I suggest using the medications sold at petstores (sometimes known as Rid-Ich or Nox-Ich). These contain salt and malachite green. Follow the directions EXACTLY or you may poison your fish. USUALLY it calls for 1 drop per gallon, BUT READ THE DIRECTIONS!!! IT MAY BE DIFFERENT. If you use medication you will have to take the carbon out of your filter because it absorbs medication rapidly. You have to be careful that the other fish don't catch ich, so vacuum the gravel thouroughly (the little white spots fall off this fish and INTO the gravel, and when they "hatch", hundred of little protozoan "worms" swim up and infect the other fish with more whitespots, and this cycle continues until your fish die). You can add the same medication halfdose, or you can treat it with salt (unless you have plants, plants (live) usually die from salt treatment). I usually use a tablespoon for every ten gallons of water and the fish aren't harmed. If you use salt make sure it does NOT contain iodine!!!!! It usually says on the carton if it has iodine or not. Good luck with your fish!!!

Answer 5

Well you could isolate, and treat him. If you have a quarantine tank it's a good idea as it will reduce the odds of other fish get it. That said the ich is already loose in it's free swimming life stage. You need to treat the entire tank.

0)Get an anti-ich med. cooper based ones like Aquari-sol, and Coopersafe are more gentle on fish, but less effective. Malachite Green, and/or Fformaldehyde works well. I personally have started using Super Ich Cure with benzaldehyde green, nitrofurazone.

1)Add 1 teaspoon of table salt per gallon to tank.

2)Raise the tempt to 80-85 only after adding anti-ich meds. If the fish are hot water fish like betta crank the temp into the high 80s. With goldfish I would raise the temp past 72. Higher temp may kill the ich faster, but gold fish can't take high temps well.

Answer 6

So much disinformation....Don't remove the fish to a treatment tank, the entire tank has ick, not just the one fish. The most effective ick treatment is a multi pronged method. Raise the tank temperature to over 88F, raising it a few degrees won't do it, 88F is the magic number to cross. At over 88F very little ick can survive, the heat will kill it. To improve the chances of getting it all, add salt to the tank. 2 tablespoons per gallon to kill ick. Again less will not get the job done and will irritate the fish needlessly. At this point you are killing ick in 3 of it's 4 stages ( the "fact" that it can only be killed in 1 stage is an old aquarium myth) but even so some strains can get by so I would recommend you also include treating the tank with an ick medication that contains Malachite Green. This will insure all the ick, no matter the strain will be eliminated from the tank. Salt and heat will do it alone, but it can take a few weeks.

The only way to prevent ick it to not allow it to get into the tank. The only way ick can get in a tank is with infested water, fish or other materials. Use a quarentine tank for new fish and always have seperate nets etc for it. Wash or treat your materials that go in the tank often. Siphon hoses, nets etc. Dont take anything from one tank to another, EVER. No nets, no water, not even wet hands as any of that can spread ick.

Everyone brings ick home from the pet store sooner or later and on occasion, it's unavoidable. But with proper pretreatment you can avoid ever having it in your display tanks.

Best of luck

MM

Answer 7

A good way to prevent it from getting in is salt. Unfortunately, you can't use salt with scaleless fish such as catfish. I use API's Aquarium Salt. It says to use one rounded teaspoon per 5 gallons. In my tank with catfish, I dare not go more than 1 rounded teaspoon per 20 gallons.
On the other hand, I have a tank with only mollies. These fish are given the full 1 rounded teaspoon per 5 gallons, if not a little more. Mollies are brackish water fish and need the salt for good health.
Other community type fish I'd say one rounded teaspoon per 10 gallons.
The full amount, plus a gradual temperature increase to 85 or greater is my first choice in treating ich. Catfish don't respond well to typical copper sulfite or malachite green treatments nor do neon tetras. With these fish present, a reduced doseage and hope for the best.
Cleaning with a gravel vac is also going to help prevent and cure ich and many other ailments.

Answer 8

go to your local fish store and buy an ich remedy. how advanced is the ich on your fish? if it covers over 50% of his body then he might not have long, as my fish didnt. the meds will only help slow the ich down so get it ASAP!! hope everything works out!!

Answer 9

Your best bet is to quarantine the fish in a separate tank and treat the fish, however if you don't have a quarantine tank then just treat the whole tank with the medication. you can pick that up at your local fish store.

Answer 10

scratch him