Fish have ich?

Question

Ok i have like questions about ich.....um i suspected my fish had it because there was some type of slime or cottony stuff on the fish that i had found dead... thinking it was another parasite i went to the pet store and they gave me some green liquid that treats ich and aquarium salt...i have a 55 gallon tank and i had to put the fish in a 10 gallon to treat them...i emptied out the water in the big tank rinsed it out and filled it up again...along with that instant bacteria stuff(cycle), ich medication, aqarium salt, and a new plant...as for the fish what do i do with them! will daily doses of the medication kill off the ich
and they wont eat!!! and i dont want to risk putitng food in their just to make it dirtier because i didnt put the bio bag in the filter.. afraid that it would strip the chemicals....what do i do ..how do i know my bigger tank doesnt have ich! i am kind of mad because i bought some plecos in a pet store that i think had ich and i found both of them dead..

and i dont know if the other fish being quarintined with the sick one have ich...and if the ich comes off the sick fish will it go on them or will the medication automatically kill the ich...please help :( thanks

i forgot to say...after reading the first response...that i know at least one of the fish have ich because i saw white spots on it as i was about to transfer it to the bigger tank thank god i saw it ...

ok and i think they have columnaris too (i thought it was columnaris from the begining but was told it was ich now i have both :( what do i use for the columnaris?

Answer 1

I didn't read anything in your question that makes me think ick at all. The clime and cottony stuff you have seen on dead fish is fungus and is normal on dead fish that have been in the water for a while. The green medicine that you got from the pet store is made to treat ick, but will also kill the fungus so that's ok.

I would say return your fish to the 55 gallon and watch them closely. If you see and fungus on a live fish, then treat the 55 with the green medication you have.

If you do have Ick ( white spots that look like salt on the fish) then the medication you have will kill it in about 2 weeks of treatment. Even if the bottle says just a few days, treat for 2 weeks! Treat them in the main tank because ick will be on the fish as well as in the tank, so if you take out the sick fish to treat it you will leave ick in the big tank so just go ahead and treat the 55 if you see ick.

You did lots of things right, just return the fish to the 55 and watch them, personally I think you will be just fine in doing so.

Best of luck!

MM

Answer 2

It sounds (after reading all the info) that you have a few issues in your tank - ich and either fungus or columnaris. If your medication has copper sulfate or malachite green, this will work on the ich and fungus, but not the columnaris. You don't say what the fish (other than the plecos) were - some scaleless fish (catfish and others) are sensitive to copper, so if you have some of these in the tank (not affected yet) you may want to continue treating the affected fish separately and just keep an eye on the others.

You'll want to diagnose the cottony/slimy condition, because if it's something other than fungus, you may need another medication. I'll provide two websites for this - the first you can use for diagnosis, the second is better for treatment options once you have your diagnosis.

http://www.fishdeals.com/fish_diseases/stressdisease.shtml
http://www.goldfishinfo.com/ailment1.htm (page down to disease list)

Here's an excellent site on ich: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php

Good luck!

ADDITION:
Columaris is a bacterial disease, so you need an antibiotic for this. You can find something in your pet store for this - just make sure it says that it will treat this condition. I'd try to get a product by the same manufacturer as the ich medicine you're using. Columnaris is listed in the first two websites I gave you. This is infectuous! Also, if your fish have ich, the portion of the life cycle that lives in the water is already in your main tank. So your fish will be exposed to it regardless of whether you move them to a hospital tank with the sick fish.

Answer 3

The woman ahead of me is correct. Various types of parasites are found in many water sources and are present. Ich will attach itself to a stressed or wounded fish.

Cleaning your aquaria will not keep ich from returning.

Answer 4

if you have a bubbler in your tank, put the tank temp up to 90 degrees farenheit. Im not kidding. Put about a half of a teaspoon of salt in the tank. Im not kidding. Keep the temp up for about 10 days. the ich should go away.

Answer 5

Well some good and some bad advice. Now that you know it is ich for certain here is some background and cures:

Is it white spot disease or is it Ich? You need to know the difference between the two since they are treated differently.

Cryptocaryoniasis, White Spot Disease or Marine Ich is caused by an infestation of the ciliated protozoan Cryptocaryon irritans. Although Cryptocaryon becomes a parasitic organism at one stage in its life cycle like Oodinium and Brooklynella do, and it progesses less rapidly than these other ich diseases, in a closed aquarium system it can reach overwhelming and disasterous numbers just the same if it is not diagnosed and treated upon recognition.

Unlike Oodinium and Brooklynella that typically attack the gills first, which allows these ich diseases to advance into life-threatening levels quickly as they go unnoticed, Cryptocaryon usually appears at the onset as salt-sized white spots visible on the body and fins of a host fish, and when the organisms become parasitic, it is then that they move inwards to the gills. Because crypto is more easily recognized in its beginning stage, this makes it much easier to treat and cure before it gets out of control.

Aside from the appearance of the white spots, fish will scratch against objects in an attempt to dislodge the parasites, and rapid respiration develops as tomonts, mucus, and tissue debris clogs the gills. Fish become listless, refuse to eat, loss of color occurs in patches or blotches as the trophonts destroy the pigment cells, and secondary bacterial infections invade the lesions caused by the trophonts.

Although copper is very effective on Oodinium, and it works well to eliminate crypto organisms in their free-swimming tomite stage, it is not as effective on the Cryptocaryon trophonts that burrow deeply into the tissues of fish. A combination of freshwater and formalin treatments adminstered by means of dips, baths, and prolonged treatment over a period of time in a QT is recommended

Reinfection will occur no matter how effectively the fish have been treated if Cryptocaryon is not eradicated from the main aquarium, which can be accomplished by keeping the tank devoid of any fish for at least 4 weeks. For fish-only aquariums hyposalinity can be applied, and to speed up the life cycle of the organisms, elevate the tank temperature to 85 degrees for 10 days to 12 days. For treating reef tanks, FishVet No-Ich Marine, Ruby Reef Kick-Ich, and Chem-Marin Stop Parasites are Cryptocaryon specific remedies that are said to be "reef safe". Several days prior to returning fish to the main aquarium, clean all filtering equipment, change any filtering materials, and do a water change.

Remember to remove all filters media and turn off protein skimmers when treating for any types of Ich.

Although many over-the-counter remedies contain the general name Ich or Ick, carefully read the product information to be sure it is designed to specifically target and treat "Cryptocaryon"

Brooklynella hostilis - these protozoa reproduce asexually by means of simple binary fission through conjugation, which is why they are able to multiply so much more rapidly than Cryptocaryon (White Spot), and Oodinium (Velvet Ich), and why it can kill fish within a few days and even hours upon recognition

Most similar symptomatically to Oodinium, this too is a parasite that primarily attacks the gills first. At the onset fish may scrap up against objects, rapid respiration develops, and fish often gasp for air at the surface as the gills become clogged with mucus. Fish become lethargic, refuse to eat, and colors fade, but the most noticeable difference that sets Brooklynella apart from Oodinium is the heavy amount of slime that is produced. As the disease progresses a thick whitish mucus covers the body, usually starting at the head and spreading outward, skin lesions appear, and it is not uncommon for signs of secondary bacterial infections to arise.

Suggestions range from copper, malachite green and other remedies, with some recommended being used in conjunction with formaldehyde. However the general consensus is these types of medications are either largely ineffective or do not work at all, and that the best and most effective treatment for Brooklynella is formaldehyde alone. Typically a standard 37% formalin solution (shop & compare prices) is mixed with either fresh or saltwater in a separate treatment container, initially all fish are given a quick dip or a prolonged bath, followed by continued treatment and care in a QT. Of course the longer fish are exposed to the formalin treatment, the more effective it will be at eliminating this "disease". Whether to administer a dip or a bath to start with is something you will have to determine yourself, but there's a very simple way to do this.

Since these are Free swimming parasites which are in watersources, come attached to our fish etc. The only way to ensure NO ICH is to get a UV Sterilizer and addit to the tank. The UV Sterilizer kills the free swimming forms of various ich and other parasites.

Also, don't stop feeding your fish. Weak fish do not recover as quickly.

You do not need to dump your tank to rid it of ich. Now the cycle process needs to begin all over. Bacteria in a jar does NOT work. Do not be fooled. It will not cycle your tank faster. A piece of frozen shrimp or fish will help cycle your tank faster. You can keep treating your 10 gallon until the ich has cleared. If they are seriously infected they may not eat. As I have stated, ich is in all water that has not be steralized. The free swimming form can be in a tank for years without attaching to a fish. They will only attack a fish that is stressed or wounded. Keep the bio bag out f the filter for now. Unless you are running a UV Steralizer you will never rid your tank of this free swimming parasite. The ich medicine will clear the tank however once a water change is done, ich is back in your tank.

Now that you know how ich works, you can watch for stress and outbreaks on your fish.

Wanted to add: Poor water conditions do not nec. cause fish to contract ich. It can make them volunerable however.


ADDED:

You need to find an ich treatment that states it will kill columnaris. Read the directions and what it cures. The pet store should be able to help you. Be sure it says it will kill columnaris.

Answer 6

I don't think your problem is ick.I think your problem is what they call Cotton Fungus.If that is what it is then treating for ick will not help.