I have fish with ick...?

Question

Hey have a brackish tank and 2 of my fish have ick.We treated them yesterday evening,and I have been wanting to get some new fish.Can the ick be passed on to the other fish even if the water has been treated?..the type of ick medicine we have stays in the aquarium for 1 month.

we had out water tested and it tested fine.

Answer 1

Yes, ick can be passed around. It's a parasite like fleas on dogs and cats, but harder to prevent transmission.

The ick medication will only stay in the tank a month if 1) you don't have carbon in your filter ( the black rocky looking stuff) and 2) you don't do the regular weekly water changes you need to do to maintain a healthy tank.

I would suggest you move to a ick medication that contains Malachite green and treat for a full 10 days. Increasing the temperature of the tank to above 88 F will help greatly in getting rid of the ick fast as that temperature will kill the ick in one of it's life cycle stages.

The only way to truely be sure you never have ick problems in your tank is to use a quarentine tank and treat any new fish you get in that tank before adding them to your main tank. Many aquarium keepers do this and never have ick problems again. If plants come from a tank with fish, and almost all do, washing them well in tap water and treating them before placing them in the main tank is a very good practice as well. One last note on this, never, ever put the water from a shop into your tank. Even if the fish doesn't appear to have ick, it could be in the water.

If you have a fish in mind, ask the shop to hold him for you until you clear up the ick. A decent shop should do this especially if you put down a deposit.

Best of luck!

MM

Answer 2

Yes, it can be passed. The only ting the ich medications does is helps get rid of the virus. It doesnt protect other fish from it. Here are some treatments that really seem to help.

Raise water temperature

Medicate for 10-14 days

Reduce medication when treating scaleless fish

Discontinue carbon filtration during treatment

Perform water changes between treatments

I have never heard of a medication that stays in the water for a month. If that is really the recomended dose, continue it, but most of the medication i have seen you must add every 3 days along with a half water change.
The reason i REALLY reacommend the temperature is to be raised is because The parasite is a cycle. It is about 2-3 weeks start to finish and Raising the temperature shortens this cycle alot.
Ways you can Prevent this virus is to Quarintine new fish for a bout 2-3 weeks. This makes you certain they are not infected with a parasite from there previous home. Also, you should treat plants before adding them to the tank. Maintain a high water quality, meaning add a dechlorinator every few weeks. and make sure your fish have a propper, nutritious diet.
GOODLUCK WITH YOUR FISH!!!!


-Alex

Answer 3

Yes, ick WILL attack ANY new life forms you put in there.
1) replace ALL aquarium tubing (did me in once)
2)Put your remaining fish into a hospital tank and treat them with a death-to-ick that takes less time to work. (make sure that you remove the carbon from your aquaqrium filter because it cancels out the med)
3) Drain your fishtank
5) Pour hot water on your rocks, because the ick paracites live call the bottom home.
6) Soak the inside of your filter with anti-ich. replace filter media
7)remove the rock cleaning water and fill tank.
8)put more anti-ich in
9)put your remaining fishes back in
10) WATCH the tak for any signs of ich
i would treat the tank for about one month before adding new fishie friends.

HOW ICK BECOMES A PROBLEM:
the rocks in your tak contain billions of fishy paricites. Some are good and some are bad. Practically every fishtank contains the ick paricite, even if they do not have the visible signs of ick. Ick becomes a problem when there are too many of the ick paricites in the tank. This can be prevented by once or twice a year treating the tank for ick and killing the buildup of paricites. Don't worry you cant' catch the paricites, becasue they're fish paricites.

Answer 4

here's the thing with ick. it's a parasite with a few stages, only one of which is visible on the fish (those little white dots - oh how we hate them!!)
most ick medications can only kill the parasite in one or two of their life stages, not all of them. this is why you should wait even longer than just until you don't see white dots anymore. when those white dots fall off your fish, they fall into the substrate (sand, gravel, whatever you have at the bottom of your tank) and then later the parasites come out of the substrate and swim around as microscopic little buggers and try to find a new fish to infect. so ick can still be in your tank when you don't see any evidence!

when i first had an ick breakout in my tank, i looked everywhere online for advice on treatment, and i settled on a medication from my LFS (i don't even remember which one) but i extended the treatment to about 16 days. the first week i followed the directions on the bottle, but then when it said that ick should be gone, i continued with half doses until about 16 days were up. never had a spot of ick again! once you've gone about 3-4 weeks without ick (i think that's the length of their life cycle) you can be pretty sure its dead (until something else is introduced into your tank - some healthy fish can carry ick and not show symptoms, from what i understand, so be careful!).

when you add new fish to your tank, no matter how great your tank is, they will have a period of stress which will make them way more vulnerable to any disease. adding new fish anywhere in the middle of an ick breakout, even if you're treating it, is really tempting fate. i'd recommend against it until you're sure that its gone.

just my thoughts!

Answer 5

No you can't get fish until ick is all gone. Try treating ick with salt instead. It works better and doesn't destroy your filter.
1 tablespoon per gallon
Leave in for 2 weeks
Heat to 83 degrees.
Promise that will work much better. Whatever med you put in there will destroy good bacteria in the filter so keep getting the water checked.
Keep heat up in high 70's and regular water changes to avoid ick in the first place.

Answer 6

Ick is extremely contagious. I wouldn't risk putting new fish in the tank. If the medicine hasn't gotten rid of the ick by the end of the month I would keep reapplying or getting a different treatment. I wouldn't even think about purchasing more fish until the disease is gone entirely.

Answer 7

I am glad your water parameters are good as this can be half the batter with ich.

Yes the ich can be past on to other fish, even during treatment.
These tomites (the swimming stage) move about looking for a host, which they must find within 2 to 3 days at 75° F (24° C) or they will die. Cooler temperatures will lengthen this time. It is during this free swimming stage that is most vulnerable to treatment.

I am not sure of any ich medication that is truely effective for a month, Medicated Wonder shells can last for up to a 14 days (usually 7-10 days).

There are many ways to treat ich infestations in freshwater, less in saltwater, but not all treatments are equal or can be used for all types of fish or all aquatic environments. I will discuss the options I prefer to use in my maintenance business or in my personal aquariums first.

For freshwater a Malachite Green/ Formalin combination has generally been the most effective for moderate to severe infestations. “Quick Cure” is good product with this combination of medications (Malachite Green/ Formalin). While a somewhat newer product “Sea Chem ParaGuard” is slightly safer, albeit also slightly less strong formulation. Malachite Green by itself as in “Nox Ich” is also effective in moderate infestations. Other treatments of note are copper sulfate and Quinine Sulfate or Hydrochloride. For scale-less or delicate fish use Malachite Green at half dose. The safest treatment for scale-less fish is Quinine Hydrochloride, but this is less effective than other treatments, although it can be combined with half strength Malachite Green for more effectiveness.

For mild to moderate infestations (even some severe) I also use “Medicated Wonder Shells” as these products have Malachite Green (lower levels safe for most delicate fish), Acriflavin, and small amounts of methylene blue (not enough to affect bio filtration) and copper. What is best about these “Medicated Wonder Shells” is that they also add electrolytes, calcium and maintain a proper KH, which is very important for treatment with Malachite Green as this medication is more toxic at lower pH and KH (Best used at a pH of 7.2 or higher and a kH of 80 ppm or higher). These great for use in tanks with poor or no filtration such as many betta tanks.

One more treatment option is a hospital tank with a Sponge Filter and no gravel. Methylene Blue works well here, but so do ALL of the above treatments as well.

Another method that can work is salt and heat (FW). 1 Tablespoon of salt is added per 5 gallons of tank water and the temperature is adjusted to 84-86 F. I have tested many methods over the years and used to use this method more under the flawed assumption that is safer and even more effective, it is neither. Salt is safe for most fish, but not always for catfish (of which, plecostumus are sensitive to salt) and this method can take so long that the fish die of the ich infestation (I have affected a cure with salt, but is generally less effective, and research bears this out). That said a tablespoon of salt per 5 gallons (20 liters) is useful for electrolytes in the aquarium and in turn aids the fish in slime coat generation. This aids in the prevention of freshwater ich and aids in the treatment of ich infestations even when used with chemical treatments. But for serious ich infestations, salt by itself is generally not enough.

Also be careful with the heat method as disolved oxygen is GREATLY reduced in water over 80 degrees, and brackish water fish are more sensitive to this in particular. (watch for gasping at the surface)

For MUCH more information about ich, please read this article:
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Ich.html

Answer 8

yes, it can be passed. you need to completly rid tank of it first. you also need to eliminate what caused it in the first place, before subjecting new fish to this.

Answer 9

To be safe, I would wait until their treatment is done to get new fish.

Answer 10

Waite the mounth or keep them in a seporate tank.