More Ich Concerns...?

Question

I've been asking and reading other's questions about ich yet I am very frustrated. I've read it is easy to treat but my fish keep dying. Yes I am sure it is ich. Here's where I'm at right now:

After more reading yesterday, I decided to turn off the lights because Quick Cure has malachite green in it and I read that it is light sensitive (although it didn't say anything on the bottle). I did a water change of about 20-25% and vaccuumed the gravel to get up some of the encysted ich. I added the Quick Cure to my tank at the dosage on the bottle. I turned the heater up more. It was reading about 85 degrees on my external sticky-type thermometer. My heater dial was turned up to 89 (as high as it goes). I added an air stone to compensate for the raised temp and the meds. I determined to leave the tank alone and strictly follow the full course of treatment. This morning my male guppy, who's shown the least ich externally, is laying in the gravel barely breathing.

Help??

A few things lept to mind while reading responses. First- I thought velvet and ich were two separate things? Second is that sometimes you have to ignore the bottle- e.g. experts say to treat for ich for 7-12 days regardless of claims made on the bottle. Third- many expert posters have suggested raising temp to combat ich. I've read guppies can live in a temp range of 75-85, or even up to 100. Fry will develop faster in warmer water too. This is why I bought the heater to begin with. I did not raise the temp quickly, it's been over the course of several days. I just turned it up a bit more yesterday after reading other posts on how it can help control ich. Also the Quick Cure was not the first dose, I've been battling with ich for weeks. I thought I'd gotten it but I hadn't so I started treating again using "scaless" doses because of the fry and my pleco. Yesterday was the full dose. So it wasn't too much of a "change" was it? Please clarify what I should do now. Thanks!

Sorry for being long winded. I forgot to say that I did also add salt to the tank. I'll turn the light back on.

(My heater dial was set to 89 but the temp was only getting to 84.)

I have an empty 10 gallon tank with no filter or heater but I don't have another heated tank and I'd be afraid of stressing the fish by moving them anyways.

Don't forget I have Rick the pleco in there with the guppies. He seems to be very hearty and doing well but I don't want to forget about his needs since I've had him the longest.

Other than him it's 2 guppies and about 15 fry in a breeding net. It's a 10 gallon tank.

That's all the pertinent info I can think of.

It's tempting to lower the meds, lower the temp, etc. to help them "deal" better. But then the ich gets a stronger foothold and I really want it gone!

Thanks so much for all the answers!! =)

Answer 1

You are on the right track. Ich doesn't respond to medications like Quick Cure as fast as to a very strong salt dip or formalin dip, so fish that were very heavily infested will still have problems for as much as a day or two. Ich infests the gills sometimes far worse than the other parts f a fish so it's quite possible your guppies gills are badly covered while he has little on his body. Keep the heat up as high as you can or until it hits about 88F This will cause the ich to fall off the fish all that much faster. The Quick Cure should start having an effect very soon, it's a good medication for ich.

No need to turn off the light, neither the ich nor the medication will be affected by the light.

Hang in there and stay the course, it's certainly your best option at this point and you should see improvement very soon.

MM

Answer 2

I will agree with too much at one time. When treating ich, you may have to treat for 7 days or 12 days it will depend on how infested your fish are.

The light off does nothing for the effectiveness of the malachite green. If it doesn't say on the bottle to turn off the light, don't turn off the light. Increasing or decreasing the temp places more stress on already stressed fish. Again, if the bottle doesn't say to turn up the heat, leave it be. (Guppies are technically cold water fish anyway and jumping up the temp to 89 is a whopper for him)

Follow the full course of treatment. However, what kind of ich does your tank have? Velvet? White Spot? You may be using the wrong medication for the type of ich you have.

When treating fish with any medications, it is always best to follow the directions on the bottle. Remember some medications like antibiotics as well as others reek havoc on your biofilter.

Answer 3

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichthyophthirius


Read the section on treatment. I recommend you try the salt treatment along with increased temperature. Guppies can naturally tolerate a little salt in their water anyway, so this should not stress them too much. However, if you have other fish in this tank that will stress with salt, you might have to set up a quarantine tank in order to treat scaleless/salt intolerant fish in one tank and scaled/brackish tolerant in another. Ich treatments must generally be continued for 72 hours minimum in order to be effective. I haven't had fish for many years, but long ago I managed a pet store, and this was by far the most cost-effective way to handle such a common disease. Good luck!

Answer 4

It sounds like you just did too much to the tank at once. Do you have a smaller tank? Perhaps you could move the sick fish to that one. Ich is a constant pain. They say small doses of copper cures Ich, more expensive medicine but a visit to your local fish store can help. Just remember copper is fatal to inverts so shrimp and snails would be lost. Sorry about your tank good luck.

Answer 5

sounds like your poor guppy was overdosed with too many changes at once. changed water, removal of healthy bacteria (from vacuuming), high temperature, and a chemical "medication".. The temperature for a heated tank should be kept between 78-80 degrees. No more, and no less.
If you dont have one already, buy a new charcoal filter, and use that to help clear the water of the medication.