Ich problem gurus again...?

Question

if i turn up the heat to 82 or 83 degrees, add more salt.. how long should i leave it like that? types of fish:
1. mickey mouse platy- the infected.
2. tin foil barb
3. Angelfish
4. Neon Tetra
5. Pleco
6. Redtail Shark
7. Bala Shark
8. Violet Goby
9. Black tetra
10. Corycat
11. Ghost Shrimp
just wanted to list my fish so you could tell me if the high temp. would be dangerous to any one fish.
38 gal... or is it just easier to isolate and medicate.. if so, how long should the fish remain quarantined in a 2.5 gal?
please refer to my other question as well if you havent already..

Answer 1

None of those fish will suffer from high heat... but you need the heat higher than that. At 85F ich will stop reproducing properly and at 89F it dies (slowly, but dies). You will want to lower the tank water by a gallon or two so that the filter will splash as it returns water to the tank and possibly also add an airstone to aid in water movement and gas exchange.

It is by far best to treat ich in the main tank. The fish don't just get ich, the entire tank does because the ich spends part of its life cycle in the gravel. So no need to use a quarantine tank at all.

You need to be sure you add enough salt to the tank to deal with ich. 1 tablespoon for each 2 gallons is a very reasonable amount for your tank. None of the fish will have a problem with that and in fact several will benefit greatly from that level of salt. Also, any fairly pure salt will do. I like kosher salt from the grocery since it's pure and is far cheaper than aquarium salt. Avoid salt that contains iodine and avoid sea salt for this as well.

You should treat for at least 7 days after you see the last white spot on any fish. At those temperatures that will unsure the ich is killed.

If you have any other questions about treating ich feel free to email me.

MM

Answer 2

You need to treat the tank as ich's life cycle includes a free swimming stage. This mean you'll need to treat the tank with an anti-ich med. On the plus side the only thing the anti-ich meds should kill is the shrimp. As none of your 4 catfish types are scaleless. Isolation the platy is a good idea as it will reduce the amount of ich in your water, and salt treatment will lessen the stress on the platy.

Heating the tank to 83F without treatment with just kill your fish faster. Heat speeds up the ich life cycle. Ich meds only kill the free swimming stage. Thus heating up the tank cures the ich faster. Heating past 86F should cause the ich to stay in it's free swimming state and die off. This will take at least 2 days, but may kill off some of your fish. Mainly as they are stressed from the ammonia levels which likely contributed to the ich problem in the 1st place.

Salt is not good for most catfish. Which you have a whole lot of. The corys, the pleco, and the "sharks". Also soft water amazon fish like the angel, and neons can't take much. One teaspoon per gallon is about what I'd recommend, but that won't kill off ich. (It will help.) The ghost shrimp, platy, and goby are the only ones that could survive full scale salt treatment.

PS- These fish are not compatible with each other.
-The barb is too mean, and needs a school
-The bala will get huge and eat it's tank mates.
-The redtail is too mean
-The angelfish will be fin nipped, and then get big and mean
-neon will be eaten and needs a school
-the goby needs more salt which will likely kill the neon, cory, tetra...
-the ghost shrimp are just lunch for 1/2 the tank

Answer 3

The high temp should not be a problem but cory cats don't tolerate salt very well. I would treat the whole tank with the ich med. Do a 20% water change daily for the entire treatment.Also remove your carbon from your filter while you medicate because the carbon will only neutrilize the medication and you will not get a full effect of the med.It usually takes about 4 days to fully treat ich, and for the salt it helps aid the fish in healing.

Answer 4

you should quarantine the infected and you can go pretty hardcore on salt on a platy and that should take care of the problem easily. you could add about 1 tablespoon dissolved salt a little at a time to the 2 1/2 gallon with the platy and really it should be done. do a really good gravel vacuum -- ich lives in the gravel part of its life. if you quarantine with salt he should be pretty much done when you don't see any more spots. i would still wait a couple more days. the heavy concentration of salt would be enough meds to keep the free swimming ich from surviving for very long.

your tetras, cory, and angel aren't going to be able to take a lot of salt -- the platy can.

Answer 5

Ich takes a good 5-7 days to cure. In that time period, you will benefit from 2-3 water changes of 25%, replacing aquarium salt.
If after 7 days there is no sign of improvement, time to get other treatments started.

Treatment of Freshwater Ich, Ichthyophthirius.
It is believed that ich is present in all aquariums. Fish that have the disease exhibit small white dots about this size of a grain of salt. It is very contagious and it is fatal.
The best protection is a healthy tank with water changes done weekly or every other week with a gravel vac in the amount of 20-25% of the tank volume. Ich thrives in temperatures between 55-70°, making gold fish extremely vulnerable. Heating a tank to 72-73° is not too warm for gold fish and the susceptibility to ich will be dramatically reduced. A sound practice in fish keeping is to keep new fish in quarantine 4-7 days before adding them to your tank. The stress from being shipped from the wholesaler to the retailer, the stress of living in the retailers tanks which may be overcrowded and poorly maintained and the stress of being bagged up and taken to your home can weaken a fish and make it most vulnerable to ich and other ailments. Rather than introduce a sick fish to your aquarium, it is better to quarantine it until you know it is healthy.

When sound fish keeping practices are not enough, fortunately ich is also very easy to cure. Freshwater ich should not be confused with marine ich, Cryptocaryon irritans. Salt will weaken freshwater ich, obviously marine ich, being in salt water already, this is obviously not the same treatment.

First step:
20-25% water change with gravel vac. Most likely your poor water conditions contributed to the outbreak of ich.
Second step:
Raise temperature (no more than 1° per hour) to 85°.
Third step:
Add aquarium salt (not table salt) in the amount of one rounded tablespoon per 5 gallons. If you have scaleless fish such as loaches, catfish and "algae eaters", reduce that to one rounded teaspoon per 5 gallons, as they don't tolerate salt well.
http://www.aquariumpharm.com/en_us/productCategory.asp?categoryname=WaterConditioners
Fourth step:
After 24 hours, a second 20-25% water change. Add more salt. If you took 5 gallons out in the change, put another rounded tablespoon in.
Adjust for your situation.
Fifth step:
Wait 24 hours.
Sixth Step:
A third water change of 20-25% and replace salt removed.

If this does not cure the fish, and no signs of improvement show up yet, you may want to use a commercial ich curative, all of which require removal of the carbon from your filter, or the carbon will filter out the medication. You can continue with the cleaning process and maintain salt levels. Brackish water fish such as mollies need to have some salt in order to maintain good health. Most other fish benefit from a little aquarium salt as well.

One of the most common is copper sulfate medications like Aquarasol http://www.aq-products.com/APpro/aquarisol.htm
In more extreme cases, Malachite Green is very popular.
http://www.aq-products.com/APpro/quickcure.htm
In the case of scaleless fish such as loaches and catfish, a formaldehyde based Formalin
http://www.aq-products.com/APpro/formalin.htm
Be extremely careful with Formalin doses, many are super concentrated containing 37% formaldehyde, as 1 teaspoon treats 90 gallons.
Some are pre-diluted like Formalin-3, where the dosage is 1-2 teaspoons per 10 gallons. Formalin will kill the bacteria in your filter that break down the waste,
http://www.novalek.com/kordon/formalin/index.htm
Some products contain a combination of these medications. Read the labels and know what you are putting in your tank.

Good Luck

Answer 6

All of you fish are in the 2.5 gallon tank? If it is only a couple. Just try leaving it there.