Ich question...?

Question

so, my tank has ich. I raised my temp to about 86 degrees, I've added some aquarium salt. Anything else I can do? If so, could would kinda break it down for me like a to-do list so that I know what to do and when to do it and how much of it to do? Thanks. Oh and how long before I should see some results?

Answer 1

Treating ich can be a real pain and can take quite a while, so don't expect overnight success or even to see improvement very quickly. In fact, often things seem to get a little worse before they get better, that's very common.

Ich is a parasite in your aquarium. To dispel some common myths it is not caused by poor water quality or low temperatures, or ammonia, or dirty filters or anything else like that. It does not lurk around in a tank waiting to attack fish, it does not only attack weakened fish, it is not airborne. It is not found in all water sources. None of that is true. It is caused by a specific parasite and must be introduced into the tank. This usually happens when you bring in new fish from an infected tank. The best treatments for ick in a tropical aquariums are:

Change a large portion of the water, about 50-60% while cleaning the gravel very well.
Clean the filter and change the filter media.
Add 1 tablespoon of salt per gallon of the tank. Add this slowly, giving the fish time to adjust.
Raise the temperature to 88-90 F. Raise it slowly, about 1 degree per hour. You may need to add an air stone or two depending on the type of fish and how heavily the tank is stocked. Treat for at least 7 days after you see the last white spots on any of the fish. After the treatment return the tank temperature to normal.

OR

Use a good ick medication as directed on the bottle. Try to find a medication that uses Malachite Green as the active ingredient. (CAUTION: Malachite Green is a known carcinogen. Be careful not to get it on your skin!)
Change 25% or more of the water daily being sure to clean the gravel as you do so.
Continue the treatment for at least 7 days after you see the last white spots on any of the fish. After the treatment, return the carbon to your filter.

Either will work and will remove the ich from your tank.

MM

Answer 2

This depends on the severity as this is not a very effective method for more severe infections.

Besides salt (which is an important electrolyte during stress), you need calcium and magnesium via a GH of at least 100 ppm. This will help the fish resist the infestation

If this is a mild infection you should see results in 3-5 days.

If this is more than mild and/or your water parameters such as GH, ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates are poor, this can take longer or more likely not work at all


Ich is a protozoan parasite that can and will exploit poor fish health often brought on by poor water conditions such as rapid pH drops high ammonia/nitrites and even prolonged nitrates above 50 ppm. A weak fish often will not generate a healthy slime coat and a will succumb to infection much more readily. Even though ich is a parasite that has to be introduced at some point (it is not air born), it is also a proven fact that good water quality and good nutrition will prevent or lessen infestation. This is why persons will often wonder as to why an aquarium comes down with ich even though no fish has been introduced; this is usually the result of a change in fish health and/or water quality.
Put another way, with healthy fish, they can usually produce enough mucous to prevent the ich tomites form getting started on the fish, but once these tomites get a foot hold on a stressed fish, even the healthy fish get overwhelmed.

Regular water changes that will improve parameters are also important (especially using a gravel vacuum to remove mulm)

If this method does not show results in a few days you may consider Seachem ParaGuard or even stronger Quick Cure. Both these formulas contain Malachite Green and Formalin (in different formulas though). For more medication information including a link to a research study about Malachite Green that deals with anecdotal misinformation about this compound please read this article: http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumMedication3.html

Here is an article about ich treatment, diagnosis and more:
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Ich.html

Answer 3

Lot's of different answers. This is what I did. I had an ick outbreak in my guppy tank. I took some aquarium salt and put in it in. I can't remember the measurement. Then I turned the temp up to 90 degrees. I actually saw no more spots the next morning, however I left it the way it was for a week. Then turned down the temp and did a partial water change. Everything has been fine since. Never used the meds. I don't like meds. If you can do it naturally, then that's the way it should be done. Besides, I have a saltwater setup and had the salt anyway. Never use copper based medicine. It will hurt your tank inthe long run.

Answer 4

your doing the right thing for now after a week turn the temperature back down to normal but continue the salt 1 table spoon per i think 2 or 5 gallons cant remember right now it says on the box do that once every week even after the ich is gone it will prevent your fish from getting ich again and another thing to prevent ich is before your gonna buy a fish from the pet store look in the tank its coming from to see if any of those fish have ich and if they do don't buy the fish

Answer 5

You should use either Coppersafe (by Mardel) or Ick Clear (by Jungle Lab) to treat ick. remember to do a partial water change before starting a treatment (i would say a 50%). please don't forget to remove the carbon from your filter during treatment.

Use the ick medicine and follow the instruction on the box. then as ick started to clear up (white dot fades from fish body) and do 25% water change everyday for at least 5 days (that way ick should be removed from your tank). as you do the water change, use the stress coat (24 drops per 1 gallon of water) to neutralize chlorine from water and promote a slime coat on fish body for rapid healing. also please put aquarium salt (1 teaspoon per 5 gallon of water) as salt is proved to be very effective against ick.

Ick should be resolved in 7-10 days and is brought on by stress, so whenever you do the weekly water changes, add some more stress coat to the water. you should keep you the weekly partial water change and, make sure your tank is not overcrowded. the key to keep healthy fish is to maintain good water quality. Hope this helps you further.

Answer 6

This is the only way.
Get the fish into "hospital tanks" (cheap bowls or something) medicate them.

The aquarium must be cleaned and it takes NO LESS than 35 days for the parasite to die completely without a host.
Sorry there is no short cut but this is why its important to have a temporary tank for new arrival fish. You should always watch new fish for several days before putting them into your other fish's home.
If it were me and all the fish were common inexpensive fresh water fish like Molly's Guppy's and the like I would just start over with new fish. But you MUST wait at least 35 days before putting anything in the same tank.

Answer 7

Glad to see your useing salt to treat your ich problem.
most ich meds use copper to kill ich yeah it works but copper is toxic to everything in a fish tank and everything in your filter as well.

Answer 8

Well... you can get medicine! :)
I use medicine for the times my fish have Ich, and it took several days for it to go away.
It might take longer with salt, since salt is less.... potent. It's for general uses.

Answer 9

You Wouldnt Pay Money...

You Should Replace or Clean The Aquarium