Help! My fish have Ick. So...what route should I take in curing them and how long do I have?

Question

Do Ick medines even work? A lot of people say no.

Answer 1

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. 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 is:

Change a large portion of the water, about 50-60% while cleaning the gravel very well.
Clean the filter and change all the media but leave out the carbon.
Add 1 tablespoon of salt per gallon of the tank.
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 used Malachite Green as the active ingredient. (CAUTION: Malachite Green is a known carcinogen. Be careful not to get it on your skin!) Quick Cure is a good choice.
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.

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

MM

Answer 2

Ick Symptoms and Prevention

Ick (ich) or White Spot, is assuredly the most common aquarium fish disease that hobbyists come up against. Ichthyophthirius multifiliis is a parasitic protozoan. If proper attention is paid to your fish, symptoms can usually be caught early and treated with ease. The most noticeable symptom is the occurrence of small raised white spots on your fish. In severe cases it looks as though salt was sprinkled all over your fish’s body. These white spots can sometimes be accompanied by red streaks. Fish with Ick will often flick their bodies against rocks, gravel or other aquarium decorations in an attempt to scratch the itch caused by the ick. Another symptom, though a little harder to diagnose, is heavy or rapid breathing. This can be the result of ick attacking the gills. But beware, it is possible that the rapid breathing may be caused by something other than ick.

Suggestions or Questions?
Maintain high water quality. Monthly water changes of 25-30% are a must. If you keep large predators you should do bimonthly water changes as these fish can produce a lot of concentrated waste.

Do not overfeed. Feed only what the fish can consume in a couple of minutes. Experiment with amounts. When fish begin to take in food and spit it out, they have had enough. Excess food can foul water and cause stress, making fish more susceptible to illness.

Provide hiding places and vegetation. This is especially important for new inhabitants, as they may be nervous for quite some time in a new tank. Other types of fish simply prefer the seclusion of a cave or the security of a plant to blend into. A happy fish is a healthy fish.

Make sure all fish are compatible. If you are uncertain about a fish, do research. Adding aggressive fish to a peaceful tank or even adding very active fish to an otherwise rather subdued tank can cause unnecessary stress and thus lower a fish’s immunity.

Quarantine your fish. When acquiring new fish or treating your current sick fish, use a small (10 or 20gal) aquarium as a quarantine tank. Allow new fish and plants to live in quarantine for about two weeks before introducing them to your show tank. This way you can make sure they are healthy and will not introduce disease to your already established fish. This can also make it easier and cheaper to treat the fish. You will not be medicating fish that don’t need it, and if your quarantine tank is smaller than your show tank, you will use less medication.

Answer 3

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 4

Yes, ick medications do work to clear the tank but it could be too late for your fish.

Try the source I wrote at the bottom, it has a lot of helpful solutions

Answer 5

Yes I tried Rid-Ich+ you have to do a 25% water change and like stated before keep water temp at about 84- 85 degrees and keep the light off fish should only have 10 hours daily with the light on and the fish store lady told me that all fish carry ich but it takes stress to bring it out kids tapping on glass sudden drop in temp ect***

Answer 6

Yes they work, but not if your tank's water is bad. Test for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. It is rare for a fish to get ich in a tank that is clean. Fix any issues with water quality first, then medicate. Raising the tank's temp to 83 or 84 will also help. It is hard to say how long you have without knowing the results of your water test. Your fish will die without clean water and medication.

Answer 7

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 8

We say that the Ick medicines to work, try it.

Answer 9

Its worth a shot to just try it, would if it does work. If it doesnt then at least you tried.

Answer 10

yes the meds do work,go to the pet store to get the meds,it will tell you how to use it.i would do it pretty quick.