Ick temperature?

Question

I have ick in 2 of my 55 gallon tanks. I'm using quick cure and the salt method.II've already lost one oscar and 1 pleco.I'm curious with the different fish in each tank what the right temp would be to treat for ick, as I have seen that i should be raising the temp during treatment.
Tank1- 1 oscar, and 4 feeders
Tank2- 2Danios, 2 Tetras, 1 Pleco,1 gourami, and 1 angelfish.

Answer 1

85F damages ich and causes it to not reproduce correctly.
87.5F will further damage the ich and cause some to die outright.

The fish you list can all tolerate this temperature without a problem.

MM

Answer 2

You should raise the temperature one or two degrees every few hours until you have a temperature of around 80 degrees. Maintain very good surface agitation and adding of the salt. The only problem with raising the temperature, is that it isn't advised if you're also using medication - higher temperatures hold less oxygen and Ick treatments usually deplete oxygen as well. I would suggest running the course of the medication and waiting a while to let it all filter out and observing. If there is still Ick, you can try the 'temperature raise' method.

To use the temp raising method, you should raise the temperature slowly (1 or 2 degrees over the course of an hour) and add 1 or 2 tablespoons of salt per 5 gallons over the course of 24 hours and replaced often enough to retain salinity. The adjusted temperature should be maintained for about 10 days, or a minimum of 3 days after all signs of the parasite have disappeared. Do not discontinue treatment when the spots go away.

If you have soft water fish, salt may not be the thing for them and can accelerate their deaths

Answer 3

Listen to MM. You need to get that temperature up! Crank up your heater. It will take it a while to get the water up to that temperature in that size of a tank so the change will be gradual enough for the fish to cope with. Higher temps speed up the lifecycle of ick so that the disease will run its course faster and it will all be over sooner.

Answer 4

Raise it only a couple degrees per hour so that you don't stress the fish with a rapid temperature change. Between 84 and 89 seems to work best for me when I have an ich outbreak.

~ZTM