start treating ich

[charo]

im about to start treating ich and have a few questions,

is it true that i should do high temperature (85-86)
is there any special medicine i can add

also if anybody knows of any good reading materials about ich and treatments,
I wanna see my fish well.

[PaxRoma]

It depends on the severity of the disease. I'm in the school of do nothing, keep the fish happy and make sure they eat well, the parameters in check, and let the disease run its course.
In my opinion, raising temp that high will likely stress the fishes and weaken their immunity even further. These should be good articles to read:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.php
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-1...ture/index.php

[charo]

thanks for the articles reference, also ich only affects fish right?
i was also thinking of doing nothing, but, i feel like im just watching them die.
I think ima move them to a QT, and treat, and let my DT be fishless for 6 weeks.

[steelhead77]

Ich is not a death sentence. Keeping them stress free and the water params pristine are key. As long as they are still eating and swimming normal, they can and will fight it off. There is always time to pull them and HT them if they go downhill. I agree about not raising the temp. The last thing you want is to create more stress. The purpose of higher temp is to speed up the ich cycle, but I think it more important to keep the fish free of stress - and this includes not chasing them around the tank with a net.

[Jstdv8]

if higher temps do in fact speed up the cycle that would make matter worse, not better, it's only good to speed up the cycle if you are treating the fish, faster it cycles through the faster you could be ich free.
No treatment plus speed just equals alot more ich in the tank.

[rayn]

If you are going to treat go hypo or copper. If you go copper your tank must be dedicated to a QT or HT tank. Copper kills all inverts. I use cupramine for mine, but others like hypo. You will get varied answers, but do what you feel best. If you let it run its coarse and don't pull and let run fallow, you will always run the risk of ich resurfacing later on from any stress induced.

[Palting]

Originally Posted by charo

thanks for the articles reference, also ich only affects fish right?
i was also thinking of doing nothing, but, i feel like im just watching them die.
I think ima move them to a QT, and treat, and let my DT be fishless for 6 weeks.

Ich can be a death sentence. Not always, but it can be. And it can be for all the fish in your tank.

The only time I would consider "do nothing" is if it is next to impossible to do something. Example would be too many fish and don't have a large enough QT, or not enough tanks to QT all. Otherwise, I would suggest treat at all times, and QT and treat all new fish at all times to prevent recurrence. It is much better in the long run.

I don't "oveheat" the tank, but I do run my tank at 80-82 when I treat with hyposalinity.

Yes, Ich only affects fish, and is an obligate parasite. But it does encyst on rocks and substrate. That's why you leave the tank fishless for 6 weeks.

[charo]

thanks for the info, i just wanted to give an update, i keep the temp @80 in the QT and treatment seems to be going real good, i do 25% WC everyday. i see very little to no white spots now, how long should i keep them in QT after all white spots are gone, also is it true that once a fish cures from ich that they rarely get it?

once again thanks for the input, i feel so much better that the hypo is workin,
would like to add that i took salinity readin with refractometer and with the swinging arm, and i got different reading, would recommend refractometer

[m-rass]

Originally Posted by charo

thanks for the articles reference, also ich only affects fish right?
i was also thinking of doing nothing, but, i feel like im just watching them die.
I think ima move them to a QT, and treat, and let my DT be fishless for 6 weeks.

I would and have done this. it works! I used copper in the QT, if you do this make sure to get a good copper test kit and keep the copper at the suggested range. I could tell at about 4 weeks the fish were getting stressed. Could have been 4 tangs in a 40g cube too.

I know the do nothing method works for some, never did for me.

Lesson, ALWAYS QT new fish, NEVER place them in the DT without a period of time to monitor for signs of disease.

Good luck, whatever decision you make!

[m-rass]

duh, guess i should have read your last post eh? Glad its working out for you..