I have 3 peppered corys and 2 of my fish have developed ich!

I cant use copper based med cos I keep allot of invertabrates and as we know copper kills them!

I dont have a quarenteen tank to move my inverts to for the duration of the ich treatment. Someone suggested moderate salt but i thought cory cats would get sick in salty water?

Aghhhhh... what to do?

OKay, I had a similar problem at my girlfriends. You have to move the invertabraes, if you don't have a spare tank, then you should find a plastic bowl or a 2litre bottle or a gallon jug. anything will work but you have to do the normal treatment and move the invertabraes, don't put salt in the tank.

Hi Jae1525

Are you posting in this forum because you think your corys have ich, or because your corys are in a tank with other fish who have it?

If you think your cory cats have ich, why do you think so and what does it look like? Does it look like the fish are sprinkled with salt, or are you seeing patches of white stuff on them? Please tell us what the temperature of the water is and what your water parameters are, if possible. Also, how often do you do bottom vacuumings and water changes? What kind of filter do you have on the tank?

The reason I am asking these questions is because cory cats seldom get infected with ich, but are more likely to develop a bacterial infection. Since the treatment for one involves raising the temperature, which will make the other worse, it is important that you make a proper diagnosis.

Whichever one it is, please do some good water changes. This might help and surely won't hurt.

My girlfrieds dirty gourami have it!!

My tank temp has just been increased to 26.5c in prep to treat those stinking gorami I dont wanna take it above 27-28 cos my pepered corys cant tollerate that kind of temp?

Its defo ich in its early stages. I cant c it on the gouramis main body but there is an increasing number of salt sized blobs on their fins!!

My water stats are perfect besides the nitrite cos its mid cycle.. just about to fall off its peak. I'm doing a 30-35% water change ev other day and its controling it extreamly well and my nitrite has not reached over 1. Amonia is 0, ph is 7.0

Because I have 2 change 1/3rd of the water ev 2 days its gonna effect the medication in the tank. Shud i compensate the medicine?

Also my lfs guy said 1tsp of aquarium salt per 3ltrs would do my cory cats no harm short term and help with the ich. He said after a week just do a 50%water change. I got the salt but am scheptical of putting it in!

I dont mind loosin a cpl of fish. my inverts and corys take priority. Anythin that feeds above 1inch in my aquarium belongs to my girlfriend!

Thanks 4 the help.

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***UPDATE***
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I checked the gourami this morning and some of the spots have fallen off leaving little tiny green spots in their place! I suppose this is normal as this is how the parasite reproduces.

I did a full water test and was more than happy with the results.
The major ones are:
Amonia: 0
Nitrate: 20
Nitrite: 0.3
PH: 7

I removed the carbon from my filter and did a 30% water change to reduce levels even further as the treatment lasts for 8 days and I dont want the water quality spiraling out of control within this time.

I disolved the Octozin and slowly put it into the water flow along with my treated water a bit at a time.
It dispursed into the water but remains kind of granular and my tetra are eating little bits!!! Is that right?!! Is it systemic?!! It wouldn't disolve any more than it did even with 2 mins of stiring!

I feel sick now and also feel like I have put poison in with my other fish and inverts on account of 2 Gourami!

Hi Jae1525

I know just how you must feel.

I don't know what to tell you about the product you are using because I live in the USA and our lfs do not carry that brand of medicine. Here is a link to their website where their phone and fax numbers are listed and their email address too. Perhaps you could contact them directly for more information.

If you do, please let me know what they have to say.

And good luck! I hope your fish recover soon.

They open at 2pm uk time so I will give them a ring because I feel that thier instructions are quite vague and dont explain in depth about the method of putting the tablets into the tank. It just says dont drop them onto inverts!!
I did ring earlier but the support centre wasnt open. The lady said with inverts just disolve the tabs in treated water and slowly pour into the water flow.

Thank you for your concearn it is of great comfort to me as I am alone in the world of tropical fish besides this forum because none of my friends or family keep fish.

Hi Jae1525

As far as the corys go, a little salt in the water won't hurt them as long as you remove it when the treatment is finished. This, unlike the meds, cannot be done with carbon in the filter, but must be done by water changes. It is long term use that will hurt them.

I do not know how it will effect your inverts though.

If there is any way you can get even a 10 gallon tank to use for your corys and inverts during treatment, I strongly suggest that you do it. You know how to control the chemicals through regular water changes, so that won't be a problem, and once the ich is gone from your first tank you can use some of the filter media and gravel to help the cycling along.

Beside, you know you will want to breed those corys one day.

I'm happy to be able to help you, even if it is in a very small way. With luck, when your family and friends see how well your little fishy community is doing, some of them will want an aquarium too. Then you can teach them.

Yeah I hope they will see my fish and want their own.

I spotted a nice 48"/12"/15" tank that is real cheap advertised in the local paper it comes with hood, lights, heater and filter for £60! Thats a bargain in uk money!
I can just move my other fish into it post cycle and split my other tank into 2 sections one for a hospital and I was thinking of breeding some live food in the other?
Its so annoying that we left our other tank in the garrage when we moved house. We just forgot about it and poof its gone!