Can i bend your ears for advise pls

[seangee]

Increased heat does work, if you want faster results, you could always get some medication.

That is what the medication companies would like you to believe. Ich is virtually indestructable except when it is in the free swimming stage. That is the reason any treatment (salt, heat or meds) must be continued for at least 2 weeks after you stop seeing any signs of it. They cannot be killed once they are in/on the fish and the cysts cannot be killed. Only once they "hatch" and start looking for a new host will they die.

 

[Byron]

Increased heat does work, if you want faster results, you could always get some medication.

This has to be carefully considered as you can easily do more harm and make the ich worse by adding so-called ich treatment products. And as subsequent posts have noted, there is no way to speed things up because of the life cycle. However, in cooler water the cycle takes longer, so heating the water does speed it up in that sense.

Heat will kill the parasite during the free swimming stage. Usually. Sometimes the ich can be very stubborn and just one getting through can keep the infection active. If this occurs, salt is the far better treatment because it is very effective and it is significantly safer for many fish. I had this discussion at length with my friend Dr Neale Monks a few years ago when I was battling such a case. He convinced me that salt was preferable, and it certainly worked with no fish losses. Even the cories managed. Many of the so-called ich prepartions/treatments contain things like malachite green or formaldehyde, both of which will seriously impact all fish and which can kill soft water fish (characins and Corydoras are especially sensitive to chemicals). Salt for just the two weeks is far safer. But again, the heat is usually all that is required, if this persists.

We all need to keep in mind that any substance added to the water of an aquarium will get inside the fish. It can enter the bloodstream and spread to the internal organs. It can cause issues in the gills. Chemicals should therefore always be the very last resort, and only if that substance is the most effective and if it is really needed. Preventing stress is the best way to avoid 95% of fish diseases.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Oh, and that's why its recommended to swirl all the plants and do water changes? Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[AquaBarb]

Just going to keep water changing for now as a precautionary measure. I might be going slighty over the top because their not like a dog with flea's scratching its just happened a handful of times since sunday. Theres nothing wrong as far as i can see as yet other than that but its best to be safe than sorry i suppose

 

[PheonixKingZ]

That's good, keep it up!

 

[AquaBarb]

Nearly 2 weeks since i first seen some flashing and i dont want to jinx things but all is still well with my Barbs & Oto's. No signs of Ich/spots, all fish look healthy and active

Will now go ahead and up my group of Oto's this weekend

 

[Retired Viking]

That's great!