Continuing Ich Treatment?

[mandi]

I was heartbroken to discover an outbreak of ich in my 29 gallon tank. I had 8 swordtail fry and one full grown platy in the tank. The first day I noticed it, all but 2 fry were dead and the 2 that were alive were covered in white spots (the platy didn't appear to be affected).

I googled information about ich and tried to follow some of the advice I found -- I did a water change (about 25%), turned the heat up on the tank, and I went out and got "Ich Away" (I was looking for "Rid Ich" but the store didn't have that). I treated the tank as advised on the bottle.

Today the last two swordtails were dead too. Now just the platy remains. She doesn't appear to have any white spots -- but should I continue putting the ich medicine in the tank just to be sure everything is okay?

Should I move the platy to a different tank and take the 29 apart, clean it out, and start over (new gravel, new filter, re-cycle it)?

I've never had an outbreak of ich or any other disease (*knock on wood*) in any of my tanks since I started fishkeeping over a year ago... so this took me off gaurd and I feel so horrible! Thanks in advance for the help!!

 

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

You need to buy a copper test kit and maintain the copper level advised on the bottle, if it is a copper treatment. If it isnt a copper treatment, then it probably wont work anyway [completely]

Even if you dont see ich, it can still be very present. In fact, some fish for whatever reason can become immune to ich. Not the whole species or anything, just certain ones. So the fish might not be getting it, but you still need to make sure that it is gone.

There are 3 stages of ich. One is when they are feeding on the fish and growing[the white spots you can see] Then they fall down to the ground in a cyst form once fully matured, and continue to grow. Then they burst open and are now free-swimming trying to find a host, your fish. If they are unsuccessful, they will die, but you need to research this and find out how long it takes for the free swimmers to die when they cant find a host. This will tell you how long to treat the tank, I think 2-3 weeks is about right.

I believe it is 24 hours for fresh water, but im not sure. But there can be many cysts, requiring more treatment time. I mostly know about saltwater ich, [I just got over a case] which unfortunately takes a month or more to die! But do research this.

The platy would be just as good off no matter what tank it is in, because there is a chance he will carry some of the disease in the next place you put him. But I think you could buy some aquarium salt and do a saltwater dip. The parasite in SW and FW is different, and will die quickly if in the other kind of water. But my advise would be to treat the tank for at least two weeks to make sure it is all gone, and SW dip the fish. You just leave the fish in a container of SW for 2 minutes maximum, watching for signs of stress. If the fish starts acting funny, put it back in the tank. I dont think you should recycle it with the platy, because instead of treating the ich and making sure it is gone that way, you would be putting the fish in ammonia.

 

[fishing4exotics]

You need to buy a copper test kit and maintain the copper level advised on the bottle, if it is a copper treatment. If it isnt a copper treatment, then it probably wont work anyway [completely]

Well, this is only true for saltwater or marine ich. For freshwater ich you have more options besides copper based medication. Mandi, in your case I would have raised the temp to about 86* F and added non-iodized salt @ 2 Tblsp/10 gallons. The livebearers you keep are very salt tolerant. And because you mentioned that you have fry in the tank I didn't recommend meds.

Mandi, here is a link to a study about freshwater ich by the University of Florida.