Eww, Ich.

[MoonstruckMuse]

The dreaded ich attacks after leaving my tanks alone for the past 3 years or so. I guess it was time for another.

I noticed it about a week ago on both of my severums. Had no symptoms asides from the specks - they ate like pigs, swam around in their slow, showy manner, and well, I had just done a water change so I figured it might just be flecks of dust dotting their hides. They had about 3 tiny spots each.
Raised the temp to 82F, saw the spots fading away and was really happy. I have no free tank at the moment to put them in - my hospital tank's filter and heater are MIA and NJ's still pretty cold right about now. I know, I should have just gone out and bought more but I was stupid... anyhow.
The spots on the severums are completely GONE. However, one of my plecos has a few spots, and so does my largest bala shark. Maybe 5 spots, so it's not severe yet, but... yeah.

My 46g tank
- 4 bala sharks (5-6")
- Sengal Bichir (4")
- Raphael Catfish (5")
- 2 Plecos, common (7")

Planted with
- Anubias
- Java Moss
- Amazon swords
- Red Ludwigia
- Water Lettuce

I'm not comfortable with raising the temp more, my bichir has been swimming around the top lately, he doesn't appreciate it much. I'm not sure if I can dose with the usual coppersafe that I've used in the past because of the Raphael and plecos - does anyone have experience/know if these guys are sensative to meds? I'm also not sure about meds with the bichir; they have heavy scales and seem pretty hardy, but I've never really heard of dosing in relation to them.

Ammonia & Nitrates as are 0, Nitrites at 1ppm. pH is 6.6, temp is 82F, and we have decent dissolved oxygen. We feed flake 2x a day, they polish it off in about 2min, and also put cucumber in every... 3 days or so. Shrimp pellets, bloodworms, and carnivore sticks supplement the diet. Large weekly water changes for now, and many of these fish will be moved to a larger tank soon (though rawrr, I can't move them with ich in there. >.<)

What medicine would you suggest I use? Would salt be okay with all these fish, and how much do I add to effectively treat it? Should I bring the temperature back down? I'd really prefer not to do anything to damage the plants, either, heh. I'm open to any and all suggestions, so long as my fish get better in the end.

 

[WILDER]

Do you have enough aeration in the tank.
http/puffernet.tripod.com/maracide.html

 

[MoonstruckMuse]

I think aeration is fine, none of my fish are breathing faster, none coming up for air (asides the bichir who's supposed to do that), and there's a high surface agitation & the water falls a bit through the pump.

Is maracide sold in most stores? Sounds pretty good to me, I'll run out and get some asap. Thanks, Wilder

 

[WILDER]

I live in the uk so don't know if its widely available in the states sorry.

 

[MoonstruckMuse]

=/ I convinced my dad that yes, it was necessary for him to run out and buy some meds if he wanted the fish to live/not infect the entire tank. However, what he brought back is Rid Ich+, not maracide...cause apparently the store was out.

Does anyone know the effectiveness and safety of this medicine? I'd really rather stay away if it has any nasty side effects. It also says it can be dosed as often as once every 6 hours, with a 25% water change each time. Isn't that a bit too much?

 

[WILDER]

Do a search on the med that should fetch something up.
Good luck.