Heat Only To Treat Ich

[TCfishies]

Hi,

I'm not sure if my fish have ich or not.......One of my rummy noses developed a couple of raised white spots on Monday ( got a new plant on Sat, I rinsed it, but...)

anyway on Monday I treated it with Wardley brand "promethyasul" which claims to be a broad specturm treatment for bacteria, fungus and parasites. It has malachite green in it. I also turned up the temp a little to like 27C

On Thursday a different Rummy nose looked very sick. I did a 40% water change but she died that night.

I'm not sure what killed her, I'm inclined to think maybe the drugs?

Anyway, the original spotty fish still has one spot.

I did some internet research and read about HEAT only treatment. Apparently ich can't survive temps above like 30C. It says turn up the heat for 10 days....

Has anyone had any success with this method??

I've already turned up my heater to max, but I don't think I can get it to 30C (it's winter here) I may go buy a extra heater. I've raised the level of my filter outflow to give more aeration since I understand raising the temp decreases oxygen.

any other advice??

Hope someone can help

TC

 

[fishguy2727]

Two things have to happen for illness to occur: 1-a pathogen is present (which is ALWAYS true) and 2-the fish are stressed. Managing the stress alone can be all the treatment that is needed.

High quality food and water will prevent (and treat) most problems.

What is the water change schedule?
What are you feeding?
Did anything change lately? (new addition, cleaned filters, water change, etc.)

 

[Caprichoso]

Yes, you can treat it with just increasing the temperature and doing water changes. Prevention is by keeping water stats good and you'll never have another outbreak of it. The water changes are more important than the heat IMO. Bump the heat up a couple of degrees but really just focus on the water changes.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Most strains of ich can't survive temps of 86 or more. However, most is not all.

The adjusted temperature should be maintained for approximately 10 days, or a minimum of 3 days after all signs of the parasite have disappeared. Do not discontinue treatment when the spots go away. This is critical, because we know that they are visible only as a trophont on the body of the host, and not during the reproductive or free-swimming stage. We also know that trophonts on the gills are impossible to see.

One last note on raised temperature treatment: If you follow the directions here thoroughly and have a subsequent outbreak without having added new fish or plants, you may need to try a different approach. It is possible to encounter a resistant strain of ichthyophthirius, as there have been rare instances recorded where the organism survived at 92ºF!

From Ich

 

[TCfishies]

thanks for all your suggestions so far. I read the above article on ich, that's where I got the heat only idea!

yes I did have a new addition to the tank, a plant (which isn't doing all that well by the way)

I feed them micro pellets, spirulina flakes, peas, and brine shrimp 2-3 times a week.

The fish have not seemed stressed, except the sick one...

I change the water once a week, 30-40%. My water stats are always very good. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, nitrates about 10.

I wondered if the meds I used first might have damaged my filter bacteria? Silly me I forgot to do a test before changing the water, but I did a 40% change yesterday.

I just got the extra heater to try to get the temp up to 30C+.... I've still only got 1 fish with 1 spot, but I'd like to nip this thing in the bud if I can!

Re water changes as treatment, are we thinking everyday???

cheers

TC

 

[fishguy2727]

Every day is ideal.

 

[TCfishies]

Every day is ideal.

OK, will give it a go.

So far the fish (5 zebra danios, 3 white mollies, 7 rummy nose tetras) seem to like the warmer water... Still not up to 30C yet though....

Yes, you can treat it with just increasing the temperature and doing water changes. Prevention is by keeping water stats good and you'll never have another outbreak of it. The water changes are more important than the heat IMO. Bump the heat up a couple of degrees but really just focus on the water changes.

My water stats were good!

Not sure what went wrong... I guess it is possible that the whole thing is in my imagination... the white spot on the one fish might be something else??? And I may have just killed the poor other fish with the meds!!

Going to try the heat now and hope to sort it out one way or the other....

 

[raptorrex]

Every day is ideal.

vacuuming the gravel will also help. you may well get some cysts, and remove them from the process.

 

[TCfishies]

AAARRRGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH

Well, it is not going well. I got the temp up to 30C and everyone seemed fine, but then I did a big water change as recommended and got the water a little too warm and it went up to 32.

One of the danios looked very unhappy at that temp and started sitting on the bottom of the tank panting....

So I removed a bucket of water and got the temp down to 30C. I checked again after about an hour and the danios seemed fine, but now my favourite Molly was sitting on the bottom panting...

I couldn't stand to lose her so I lowered the temp again, back down to like 28C.... not going to kill the ich this way I guess.......

Just about to go check again. If she is dead I shall cry

OK! Everybody seems fine again at 28C... WHAT SHOULD I DO

should I try to get back up to 30C?? Or just leave it at 28? Or go back to 26C which was normal??

HELP!!!

 

[raptorrex]

AAARRRGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH

Well, it is not going well. I got the temp up to 30C and everyone seemed fine, but then I did a big water change as recommended and got the water a little too warm and it went up to 32.

One of the danios looked very unhappy at that temp and started sitting on the bottom of the tank panting....

So I removed a bucket of water and got the temp down to 30C. I checked again after about an hour and the danios seemed fine, but now my favourite Molly was sitting on the bottom panting...

I couldn't stand to lose her so I lowered the temp again, back down to like 28C.... not going to kill the ich this way I guess.......

Just about to go check again. If she is dead I shall cry

OK! Everybody seems fine again at 28C... WHAT SHOULD I DO

should I try to get back up to 30C?? Or just leave it at 28? Or go back to 26C which was normal??

HELP!!!

you may be left with no alternative to using a medication.

 

[TCfishies]

could be... but I'm pretty sure the last lot of meds is what killed the rummy nose that died yesterday, so it is not an appealing idea....

too sad

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I don't believe those meds will kill fish that aren't already suffering from something. Rummynose tetras aren't that sensitive, from what I understand.

 

[Squidward]

I agree. Don't think the meds would have killed your fish.

My understanding is that by raising the temp of the water, you increase the speed of the life cycle of the parasite. The meds kill the free swimming part of the life cycle, not the cyst on the body. Also, the free swimming stage doesn't like higher temps, so that helps there too.