Heat to treat Ick? Or Ick-X?

[clambert122]

So. I put in a new German Blue Ram in my tank 2 days ago, and today, he is covered in Ick. First ick case in my tank.

I have already drained 1/3 of the water, filled, and put in Ick-X to start the treatment cycle. But this is a 150 gallon tank, and draining and treating back in 50 gallons a day for 2 weeks is going to be... painful, and a small fortune in Ick-X.

I read you can just crank the heat up to 85 for 2 weeks and call it a day? I would still continue to cycle the water of of the tank in large quantities as well.

My main concern is the temp would do harm to the fish that high for 2 weeks?


In the tank with him are the following

6 baby angel
5 black molly
5 platies
4 Bolivian Rams
4 Dwarf Gourami
1 pleco
5 guppys
2 bali sharks
1 rainbow shark

plants


I would be concerned for the Gourami's for sure I would think? Right now I have it at 80, and I think that is pretty near the top of their tolerance.

Also, I already have a Fluval in-line UV-Treatment device.

On a side note. Bolivian Rams.

These guys just act really weird. They all school together all day long and move around the tank almost as if they are a hive mind. No aggression. No territorial behavior.

As soon as food gets dumped into the tank though, the biggest of them starts going crazy attacking all the other Rams in the tank. Like, lip locking drag to the bottom thrash around attacks.

Any way anyone can think of to prevent this other than to be present at feeding time and beating the side of the tank when they get out of line? THey always quite when i smack the tank for a good 10-15 seconds.

 

[Guyb93]

85 doesn’t sound high enough to me I’d go for more 87and two weeks won’t harm the fish these fish in the wild in hotter months can see high temperature

 

[Colin_T]

To treat white spot with heat, raise the water temperature to 30C (86F) for 2 weeks, or at least week after all the white spots have fallen off the fish. Anything less than 86F won't kill the white spot parasites.

Most of the fish you have come from warm water and will easily tolerate 86F for a couple of weeks.

--------------------
When you do raise the temp, monitor it with a thermometer in the aquarium water. Don't rely on the heater setting, which might not be 100% correct.

Before you raise the water temperature, do the following things.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge.

Do a 75-90% water change and gravel clean the substrate. The water change and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish, and buy you some time for the heat to work.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.
NB: If you use chemicals, make sure you remove carbon from filters because that removes chemicals form the water.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the oxygen levels in the water.

*NB* Don't use heat and chemicals together because you will kill the fish. Either use heat or chemicals, but not both.

--------------------
If the heater struggles to keep the water warm enough, you can insulate the tank with sheets of 1 inch thick polystyrene foam. You buy this from a pet shop or foam store and tape it to the outside of the tank.

Put a sheet on the back and sides and see how it goes. If the heater still struggles put a sheet on the front of the tank.

Have coverglass on top of the tank. This will trap heat in the aquarium. Use coverglass that are 4, 5, or 6mm thick. Thinner coverglass tends to chip and crack more easily.

If the tank is still not holding temperature, remove the light unit and put a sheet of foam on top of the tank. Make sure there are no lights or electrical devices under the top sheet of foam because it can melt or catch fire. And it can get quite humid under the top piece of foam, which can cause electronic devices to short out.

If all else fails, heat the room or add another heater to the tank.

 

[clambert122]

Thanks for the advice! I have already started a chemicals treatment immediately last night using Ick-X, and I set the temp to 80.

I have an Inkbird system for the temp control, so its pretty accurate. It monitors the temp, and then activates the heater or chiller as needed.