You should wait at least 21 days before you consider the ich to be gone, it hides in little packets on the floor of the aquarium and infests stressed (new) fish easily. Me personally, i'd wait at least a month.
heat treatment on ich
- Thread starter Paul_MTS
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David
Neptune, god of the Sea
Okay then I'll try that. I have already raised the temp to 86, now for the water changes. Should I stop using meds and stick to just high temp and water changes? Should I try salt (no more clown loaches)? Any suggestions appreciated.
David
Neptune, god of the Sea
How long does it take for them to die when in these "little packets"?luxum said:
shrimpster97
Fish Crazy
on the medicine box it say, no need to raise temperature. 
They don't die in the packets (tomites, cysts), they must be vacuumed out. If the temp is too low, they will reproduce in the cysts and become free swimming, infecting your fish. The free swimming stage is also the only time that meds can effect them. It's a question of achieving balance, and you know your fish better than i.
As far as your question regarding meds, if your fish are tolerating them well and you are uncomfortable not using them, then keep using them. If you want to try an alternate method, then discontinue them and use temp + daily water changes. It would not hurt to combine these methods. Keep in mind that the meds themselves could be stressing your sensitive fish, and that sometimes ich infests the gills invisible to you, so it may be that all these times you thought it was gone, it was really still there but hiding behind their gill covers. IMO salt is not effective, but it may reduce stress in species that naturally have some salt in their water and have an indirect effect.
As far as your question regarding meds, if your fish are tolerating them well and you are uncomfortable not using them, then keep using them. If you want to try an alternate method, then discontinue them and use temp + daily water changes. It would not hurt to combine these methods. Keep in mind that the meds themselves could be stressing your sensitive fish, and that sometimes ich infests the gills invisible to you, so it may be that all these times you thought it was gone, it was really still there but hiding behind their gill covers. IMO salt is not effective, but it may reduce stress in species that naturally have some salt in their water and have an indirect effect.
astroboy
Fishaholic
This is the method i used with great success. Its up to you to try.
1) Gravel vac really well and do a water change.
2)turn up the temp in increments of 2 until you hit at least 86.
3)Add 2-3 teaspoons of whatever kind of salt you want per gallon of water. For example. in a 55g your target would be 110 teaspoons/gallon. Add the salt over a period of a day or two. Every few hours, dissolve it in a bucket with water from your tank and then add it in (i added 10 teaspoons every few hours until i hit 110 teaspoons).
4)Continue with your regular water change schedule (remember to replace the salt lost through water changes).
5)Continue treatment for 1-2 weeks after the last signs of ick.
1) Gravel vac really well and do a water change.
2)turn up the temp in increments of 2 until you hit at least 86.
3)Add 2-3 teaspoons of whatever kind of salt you want per gallon of water. For example. in a 55g your target would be 110 teaspoons/gallon. Add the salt over a period of a day or two. Every few hours, dissolve it in a bucket with water from your tank and then add it in (i added 10 teaspoons every few hours until i hit 110 teaspoons).
4)Continue with your regular water change schedule (remember to replace the salt lost through water changes).
5)Continue treatment for 1-2 weeks after the last signs of ick.
David
Neptune, god of the Sea
Salt seems a bit risky since my fish are exclusively FW, so I think I'll stay away from it for now. I do vacuum every time I do a W/C, so how come the ich is still there? 
Anyway I'll just keep using the meds in conjunction with the raised temp and hope for the best. If not, I lose an angel. So be it. Then I'll wait at least a month before adding new fish, while vacuuming thoroughly every week to get rid of as much ich as possible. Sound good?
Anyway I'll just keep using the meds in conjunction with the raised temp and hope for the best. If not, I lose an angel. So be it. Then I'll wait at least a month before adding new fish, while vacuuming thoroughly every week to get rid of as much ich as possible. Sound good?Similar threads
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