Help - Ick!

[TallTree01]

Hi all, woke up this morning to find my rummynose tetras cover with little grains of salt. I'm assuming this is early stage ich as it looks very similar to picures I've seen online.
The ammonia and nitrite have been 0 for ages and the nitrates shouldn't be too high as I change 30-50% water weekly and have lots of plants.
How do I treat it? The tank is 90 liters.
I have rummynose tetras, flame tetras, otos and kuhli loaches.

 

[Marty.h]

Im new to keeping fish but having done research raising the temperature is a good way to help clear it as well as treatment. The temp you can go upto will also depend what fish you presenly have in tank. Have a google while you waiting for a reply from one of the experienced people on here there is loads of info out there. Hope all goes well

 

[ShinySideUp]

There are many Ich treatments which work well when used correctly. The Ich parasite has stages in it's life span that need to be allowed to complete with the treatments coming when they are most vulnerable. The most important thing when using these treatments is that you must have no carbon in your filter as it will filter out the very thing you want to keep in the water, only when treatment is finished should you return to the carbon -- although most aquarists don't use it at all as it is largely unnecessary in a healthy tank.
 
IMHO raising the temperature is a little risky as what might kill the ich might also kill some types of fish. Follow the meds instructions though and be careful if you have Clown Loaches as they need a different dose because of their skin type.

 

[gabriel.mihu]

I had ich, on neon tetras, buenos aires tetras and giant danios.
Everybody I spoke with: no medication - just increased water temperature and salt for 10 days. I read LOTS of documentation on this before choosing a treatment plan.
 
I did this treatment three times, as new fish came in with ich in my tanks. I used recommended tablets for a few days - no results.
 
I put 1tbsp/5g of water of kosher salt (no other type of salt - kosher salt, that has no iodine or other stuff in it); I raise the temperature from 72-74 to 82-84 over 24-48 hours. The air pump running 24/7. Day 0 - white spots. Day 1 - mostly gone. Day 2 - white spots... and so on, for about 3 cycles. By day 7 or so, I didn't see any more spots. Waited 2 days after the last white spots. Decreased temperature over 24 hours. 50% water change.
 
In one case, after 7-8 days I stopped using the quarantine tank, as there still were some lonely white spots on a couple of neon tetras. I put them in the big tank. The fish were not stressed anymore, the ich was gone. Ich appears more in stressed fish.
 
Anyways: salt, heat, patience and happy fish - that cures it. That's it.

 

[Gvilleguy]

Tall tree please let us know how it goes! I have never had to treat it but am interested to learn what works.

 

[TallTree01]

I have api aquarium salt. Can I use this and if so how much for my tank?
Also, in conjunction with raising temp to about 30 degrees, how long will the treatment take?
Don't have time to order in meds treatment as no LFS carry it.

 

[evan47]

most people get ich in their tank sooner or later. usually after introducing new fish without quarantining them.
WaterLife make a great anti white spot and fungus treatment that will give visible results within a couple of days and it is also harmless to plants. using this combined with raising the temperature to 30c for 10 - 14 days while performing regular water changes (i did 20% daily) should get rid of the problem. 

 

[gabriel.mihu]

With the salt go to 1 tablespoons/gallon (that bout 5 tablespoons total)... depending on how much your fish can stand. Most of the fish should have no issues with that much salt - none of my fish had. Only the water in one tank turned foggy when I put the salt in, and stayed foggy through the duration of the treatment. MAKE SURE you put the salt over 24 hours: half now, half after 24 hours. Salt helps the fish breathing, so they can withstand better the high temperature over the duration of the treatment; it also helps killing the parasite according to some sources. Heat helps the parasite reproduce faster, and also kills the parasite in a certain stage of its life, before infecting the fish.
 
Duration: keep the heat on until you see no more spots on the fish for 2-3 days.
 
API aquarium salt: I don't know it it's pure table salt, or if it contains something else. I used kosher salt, as on the label says: 100% salt (NOT sea salt). It costs $2 for 5 pounds or so. It should be 100% salt, nothing else. If API salt is that, use it.
 
This is my outcome:
Ok... 10 day treatment; temperature 86-90F (30-32C) - I did my best to keep it constant; salt - 2 tablespoons/5 gallon - first day 1tbsp/5gal + second day 1tbsp/5gal.
 
Ich disappeared the second day, with an outburst on the fourth day on a couple of giant danios.
 
Late day 5 ich disappeared and did not appear again until the end of the treatment.
 
Kept everything running for 5 more days to be sure.
 
Today all fish are healthy.
 
These are my fish here, I saved all of them with this treatment:
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/427656-ich-or-not-appeared-overnight/

 

[TallTree01]

Ok I added 4 tsp of api salt over the past 12-18 hours and the tank is 30 degrees. The ich appears unmoved ATM. Let's see what happens.

 

[TallTree01]

The Ick appears to have gotten WORSE! There are more specks on my rummynose.
Could this be a ' get worse before it gets better ' situation or am I doing something wrong?
Tank is at 29 degrees and there is salt in water as directed.

 

[squidneh]

Not sure if it was a typo or not, but you say you added 4 teaspoons of salt, whereas gabriel.mihu suggested 5 table spoons. The kuhli loaches may be sensitive to the salt as they are scaleless, so just keep an eye on them after the dosing and perform water changes if they become distressed.  I have never encountered ich personally, but my research has found that salt and heat is the most effective form of treatment.  Should this not work though I would begin to look into medicines.  There are different stages of ich, which is why the temp must remain raised for a prolonged period of time, to kill off all of the disease.
 
I'm unsure of why your case seems to have gotten worse, unless the 4tsp was infact not a typo and you simply underdosed by accident.
 
Good luck, best wishes

 

[TallTree01]

Oh crap, I haven't added enough salt have I?
I added 4 tsp. how much more should I add?
Damn I'm an idiot.

 

[TallTree01]

One of my rummynose has died.
I have added 3 TABLESPOONS of salt. Please work!

 

[squidneh]

Glad I was able to clear that up for you, and very sorry about your loss 

 

 
Remember the goal is to keep constant salt throughout the course of the treatment.  As the previous poster recommends, I believe you cut the dosing in half for the second day.
 
There's a big difference between teaspoons and tablespoons so this is probably why it didn't work with the small quantity.  Hopefully everything will go better from now on.

 

[littigger1983]

I woke up this morning to find that my domino molly had delivered her babies and also to find that my tank has broken out with white bubbly bumps.  I am trying to verify that it is indeed ICH.  Very Very distress.  Any help would be appreciated.