Ich Medication safe for peacock eel and kuhli loaches

[Juliak]

Hi, I have a 55 gallon planted aquarium that has been set up for about two years now, I recently bought new kuhli loaches for my LFS and unfortunately didn't quarantine them.??‍♀️ I now have ich and it is starting to spread among my other fish... here is my stocking:

55 gallon planted:
3 angelfish
1 blue orchid betta
20 neon tetras
1 Bolivian ram
1 siamese algae eater
3 snailes (2 nitrite and 1 golden wonder apple)
about 6 kuhli loaches
and one ~3" peacock eel (will later be moved to a different tank once grown)

I have already tried using salt (I have a heater but I can't adjust the temp. on it) but my fish started stressing out (the kuhli loaches and the eel) so I did a large 50% water change to get it out... the salt was in there for about a full day/part of the night...

Two days later I tried to get a hold of Ich-x but none of the stores nearby had it.. the only medication I was able to get was super ick cure. Yesterday I used a half dose of it (as stated on the bottle) and removed the filter media to put in a large bowl with water (as to not kill all the beneficial bacteria) but my loaches and eel started acting funny (loaches swam up and down the sides of the tank constantly and eel stopped being active like he usually is). After noticing that, which I did another ~50% water change. I know this was not the best for the fish as it must have been very stressful but I'm not sure what else I can do.

Does anyone have any suggestions about what to do?

I was thinking of going to the store and buying a better heater which I can adjust to 84~86 degrease as well as an air pump (I have a hang on the back filter at the moment). I could also order Ich-X from Amazon and it would hopefully come in 2-3 days.

I really need advice on how to treat this with kuhli loaches and a peacock eel in the tank (would the ich-x be safe)?

Thank you!

 

[Circus]

Loaches have smaller and thinner scales. This makes them more susceptible to both disease and meds. I believe the recommendation is 1/2 dose for loaches. Not sure about eels. I would suggest a very large water change to destress. Most ich meds will also kill inverts, so you might want to remove your snails.

 

[Circus]

The best thing is heat. I would try the to up it to 82°F, but am not sure if the loach or eel are ok at the temp for the 10 or so days.

 

[Juliak]

Okay, I did do 1/2 the dose and they acted funny so I stopped... thank you so much for the suggestion, I'll search up the temp and see what I can do. I just got back from Petco and got a 55g adjustable heater and an air pump for circulation and to oxygenize the water. I might try salt in a couple of days if the heat doesn't work. Once again thank you, and any additional feedback will help!

 

[itiwhetu]

I would just get an adjustable heater/thermostat and increase your temperature by about 4 degrees.

 

[itiwhetu]

If you are using heat to cure ich it takes 10 days to 2 weeks. You won't get a result in 2 days

 

[Colin_T]

Do an 80-90% water change and complete gravel clean every day until you can get a better heater. Then raise the water temperature to 30C (86F) and keep it there for 2 weeks, or at least 1 week after all the spots have disappeared off the fish.

The big water changes and daily gravel cleaning will dilute the number of white spot parasites in the tank and buy you some time until you get a better heater.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

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Salt does not treat white spot.

White spot can live quite happily in water that is less than 86F. Having a temperature of 82F or similar only speeds up the white spots life cycle so it spreads faster.

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Increase aeration/ surface temperature when using heat or medications to maximise the oxygen levels in the water.

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The following link has information about white spot. Post #16 has different ways of treating it, including moving fish to a clean container each day.

What is ICH?

This is a common question that is often asked, what is ich and how is it recognisable and what causes it? The real term is ICHTHYOPHTHIRIASIS. OR commonly known as white spot. It is an extremely comon parasite that affects aquarium fish. It is highly infectious and potentially lethal and...

www.fishforums.net

 

[Juliak]

Okay, the you! Just out of curiosity if I don't add any medications (like ich-x, quick cure, etc.) Or aquarium salt at all but just increase the temperature to 84° then would my fish fight off the ich by themselves/the ich would die or would it still kill the fish Eventually unless I add salt?

 

[Juliak]

Do an 80-90% water change and complete gravel clean every day until you can get a better heater. Then raise the water temperature to 30C (86F) and keep it there for 2 weeks, or at least 1 week after all the spots have disappeared off the fish.

The big water changes and daily gravel cleaning will dilute the number of white spot parasites in the tank and buy you some time until you get a better heater.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

-------------------
Salt does not treat white spot.

White spot can live quite happily in water that is less than 86F. Having a temperature of 82F or similar only speeds up the white spots life cycle so it spreads faster.

-------------------
Increase aeration/ surface temperature when using heat or medications to maximise the oxygen levels in the water.

-------------------
The following link has information about white spot. Post #16 has different ways of treating it, including moving fish to a clean container each day.

Thank you so much, I ended up going to the store and buying a 55 gallon (150 watt) adjustable temperature heater as well as a air pump and set them up in my tank (I set the heater to 80° and will slowly make it higher throughout the next two days untill it reaches 86°). With these supplies do you think I should do a 50% water change daily as well as add salt, or as you said (salt doesn't necessarily treat it) and I should just stick with the heat and water changes without meds or salt?

Thank you

 

[itiwhetu]

Okay, the you! Just out of curiosity if I don't add any medications (like ich-x, quick cure, etc.) Or aquarium salt at all but just increase the temperature to 84° then would my fish fight off the ich by themselves/the ich would die or would it still kill the fish Eventually unless I add salt?

Salt doesn't kill ich. Heat speeds up the life cycle and rids your tank of it.

 

[itiwhetu]

Thank you so much, I ended up going to the store and buying a 55 gallon (150 watt) adjustable temperature heater as well as a air pump and set them up in my tank (I set the heater to 80° and will slowly make it higher throughout the next two days untill it reaches 86°). With these supplies do you think I should do a 50% water change daily as well as add salt, or as you said (salt doesn't necessarily treat it) and I should just stick with the heat and water changes without meds or salt?
Thank you

I would just let the heat work it's magic. Put the fish under the smallest amount of stress as you can. If you can avoid water changers at the moment good job.

 

[Juliak]

Salt doesn't kill ich. Heat speeds up the life cycle and rids your tank of it.

Oh, I do remember reading that most strains of ich can't survive with salt in the water, so do you suggest not adding it with the risk of the ich increasing or adding the salt just in case even though the kuhlis and eel are sensitive to it?

 

[itiwhetu]

Oh, I do remember reading that most strains of ich can't survive with salt in the water, so do you suggest not adding it with the risk of the ich increasing or adding the salt just in case even though the kuhlis and eel are sensitive to it?

That comes down to your research and what you feel is best for your fish.

 

[Juliak]

I would just let the heat work it's magic. Put the fish under the smallest amount of stress as you can. If you can avoid water changers at the moment good job.

Alright, I'll do that...thank you, I really appreciate the help, the fish being sick and stressed is stressing me out??. I'll let you know how its going in hopefully about a week (unless it starts getting even worse). Once again I really appreciate the feedback from everyone, thank you!

 

[Juliak]

That comes down to your research and what you feel is best for your fish.

Okay, thanks