Ich Outbreak

[Circus]

I have an outbreak of Ich in one of my tanks. I have 9 cardinal tetra (all of whom seem to be affected) 9 Ember Tetra (none infected) 15 Pygmy Corys (none infected) and a BN pleco. 2 devil snails and 1 Mystery Snail. Can I safely treat the whole tank with salt?

 

[AilyNC]

I don't think the Pleco is ok with salt when treating ich with Plecos in my tank I raised temp to over 30 celsius for 2 weeks, increased aeration with air pump/stone, and did big gravel cleaning before raising temp. This was advice I got from here.

 

[AilyNC]

Here's the link to a more detailed post:

What is ICH?

WHAT IS ICH? Ich or Whitespot is a parasitic protozoan that infects fresh, brackish and saltwater fishes. It is identified by small white spots that appear on the fish's body & fins. There are several stages to this parasite's lifecycle and it must be noted that the parasite can only be killed...

www.fishforums.net

 

[Circus]

I will qt the infected ones to treat with salt then and raise temp in tank and in qt.

 

[AilyNC]

Best of luck with it. Hopefully all fish are ok

 

[seangee]

I will qt the infected ones to treat with salt then and raise temp in tank and in qt.

No point in QT. Once its in the tank its there and you need to get rid of it. Your plecs will be fine at 30C. No need for salt unless your fish have been hit really hard and are suffering. I would just raise the temp for 2 weeks.

 

[AquaBarb]

Was just typing as Sean replied.
I second that

 

[Byron]

Agree. Moving the ich-infected fish is only ensuring they have more difficulty as the additional stress prevents the fish's immune system from functioning. You need to kill the parasite in the tank, and the safest method here is increasing the water temperature to 86F/30C for two weeks.

 

[Circus]

Awesome, thank you guys! I raised the temp before I left for work and will see how they are when I get home.

 

[Circus]

Three of my Cardinal Tetra have died and my Pleco is showing ich spots now, but the Pygmy Corydoras look good, and the Ember Tetra are still looking okay.

 

[AilyNC]

Sorry about the tetra. Hopefully the rest are ok. Keep testing water and keep temp up.

 

[Byron]

Some fish species are more resilient to ich than other species. Cardinal tetra are not one of these, so if the ich had proceeded to the several spot stage, it was well established. Nothing beyond heat will deal with this though, it is in the free swimming stage only that we can kill the ich and the higher temp does this. In other words, we cannot kill the ich faster than this is being done.

 

[Circus]

The Ember Tetra are now all infected. Very heavily spotted with Ich. The Pleco has a couple of patches. The Corys look okay still. Only 3 of the 9 Cardinal Tetra are still alive. This isn't looking good.

 

[AilyNC]

Hopefully they're ok & can shake it off. I just finished heat treatment course. Looks ok so far, just lowering my tank temp slowly. Best of luck with it

 

[Circus]

In the end I have 2 cardinal tetra left, and all of my ember tetra were lost. The catfish are all hanging in there, but are very shy for the lack of dither fish.