Ich-x

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Mrsmoore30

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What's your opinion on Ich-x for treating ich? I've treated my tank twice now thinking it was gone & for the third time it came back! I feel like everytime I turn the heat down (at 2 weeks) no more than a week later & I'm seeing white spots on my Tetras again. I've looked into lots of info & still feel like I'm missing something, or doing something wrong. I've followed the instructions on the current med. I've been using (API Super Ick Cure) & I'm thinking now, this meds just not cutting it. After looking up info & reviews on Ich meds I found Ich-X to have the best reviews. I want to order some while treating with what I've still got at least. Will it be okay to switch meds like that? Should I do a major water change before hand to help clear out previous meds I've been using? Also, I've bleached & let my fish net & gravel vac sit out to dry after for a week before reusing. Please! Any & all tips you can give will help. TIA!

Tank Stats: 20 gallon, freshwater. 5 Tetras, 3 platys, 1 Bristlenose (pleco) 2 live plants 1 Anubias nana, 1 Ludwigia repens. Temp @ 82°F.

- Testing water parameters & doing water changes weekly (I use the API Freshwater Master Test Kit.)
PH 7.6
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate sits between 10-20ppm
 

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The best way of getting rid of ich is raising the temperature by around 6 degrees or to 84 degrees F. Leave the tank at that temp for 10 days. Then slowly reduce the tank back to normal.
 
Just noted your tank is already at 82 so go to 86. 82 is very warm for platties and bristlenoses!!
 
Ich-X has a combination of Formaldehyde and Malachite Green which is very effective.
Ingredients: Water, Formaldehyde (<5%), Methanol (<2%), Malachite Green Chloride (<0.1%).
Turn off light when you use this medication.

How long did you treat your tank?
Usually after all the white spot are gone( when you don't see any white spots on the fish), you still need to treat for another 7-10 days to kill the remaining parasite eggs that may hatch later.

API Super Ick Cure Active Ingredients: 3.6 mg Malachite Green and 60 mg Nitrofurazone per packet.
It has Malachite Green that is sensitive to light. Light will deactivate the Malachite Green.
Turn off light when you use this medication.

You don't need to increase the temperature if your temperature is at 82F, unless you want to kill it with heat and without any medication.

Please do a large water change before you switch medication.
If possible, run your filter with carbon for a few hours to clear the previous medication.
If not, just do as large water change as possible.
 
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Do you have carbon in the filter?
This will remove the medication and stop it working.

What is the expiry date on the medication?
Has it been kept in a warm room, near a window, or in bright light?
Heat and light destroy the medication quicker.

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Have you worked out exactly how much water is in your tank?

To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.

If you have big rocks or driftwood in the tank, remove these so you get a more accurate water volume.

When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

You can use a permanent marker to draw a line on the tank at the water level and put down how many litres are in the tank at that level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "FishForum.net Calculator" under "Useful Links" at the bottom of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.

Remove carbon from the filter before treating or it will adsorb the medication and stop it working.

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

Do a 80-90% 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 to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
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.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration when using salt or medications because they reduce the dissolved oxygen in the water.

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The safest way to treat white spot is with heat. Raise the water temperature to 30C (86F) and keep it there for 2 weeks, or at least 1 week after all the white dots have gone from the fish.

Before you raise the temperature, do the things listed above (big water change, gravel clean substrate, clean filter, increase aeration).

The following link has information about white spot and how to treat it. Post #1 and post #16 are worth a read.
 
Thank you everyone! I will use some of this new information & apply it to what I've already been doing. I have not figured out exactly how much water is in my tank but I will work on that today. I have removed the Carbon filter everytime & placed a new one in as instructed after the treatment process & water change has been completed. (Following instruction on API Super Ick Cure) it is 2 doses, over a 96 hr. Period (4 days) It does not however instruct me to retreat again afterwards. That could be what the issue has been. I have quite a bit of surface agitation going between my AirStone and Filter, I did increase both a little each time I've medicated. The tank/filter itself was bought brand new (as a kit) in the beginning of January & has only had fish in it for a little over a month. My fish came home from my LPS with Ich & I've been fighting with it ever since. Should I still clean the filter since I've had it running/with tank mates for about 8 weeks or leave it be? I've been cutting my own carbon filter pieces each time with Imagitarium Carbon-infused filter pads as well. Think that may cover most of what was asked. As always, TIA for any follow up info or help.
 
Should I still clean the filter since I've had it running/with tank mates for about 8 weeks or leave it be?
If the filter has cycled (developed the beneficial filter bacteria) and you don't have an ammonia or nitrite reading, and the filter hasn't been cleaned in the last 2 weeks, then clean it.

You don't need carbon in a filter unless you have chemicals or heavy metals in the water. Most people simply remove the carbon and put a sponge in its place. Sponges last for years and get squeezed out in a bucket of tank water and re-used.

If you need to remove chemicals/ medications from the tank, do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.
 
Update: Please help! I've been using Ich-x for 4 days now. Following all instructions exactly as is. Almost everyone's Ich free (with the exception of a couple spots) besides this White skirt Tetra (picture attached.) This one's mind boggling me, every day it's gotten a little worse actually. I feel like everything I've tried is failing this poor guy. Is this normal for some, for it to get worse before it gets better? Or am I dealing with something else (misdiagnosis) here?
 

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The photo does show ich.

It does take a few days for the parasite to get big enough for us to see. The bug had probably infected the fish just before you started the medication and is now becoming visible. Since meds can't kill the parasite in this stage, or the next, you need to continue the treatment until every last one gets to stage #3.
 
I have successfully treated ich in the past by raising the temp to 86°F, but recently bought a bottle of Ich-X as it's considered to be the top shelf for ich treatment. But I have yet to use it. As mentioned, it is important to extend any ich treatment 10 days to 2 weeks after you no long see spots to ensure the buggers (cysts) are done for.
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I'd also agree that 82°F is a bit warm and your fish may be happier at 76°-78°F. Platy's are cousins to swordtails (that I breed, raise and sell). My swordtail tanks are around 75°F. Culls go into the unheated turtle tank and seem to do just fine with the fathead minnows at 60°F!, although in general, I wouldn't recommend a temperature that low.
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Footnote: I recently 'harvested' a dozen and a half swordtails from one tank for a sale. The next day, there was an ich outbreak in that tank. I believe now that it was from the stress of chasing fish around with a net. I added the 86°F heater and all white spots disappeared in less than a week and did not return - go figure. (note that the fish that went to the LFS never showed any signs of ich.)
 

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