Ich

[severina]

I changed 50% of the water (hopefully getting ride of 50% of the parasite).
I'm slowly raising the temp to 85.
No salt, there's a plec in there.
I removed the carbon from the filter.
After the temp reaches 85 I will add something called PreventIch which was recomended to me by the lady at the lfs because it only kills parasites and not my precious bacteria.
And I'll be turning the lights out for a week as soon as I get everything settled.

Anything I missed? Anything anyone would like to correct me on?

Its a 55 gal with 9 tiger barbs (half of which aren't infected), 6 minnows (which oddly enough are not infected), a dwarf gourami (with 2 spots), and a plec.

Just wanted to ask, because last time I delt with ich I lost all my fish.

 

[drango91]

well if the pelc isnt infected yet move him and treat the main tank, when white spot is at the floating in water stage THAT is when you add the ich killer, when it gets on the fish it is immune to the medecine untill in goes through the stages again

 

[tttnjfttt]

I would add the medicine now. No point in waiting to begin killing some of the parasites. I would also recomend treating the plec. There still is a chance he is infected and not showing dots yet.

 

[severina]

Its been 25 hours since the first treatment. When I added the second dose I checked out my fish and some look worse. When I first started the most one fish had were 3-4 spots, now one of my little barbs is covered. Is it normal for it to get worse before it gets better!? I don't want to lose my babies

 

[tttnjfttt]

It can definately happen, as the white spots is only one of the four stages. Keep treating and increasing the temperature. Also, adding an airstone can help increase the oxygen in the tank, as meds tend to decrease the oxygen. This can help your fish out as well.

 

[severina]

Ok thank you! I've been increasing the temperature, its almost 90 now. I'm thinking of lowering the water level by 5-10 gallons to give it more splash instead of buying an airstone. As a matter of fact..I will do that now. Thanks again!

 

[tttnjfttt]

WOw, be careful with how high you raise the temperature...you are really pushing the maximum upper level.

 

[nmdelrio]

... when white spot is at the floating in water stage THAT is when you add the ich killer ...

Curious ... how would you know that they are in the floating-in-water stage? Would you see them floating in the water? How do they look like? Can you lower the temp then?

 

[tttnjfttt]

You can't see the parasite when they are in the floating in the water stage. They are very tiny. Usually you assume they are in all four stages in your tank at once. For example, you don't see all the spots drop off the same day, then suddenly show back up again. In general, its best to treat for a few days after the last spot falls off.

 

[kimmers318]

You can try some stress coat for your fish also....I have had luck both times with it helping the fish fight off the ick themselves and I haven't seen a recurrence of any ick. The first time was in my daughters tank...the fish were stressed...too small of a tank (our bad, we know better now) and the 2nd was a clown loach I purchased with ick, Q'd him for 2 weeks, upped the temp a little for 2 days, dosed with stress coat, did more frequent water changes and haven't seen the ick since day 2 of owning him. I have never put any ick medicine in either time.

 

[severina]

That sounds all fine and dandy, but I'm just so scared because I've never been able to successfully treat it. I lost 2 oscars, and 3 cories to it.

 

[tttnjfttt]

One thing that i didn't see was your water stats. Have you checked those? Often times fish get sick because something is wrong with their water.

Other than that, it sounds like you are doing everything right at the moment.

 

[severina]

Water stats are perfect. I think it was because the barbs were new, and therefore freaking out.

 

[tttnjfttt]

Ah, that would do it. Good luck!

 

[severina]

It took 12 days...but there is no longer ick in my tank, I didn't lose any fish, nor was I or my fish exposed to any harmful chemicals. I would like to add, that even though there is a plec in my tank that I went ahead and added a little salt anyway. 1 tablespoon for every 5 gallons one day..and the same the next day (resulting in 2 tablespoons per 5 gallons). I think it was this and the 3 50% water changes that did it. So, anyone who wants to get rid of ick, follow the instructions on this thread.