Ick Question

[ALEXF]

Hello, as you may or may not know im dealing with an ick situation. Today was the fourth day of dosing and have had no deaths in the past 24 hrs.... BUT... i have a question. I normally do water changes weekly and that time is comming up soon. So i wonder if i do a water change will it destroy my progress? Or will it be ok so long as i dose that day after the water change? or should i just leave it alone altogether til im done dosing. Im worried about my levels getting to high and adding that to the list of my problems. If anyone could shed some insight on this it would be appreciated. Also would good for the fish if i did a huge water change? like 90%....

Thank You,

Alex

 

[ALEXF]

Bump.

 

[Colin_T]

you can do water changes while treating but you must re-treat the tank after the water change. The water change dilutes the medication and if you don't get the medication levels back up to where they should be, then there's a chance the parasites might not be killed off and could re-infect the fish.

If you do a 90% water change try to make the water up before you use it and make sure it is dechlorinated and has a similar temperature & PH to the main tank. If it isn't you could kill the fish with chlorine or stress them further with a massive temperature change.

Most people don't bother doing a water change in the middle of treating for whitespot. Missing a water change shouldn't make the nitrates go too high, too quickly. If you are concerned about the water quality deteriorating then reduce the feeding. The less food going in the lower the nitrates will remain. The fish won't starve during this time.

 

[ALEXF]

Ok so after the treating probably by next weekend i could do the water change but maybe not as much water, Maybe Do 20 gallon changes every day for the next 3 days on a 55 gallon tank (fri,sat,sun)???

 

[Colin_T]

yep a few days after you have finished treatment, then do some daily water changes to dilute the medication.
Just make sure you keep the treament going for at least a week after the spots have gone from the fish. The whitespots fall off the fish and spend a few days multiplying in the gravel. Then they hatch out and re-infect the fish. The medication can only kill them during the free swimming stage before they infect the fish.

 

[ALEXF]

ok so im looking at 2 weeks worth of treatment?

 

[Colin_T]

depending on temperature and the medication being used, yep about 2 weeks of treating the tank. In warmer water, around 28-30C it might be less. In cold water, around 10-15C it can take a month or so to get rid of.

 

[ALEXF]

....o thats not good.... my tank is between 83-84 degrees and im using something called ich attack. ehhhh this is no good.... no good at all....