Just Noticed Ich - Best Way To Treat It Now?

[ey2006]

My friend just noticed two of her clown loaches with 3-4 white spots on their tail and dorsal fin.

She has a 400L tank with 5 clown loaches (3" each), tank has been running for 7 months. She's had the clowns for a month.

What would be the best thing to do right now? I know with white spots, its always best to treat it ASAP.

The water stats are (as per last night):

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20
PH 6.8

She has purchased some white spot medication but she wasn't sure if she should do a water change before putting the medicine in and other factors such as raising the temperature and turning the lights out.

From what I've read, the temperature should be raised to 28-30 C and there should be increased aeration and the lights should be turned off. Is this correct?

The medication says to repeat dosage after 3 days - should any water changes be made during the treatment?

Thanks for reading, any feedback would be appreciated.

 

[KimA]

I had to deal with this a few weeks ago - I did a 20-25% water change first, upped the temperature (gradually) to 27.5-28 degrees, kept the lights off for the duration of the medication, increased aeration (unless meds say not too), then added the meds. Unless the med says otherwise, I wouldn't do a water change at all during medicating the tank, but would do one once the course has finished/whitespot looks like it's cleared up.

All the best.
KimA

 

[emma12321]

Hi,

What medication did she get? Clowns are very sensitive to meds and should generally only be treated using half dose. I've had sucess with interpets antiwhitespot+ at half dose, doing two treatments.

Emma

 

[ey2006]

I had to deal with this a few weeks ago - I did a 20-25% water change first, upped the temperature (gradually) to 27.5-28 degrees, kept the lights off for the duration of the medication, increased aeration (unless meds say not too), then added the meds. Unless the med says otherwise, I wouldn't do a water change at all during medicating the tank, but would do one once the course has finished/whitespot looks like it's cleared up.

All the best.
KimA

Thanks KimA for the reply. How did you go with the treatment? Is it essential to keep the tank lights out during the treatment? What branded medication did you use?

Hi,

What medication did she get? Clowns are very sensitive to meds and should generally only be treated using half dose. I've had sucess with interpets antiwhitespot+ at half dose, doing two treatments.

Emma

Hi Emma, thanks for the reply. She got some ich medication made by "Aquamaster", are they any good? She told me it was the only one the LFS had and they said it worked for other customers, so hopefully this is a reputable brand.

 

[KimA]

Hi,

I used Protozin by Waterlife - my LFS recommended it as they use to treat their tanks, so I gave it a go and it worked a treat. You use the recommended dose for your size tank on days 1, 2, 3 and 6 of treatment, so it's a gradual build up of medication rather than one big hit (then I did a water change on day 8).

I did keep the lights off (main lights and my moonlight) during treatment as Ich apparently needs light (was a pain not being able to see the fish properly for a week, but well worth it in the end).

Rgrds
Kim

 

[ey2006]

Hi,

I used Protozin by Waterlife - my LFS recommended it as they use to treat their tanks, so I gave it a go and it worked a treat. You use the recommended dose for your size tank on days 1, 2, 3 and 6 of treatment, so it's a gradual build up of medication rather than one big hit (then I did a water change on day 8).

I did keep the lights off (main lights and my moonlight) during treatment as Ich apparently needs light (was a pain not being able to see the fish properly for a week, but well worth it in the end).

Rgrds
Kim

The dosage is a bit different with the Aquamaster one I think. My friend told me it said to use the same dosage througout (5mL for every 40L) and to repeat after 3 days.

I just spoke to her and she said that all the white spots seem to have disappeared, is this a good sign? Should she continue treating the tank for ich (and put in another dosage in 3 days time)?

Hi,

I used Protozin by Waterlife - my LFS recommended it as they use to treat their tanks, so I gave it a go and it worked a treat. You use the recommended dose for your size tank on days 1, 2, 3 and 6 of treatment, so it's a gradual build up of medication rather than one big hit (then I did a water change on day 8).

I did keep the lights off (main lights and my moonlight) during treatment as Ich apparently needs light (was a pain not being able to see the fish properly for a week, but well worth it in the end).

Rgrds
Kim

The dosage is a bit different with the Aquamaster one I think. My friend told me it said to use the same dosage througout (5mL for every 40L) and to repeat after 3 days.

I just spoke to her and she said that all the white spots seem to have disappeared, is this a good sign? Should she continue treating the tank for ich (and put in another dosage in 3 days time)?

Also, did you feed your fish much during the treatment period? My friend isnt sure whether or not to feed the fish since there is medicine in the tank.

 

[KimA]

I would definitely add the next dose after 3 days, just to make sure the Ich has cleared up - won't hurt the fish, and hopefully means that you won't have to start all over again, and would carry on feeding the fish, don't see any reason not too unless the meds say not, but can't see that.

Finger's crossed!
Kim

 

[ey2006]

Since putting in the first dosage on Wednesday, we've noticed that the white spots have disappeared.

If the instructions on the medicine says "repeat treatment after 3 days", would that by inclusive or exclusive? So if the first dosage was put in on Wednesday, should she put the next dosage in today (Saturday) or on Sunday?

Also, how can you tell when ich is fully gone?

Thanks

 

[KimA]

Since putting in the first dosage on Wednesday, we've noticed that the white spots have disappeared.

If the instructions on the medicine says "repeat treatment after 3 days", would that by inclusive or exclusive? So if the first dosage was put in on Wednesday, should she put the next dosage in today (Saturday) or on Sunday?

Also, how can you tell when ich is fully gone?

Thanks

Dosage instructions aren't very clear sometimes are they

If the meds were put in on Wednesday morning then I would put them in Saturday evening, if they were put in Wednesday evening then I would put them in Sunday morning (then hopefully all bases are covered).

Hopefully the ich has cleared if the spots have gone (not a complete expert on this, but that's what I've done), but I would still do the next dosage of meds just to make sure, keep those lights off, then if all's still looking okay do a water change 48 hours or so after the final dosage.

Kim

 

[ey2006]

Thanks for the reply Kim, will keep you posted as to how the treatment goes, hopefully no fish will be lost and the ich can be destroyed completely!

 

[millym]

hi
keep using the med as it states even if you cant see any more spots - want to make sure its completely gone from the fish......its a bit like us & antibiotics you need to take the whole course of medication even if youre feeling better halfway through. theres some good articles /pinned topics on ich in this forum if you/your friend want more info on the disease
i have yoyo loaches & used waterlifes protozin ( reduced dose with loaches present ) & it worked really well.
good luck

 

[ey2006]

hi
keep using the med as it states even if you cant see any more spots - want to make sure its completely gone from the fish......its a bit like us & antibiotics you need to take the whole course of medication even if youre feeling better halfway through. theres some good articles /pinned topics on ich in this forum if you/your friend want more info on the disease
i have yoyo loaches & used waterlifes protozin ( reduced dose with loaches present ) & it worked really well.
good luck

Thanks for the reply millym. The medicine states to continue treatment after 3 days, but doesn't say for how long. Thanks for pointing out the articles and pinned topics, we've checked them out and hopefully the ich can clear up for good.


Its been 8 days since the first dosage, and there hasn't been any white spots on the clown loaches since the 3rd day my friend put the 1st dosage in. Is this a good sign?

She did a small water change so she could vacuum the gravel before putting in the 2nd and 3rd dosages.

How long should she continue putting the dosage in before stopping the treatment, since the white spots have disappeared from the fish now (though they could be swimming somewhere in the tank or gravel)?

 

[KimA]

Hiya,

Hopefully a very good sign that it's cleared up - if the meds don't say when to stop treatment/how long to continue, I'd give the lfs they were bought from a telephone call to see what they advise as they use/recommended it (I tried to look it up on the web to see if I could find out any more info on when to stop that particular brand, but had no success).

Kim

 

[ey2006]

Thanks Kim. I'll find out from the LFS! Thank you for your helpful replies. Hopefully neither you or my friends tank has ich again!

 

[ey2006]

I just checked on my friend's tank while I was there, and we both saw something terrible. One of the clown loaches, for 3 seconds, was rubbing its body on the gravel, like a twitching movement. Does this movement/reaction suggest there is still ich in the tank? We then observed every clown loach and every fish in the tank for any white spots and none of the fish had any white spots.

That clown loach only did it for thost 3 seconds, after that we observed the tank for a good one hour and none of the fish including "that" clown loach, did any more twitching.

The next dosage is due tomorrow, but before we saw the clown loach rubbing itself on the gravel, my friend was going to end the treatment and skip tomorrow's dosage. Should she put one last dosage tomorrow to see if the twitching still occurs?