Question About Ich And Water Temp

[tintin]

Hi,

I managed to get rid of a bout of Ich quite quickly a couple of weeks ago and so cocky was I that I i'd done a good job I lowered the temp (in stages) and thought everything was hunky dory. Looking in the tank today I think its back (but only a couple of specs on two of the fish right now.)

I've raised the temp again and will do a major water change in the morning once the buggers are free-swimming but my question is this -

How much of an issue would it be to maintain my tank temp at 29/30 degrees? I appreciate that on this occasion I lowered it too soon but I wonder of there would be benefits to leaving it at that level permanently. Given the fish I have (see sig) would this be an issue for them in the long term?

TT.

 

[Ren&Stumpy]

that tank is not good for the Clown loaches in the long run.

it depends what temps your fish can tollerate over long periods of time and oxygen levels etc

 

[tintin]

I guess I was asking what most community fish will tolerate happily.

Why no good for the loaches?

 

[Colin_T]

Try not to keep most tropical fish in water that is warmer than 26C because they age faster and diseases grow faster in warm water.
Don't raise the temp until you have medication in the water because you will only speed up the parasites life cycle. And without medication the whitespot will only multiply faster and cause more damage.
Make sure you keep treating the tank for a week after the spots have gone.
Quarantine any new fish, and wash any new plants before you add them to the main tank.

 

[tintin]

Well I guess that answers my question, thanks very much.

Incidentally, i'm trying to cure the ich without using meds. I turn up the heat, leave it for 24-36 hours and then do an 80% water change/vac. Then consequent 25% water changes/vacs every other day for a week. It worked last time, I just didn't leave the temp up for long enough.

The spots have already gone this time too after I did the big water change yesterday.

 

[Colin_T]

The spots (parasites) actually fall off the fish after a couple of days. Then they sit in the gravel multilying before the cysts rupture open and release lots of new parasites. You should do a complete gravel clean and big (50-75%) water change each day while trying to get rid of it without medications.
If you want to treat it naturally the best way is to move the fish into a new tank/ container each day for a week. The parasites fall off the fish and hatch out after a few days. But without fish in the tank the whitespot parasite dies and the problem is solved.
High temperatures won't kill whitespot unless the temp is above 32C.