Stubborn Ich!

[Electric Warrior]

So last week my rummy nose came down with the dreaded whitespot.  I noticed in the evening that all of them had it, but none of the other fish in my tank.  I immediately went out during my lunch break the next day and purchased some Esha Exit.  I dosed the tank as per instructions for three days in a row, but there was still some whitespots on the 4th day, so I continued to dose as per instructions.  I lost 6 rummnose over the week and now have four left, all of which are free of whitespot.  My discus, rams, cardinals, and bnp never got it, and have been fine.  A few of my hatchetfish appear to have it still, mainly just on their fins.  They are from two different places, and the smaller ones that I got from one source seem to have it, while the ones from the other source don't.  Those are the only fish left in my tank that are still physically showing ich, but they are acting normal, eating, etc.  What do you think I should do? I have continued to dose the same amount as the second and third day, as per instructions, which also state that you can continue to dose for two or three more days.  I dosed the same amount last night, as that was the 7th day of dosing.  The instructions state that "In cases with little or no improvement, a 50% water change (no additives) and a combination of Esha 2000 with Esha Exit in their full standard three day dosage is highly affective."
 
Should I do a water change and then start again?  I am reluctant to try salt because I have heard totally mixed reviews about people using salt with bristlenose plecos in the tank.  Is anyone familiar with Esha Exit?  My tank is due a water change because I haven't done one this whole week while I have been medicating.  Any advice would be appreciated!  Thanks.

 

[lrhodes]

Water changes and vacuums really help with ich! I have recently experienced thebdrwaded ich and had a really hard time. I tried the salt/heat method first because of my plecos (scaleless fish.... which most meds are dangerous to them). But that method made it worse! The BN and my common survived. My rubber lip did not... I think the heat killed him.
So I went to meds. I used quICH cure by AP. And did the dose it said for tetras. Which was 1 drop per 2 gallons. Along with often gravel vacs. After almost all my guppies died, the ich was pretty much gone. (The ich killed killed them. Not the meds. I was losing like two a day the whole time!)
But my plecs survived!
So.... gravel vacs really help. Because it helps rid of eggs or whatever the sacs are that fall off then fish.
And even after you don't see spots on the fish anymore, do a couple a few more gravel vacs and treatments of the meds, to kill the eggs when they hatch.

 

[star4]

I have used esha exit I found it brilliant. It does sound like you may have a particularly strong strain of Ich. Esha 2000 is a broad band anti everything sort of medication. The trouble with Ich is it can appear when a fish is sick due to its immune system being low you can have one fish in the tank covered in it and nothing on the others. I would do as the instructions say, so your wc and combine the two medications as per the instructions. Or if you have a spare tank I would in this instance suggest you move the affected fish so you can monitor what is going on. Check for signs of worms, just in case this is the underlying reason for the persistent ich.
 
The other thing could be if the "ich" is still only on the fins of the hatchets it may not be ich, but damage to the fins where the parasite was, which has become infected making it look like the fish still has ich, If you have a magnifying glass you might be able to tell if this is the case, but on something as small and fast as a hatchet I dont envy you that. The combination of esha exit with esha 2000 is to keep killing the ich parasite and the esha 2000 to help with building back up the immune system and treating any wounds from the parasite.
 
 
Hope this helps.

 

[Electric Warrior]

I have used esha exit I found it brilliant. It does sound like you may have a particularly strong strain of Ich. Esha 2000 is a broad band anti everything sort of medication. The trouble with Ich is it can appear when a fish is sick due to its immune system being low you can have one fish in the tank covered in it and nothing on the others. I would do as the instructions say, so your wc and combine the two medications as per the instructions. Or if you have a spare tank I would in this instance suggest you move the affected fish so you can monitor what is going on. Check for signs of worms, just in case this is the underlying reason for the persistent ich. The other thing could be if the "ich" is still only on the fins of the hatchets it may not be ich, but damage to the fins where the parasite was, which has become infected making it look like the fish still has ich, If you have a magnifying glass you might be able to tell if this is the case, but on something as small and fast as a hatchet I dont envy you that. The combination of esha exit with esha 2000 is to keep killing the ich parasite and the esha 2000 to help with building back up the immune system and treating any wounds from the parasite.  Hope this helps.

Hi. I don't quite understand the. "No conditioners" part of the instructions though? Like if I do a WC, am I not supposed to use any Prime then? Does Prime count as a "conditioner?" Also a bit worried about the 2000. The one time I has to use it, I only had 4 snails and now I have quite a few. From what I understand, it kills snails? I remember I couldn't find two of them, but I dosed 2000 anyways, and as soon as I did, they started climbing the glass in a hurry like they were trying to get out, fast. With the hatchets, it's hard to tell but it looks like ich as it looks like grains of sugar all over their fins. I cant see any on their body though? I think that might be what I have to do though to make sure the ich is gone?

 

[star4]

That was the only bit that worried me to be honest the no conditioners, luckily I used it on my 200l tank so I left buckets to stand overnight rather than use a dechlorinator just in case. Its been a long while since I used Esha 2000 if I remember correctly I had trumpet snails, they were not affected, but I couldnt guarantee it. 
 
If you are overly worried contact Esha directly. They usually get back to you pretty quickly and are really helpful.
 
http/www.eshalabs.com/contact.htm

 

[Electric Warrior]

Yeah, I don't have enough buckets and I needed to do a wc, because of the kind of fish I keep; a week is too long.  I did a 50% wc using Prime, so I think I will wait until tomorrow now and do a combo treatment of Exit/2000 just to make sure.  The spots on the fins of the hatchets look a little bit better today, but they are definitely still there.  Hopefully this will kick it.  I have the temp at 30C, and I guess I will keep it there for a few more days until I finish treatment...

 

[star4]

Fingers crossed, although it does sound like they are over the worst of it.

 

[Electric Warrior]

So, I dosed Exit again this morning, which I will continue to do as per instructions for the next two days.  The hatchets seem to have hardly any spots at all now, although a couple of them have some slights rips/tears on their fins.  I also dosed Esha 2000 this evening, which I will continue do for two more days as well.  Sure enough, within minutes of it going in, all of the assassin snails came up from out of the sand and started climbing the glass.  It does contain copper, so I am not surprised, but last time I had to use 2000, I only had three.  Now I have like 30.  I plucked them all out and out them into a temp container which I will keep them in until I finish the 2000.  All of the tetras that are left are completely free of white spot, and the discus, rams, and bristlenose never seemed to have picked it up at all, thank God!!