Treating Ich With High Heat ?!?

[SlyPolak]

so the heat has been on 88/89 for 9 days and I have not seen ANY spots in the last 4 or 5 of them!! BUT I still see them scratching their gills like crazy!!! Can anyone HELP me out and tell me if this is normal?? Like I said NO spots but still scratching.


ALSO--a ram that is also scratching has a SUPER THICK slime coat and has clamped fins!!-- looks almost gray

 

[snowflake311]

This sounds like the ich is just in the gills out of site. Keep doing what you are doing if it's getting better you are winning the battle don't give up. The heat treatment can and will take longer to work. Good luck be strong you will beat this.

 

[SlyPolak]

THANKS!!! I figured its in the gills.... could the Ich also be causing the thick slime coat??? Also/// how long do yall think I should keep this heat up that high,,, dont want to stress them out by over-heating!!!

 

[snowflake311]

Yes any parasite can cause extra slimecoat. You might need to treat for a month.

Do the fish seem extra stressed? You have good surface movement right because that will help keep O2 levels up.

 

[SlyPolak]

No they dont seem stressed at all, acting like they did when the tank stayed at 80 ---- happy and hungry as usual. I have a 12 inch air stone in there too so I think thats plenty of air, never seen a fish bobbing for air besides the gouramis and betta but thats normal. I was just worried that the extra slime coat might be caused by something else, but its good to know its because of the Ich.


A month You sure, I have no problem doing it for a month but I just dont want to over do it.


EDIT:: SPELLING

 

[TheHolding]

High temp around 31 degrees c and a little aquarium salt does the trick.

Don't be falled by medication just be sure to increase oxygen levels when increasing the temp as high temp water has less oxygen!!!!!

 

[SlyPolak]

Yeah, I have my tank up around 88/89 F which equals 31/32 C .....I added just a tiny bit of salt because I have a fully planted tank and I did not know how my swords/aponogeton/ and lillys would react to the salt and heat combined-- doesnt seem like the heat is bothering them too much which is a good thing!!! I also have some sensitive fish thats why I chose the heat VS meds.. Like I said before they also have PLENTY of O2... Its just annoying to see them still scratching and the thick slime coat even though I havent seen any spots in almost a week!!! Its getting there!!!!

 

[TheHolding]

Good luck mate.

As someone else said ich isn't really a big deal as long as you deal with it properly and with patience.

 

[SlyPolak]

Thanks, its just frustrating and a little worrying to have ANYTHING wrong with my tank...