Unmedicated Ich Treatment

[fish4brains]

I was asking about white spot medication at the lfs, a customer overheard me talking to the sales guy and told me a safe way to treat white spot (in my blue hippo) is to increase the areation in my tank and increase the water temp to somewhere between 82 and 85F. Also I was reading other fourms about the garlic in food preventive measure. Has anyone heard about the increased oxgyen and temp method to get rid of white spot? Has anyone else a non-medicated home remedy to cure whit spot?
All home testing I have done shows my water is in great condition, I am very new so am still on schedule with water changes changing out 25% each week. I would love any help.

 

[raptorrex]

I was asking about white spot medication at the lfs, a customer overheard me talking to the sales guy and told me a safe way to treat white spot (in my blue hippo) is to increase the areation in my tank and increase the water temp to somewhere between 82 and 85F. Also I was reading other fourms about the garlic in food preventive measure. Has anyone heard about the increased oxgyen and temp method to get rid of white spot? Has anyone else a non-medicated home remedy to cure whit spot?
All home testing I have done shows my water is in great condition, I am very new so am still on schedule with water changes changing out 25% each week. I would love any help.

well upping the temp will help fight white spot, but only in combination with some form of medication. however i have heard of tea tree oil being effective against whit spot, indeed its the major part of melafix. so you would not be putting artificial chemicals in if you use that.

 

[WILDER]

Garlic more for internal parasites then whitepot.
Whitespot can soon kill a fish, some members have had results with high temp and aeration, but I wouldn't risk it.

http/p103.ezboard.com/fthegoldfishandaqu...opicID=26.topic

http/www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/ich.shtml

 

[WILDER]

http/www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-10/sp/index.php

 

[vinylman]

All you need to get rid of whitespot is Protozin.

 

[Meds081603]

increased oxygen does nothing to remove ICH. temps of 85 for 2 weeks will kill ich if your fish can handle it. i put temps at 85, add 1 tbsp of aquarium salt per 5 gallons and increase aeration. you only need increased oxygen because higher water temperatures lower the oxygen level. the salt gets the ich off the fish and the high temps kill the ich.

 

[Bignose]

bobo, you have been very misinformed. Melafix, tea tree oil, is a mild antibacterial medicine, and since ich is a protozoa, anti-bacterial medications will have zero effect on ich. Maybe, if the fish have huge sores, melafix could be added after the ich has been completely eliminated to help aid the fish's recovery. But, you really should not mix medications, so adding Melafix while treating ich with another medicaine is a really poor idea.

Meds is on the right track here, but you have to be careful with just using the temperature method. You fish will show signs of stress as well, so they have to be monitored -- it does no good to kill the ich if it also kills the fish. Also, there are strains of ich that can survive well over 90 degrees F today. So, you have to watch very carefully. In addition, the salt method, is okay -- if and only if -- you have salt-tolerant species. If you have species that are very salt-intolerant (like some tetras, corydoras catfish, etc.) the salt could do more harm than good. This is where research about the species you keep pays off.

I would highly recommend a read-through of The Skeptical Aquarist's page on ich: http/www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/ich.shtml This will talk about ich's life stages, how ich is only vulnerable to treatment (all treatments, whatever you choose!) for a small portion of its total life. The page also talks about many of the ich myths the remain alive on the Internet and the actual facts about ich. The most important thing if to know thy enemy and this page is one of the best collectionf od ich information on the Internet.