# First Time With Ich, Need Advice



## ThatNewGuy (Sep 11, 2013)

Hello All. 

I've got a 55 Gal Freshwater Planted Aquarium. After 8 months or so being set up, I've been stricken with ich. 

I needed to relocate the tank anyway, so I dismantled the entire thing, drained it, cleaned the rocks, put the plants and fish in a 10 Gal QT while I was doing this. Anyway, I got it set back up, let the Temp stabilize and at the advice of my GTG at my lfs, treated the tank w/ acriflavine MS. Now, it made the tank look disgusting, and I later found out that with my clown loaches and pictus cat, it could do them harm. So it's been 3 days since I've added that, I've done two daily 30% WC's since then, upped the temp to around 83 at this point and added aquarium salt. 

Am I taking the right steps? Obviously when I added all that new water I used the bacteria boost solution and added water conditioner each time. Is there anything else I can be doing to avoid deaths? So far there haven't been any casualties. TIA!

Nick


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

How are your fish doing? Are the spots going away?

Rid Ich+ or Quick Cure is the only thing/way I would treat ich. Both are med cocktails and usually have the spots gone by the 2nd-3rd day. Your scaleless fish will require only half dose, but even then it's effectiveness is not reduced.

I have never heard of the med you mention. Usually you treat ich with the entire tank. there is no need to do a big break down and you just dose the water and it is gone in a few days. You treat 3-4 days beyond the last spot seen.


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## starrysparkle (Aug 4, 2013)

removing the fish doesn't do much since it is on the fish themselves and in the tank ,, you have to treat the tank with the fish in it and im with jrman83 I like quick cure by ap pro and rid ick plus by kordon both products work well,, I have had ich numerous times and kicked it with in a week with those products,,, change the water like the meds recommend and you should be fine ,,, I also added salt which is good for the fish ,, but I never heard of anyone recommending breaking down the tank ??


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## aussyrain (Nov 20, 2011)

Are the fish still in the 10 gal. tank? I would let the 55 cycle if you can. Ich is a bear getting rid of in a 55 with fish. The salt and higher temp should kill off the ich, especially with no fish to attack. It takes time tho because the ich has a cycle where nothing effects them. You can read about it online like I did with some research. It's been 2 years ago I had it in my 55 from some less than 1" loaches I got form the fish store. I lost one clown loach, the other was getting bigger and I lost him to a darn tank ornament he got stuck in!! Anyways they along with tetras and some other fish need lighter doses of meds. I used quick cure. It got rid of the ich but turned all my hoses blue, I just replaced them. I wish you luck. Ich sucks!!!!
Edit: I reread your post and the fish are in the 55 right? You need to treat the tank. I tried the salt and temp method but, ultimately the Quick Cure did the trick. Also, I have never heard of acriflavine MS for ich and have not used it.


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## ThatNewGuy (Sep 11, 2013)

The fish seem to be doing fine. I only broke down the tank because I wanted it moved. I didn't do that simply because they had ich. I moved the fish into the QT because I needed a place to put them while I was cleaning it and moving it. I'm using salt and heat as an alternative treatment to meds. I just wanted to see if there was anything else I could be doing. Or if changing the water 30% daily would hurt anything.


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## ThatNewGuy (Sep 11, 2013)

The fish are not still in the 10 gallon. They are back in the 55. The water parameters seem to be alright. Not a trace of ammonia. Plus some gravel that wasn't cleaned went back in the tank. Along with the filter media that wasn't cleaned. So I know I've still got plenty of bacteria from the old water.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Like everyone else said quick cure or rid ich +.Water changes and vacumm the gravel well.You can just fill the 55 and cycle it normally(fishless cycle) and you will not have reoccuring ich as it needs a host to survive .So if it took 2 weeks to cycle(just rough guess) then the ich will be dead if there is not a host.
Now it could still be on your fish and in the QT.I've never read of acriflavin being recommended for ich.The meds of choice are malechalite green and formulin(both in the meds mentioned).Salt may work (I will never trust it to kill ich) and raising your temp to 86 if fish will tolerate it will SHORTEN the lifespan of ich.
Ich | The Skeptical Aquarist
If you reinstalled gravel that wasn't cleaned get meds or watch the spots come back in under 4 days!


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

A temp of 83 will do nothing. Temps of about 85 cause it to stop multiplying, but not until temps of 87 or so do you start to kill it. This can be extremely stressful to certain fish and can take a while. I'm about doing things naturally if you can but most fish problems get exponentially worse by as little as one or two days. Have meds like Quick Cure on hand, treat ich as soon as you see on the very first fish and you'll never loose a fish from ich or ever see it for more than 2-3 days. Goes for most issues.


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## choutman (Mar 6, 2012)

I use bifuran to battle ich takes just a few days and its all clear follow instructions on the bottle its a powder form works very very fast though ...good stuff...good luck


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## ThatNewGuy (Sep 11, 2013)

The heater is having trouble keeping it above 83 at this point. Unfortunately I don't have access to quick cure atm. The clown loach appears to be improving, he's very active and eats like a pig. Just as always. The spots are slowly going away. Unfortunately I lost the pictus last night. I think the stress got to him. No other fish have spots, so I think everyone else is doing very very well. I'll continue the "elevated" temperature and salt until I can get a hold of one of the treatments you guys have reccomended.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

A 150 watt or max 200 watt heater should be able to get you to higher temps.If your heater is "old" I would consider getting a replacement.
according to my aqueon pro "guidelines" a 150 watt heater should be able to raise your tank temp.up to 10 degrees higher than room temp. and a 200 watt should be capable of 15 degrees higher than room temp.If the room your tank is in is less than 70 degrees you could go with a 250 watt heater.


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## ThatNewGuy (Sep 11, 2013)

I'm happy to report that the last sign of ich was gone 2 days ago. I kept up the treatment and will keep it in the tank until around 9 PM this evening. Obviously there's no carbon in my filter atm, but I've got some brand new filter media with carbon in it ready to go tonight. I got the rid ich as well, worked like a charm.

Also just finished testing for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. Not a trace of any of them. If I had to guess it's a combination of the plants, water changes and bioboost that helped get the biological filter back up and running again. Water parameters are perfect, and all the fishes seem happy, even my loach made it through!


Thanks for your help everybody! *w3


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## fishboy (Jul 15, 2012)

ThatNewGuy said:


> The heater is having trouble keeping it above 83 at this point. Unfortunately I don't have access to quick cure atm. The clown loach appears to be improving, he's very active and eats like a pig. Just as always. The spots are slowly going away. Unfortunately I lost the pictus last night. I think the stress got to him. No other fish have spots, so I think everyone else is doing very very well. I'll continue the "elevated" temperature and salt until I can get a hold of one of the treatments you guys have reccomended.


Don't pictus cats school?


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## ThatNewGuy (Sep 11, 2013)

fishboy said:


> Don't pictus cats school?


Yes, they do, though apparently many have had success with a single fish. He just didn't make it through the ich :l


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