# Is there something else I can do to help further the operation for ICK?



## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

Hello.

I currently have ick in my 10 gallon tank, it seems to be a parasitic disease, and my severums, and a few of my small angelfishes have it. My fishes are very small still, along with my hatchet fishes do have it too. I've used Noxick or something like that. I don't know how to spell it, but I bought it from my local fish store, and they said that they use that to treat the ick that gets on the fishes too.

I've removed the Carbon in my filter (charcoal bag in my aqua clear 20) for my 10 gallon so then I just put in 10 drops today and then tomorrow I will do the same thing again. Is there something else I should do? My other tanks doesn't have any of it. I recently put my blue gourami into my infected ten gallon tank and I think it should be okay in my 10 gallon tank, because if it does get it, I will be able to treat it I hope. I put it in there because it was chasing my new lavender gourami.


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## OP_tiMus-pRiME (Jul 8, 2009)

Check the ingredients list of the med you bought. It should contain methlyne blue AND/OR copper. If in contains neither, trash it. 

I would continue using the meds (assuming they contain above chemicals) and also turn the temperature up a few degrees and add some aquarium salt (1 tbsp per 5 gallons). Make sure you add an extra aerator should you turn the temp up.

Best of luck!
Luke


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## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

OP_tiMus-pRiME said:


> Check the ingredients list of the med you bought. It should contain methlyne blue AND/OR copper. If in contains neither, trash it.
> 
> I would continue using the meds (assuming they contain above chemicals) and also turn the temperature up a few degrees and add some aquarium salt (1 tbsp per 5 gallons). Make sure you add an extra aerator should you turn the temp up.
> 
> ...


Thanks. I have the ingredients. The only active ones are sodium chloride and malachite green. Although when I put it into the tank water, it turns blue. Is that anything useful?


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## ladyonyx (Apr 20, 2009)

Malachite green is important, and is typically very effective in treating Ich. I generally treat fish with Ich for 10 days-3 weeks depending on the severity of the infection. After you finish treating the tank, be sure to do plenty of water changes; their immune systems will be lowered after an Ich infestation, and you want to make things easy on them. 
Just so you know, when treating Ich in the future, copper-based medications are harmful to Labyrinth fishes like gourami's (family Anabantidae). Malachite green doesn't contain copper, so you're OK there. Good luck!


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## OP_tiMus-pRiME (Jul 8, 2009)

Yes, malachite green is effective, but really you could just kill the ich with salt plus temp change IMO.

best of luck
luke


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## Dmaaaaax (Nov 20, 2008)

OP_tiMus-pRiME said:


> Yes, malachite green is effective, but really you could just kill the ich with salt plus temp change IMO.
> 
> best of luck
> luke


Exactly what he said. Just add some aquarium salt and turn up your temp little by little over 82-84C if you can. Keep it there for at least a week even if the ich is gone, because these are parasites, and you want to kill the complete cycle.


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## Chickadee (Nov 15, 2008)

You really do not need meds at all if you just raise the temperature slowly to a level of 82 degrees Fahrenheit and leave it there for a period of 14 days without taking it down. The lifespan of the parasite is 14 days and it will leave the host fish at that temperature and cannot survive without a host. The parasite will die off and the fish can then have a water change and the ich should be off the fish. It is always present in the tank but since it is a cool water disease, it will not attack your fish if the tank is warm enough and the fish are healthy to start with. Since this fish is Amazonian it is used to warm waters and can handle a temperature of 78 to 80 degrees easily and this should be enough after the ich is cleared up to keep it from redeveloping.


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## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

ladyonyx said:


> Malachite green is important, and is typically very effective in treating Ich. I generally treat fish with Ich for 10 days-3 weeks depending on the severity of the infection. After you finish treating the tank, be sure to do plenty of water changes; their immune systems will be lowered after an Ich infestation, and you want to make things easy on them.
> Just so you know, when treating Ich in the future, copper-based medications are harmful to Labyrinth fishes like gourami's (family Anabantidae). Malachite green doesn't contain copper, so you're OK there. Good luck!


Thank you  My Severum had the MOST ick infestation but I don't see many. About 1 or 2 is the most I've seen through my observation of 10 minutes looking into my tank. Also, I don't see any of my other fishes having ick. I should probably do a water change everyday then. Should I?


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## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

Chickadee said:


> You really do not need meds at all if you just raise the temperature slowly to a level of 82 degrees Fahrenheit and leave it there for a period of 14 days without taking it down. The lifespan of the parasite is 14 days and it will leave the host fish at that temperature and cannot survive without a host. The parasite will die off and the fish can then have a water change and the ich should be off the fish. It is always present in the tank but since it is a cool water disease, it will not attack your fish if the tank is warm enough and the fish are healthy to start with. Since this fish is Amazonian it is used to warm waters and can handle a temperature of 78 to 80 degrees easily and this should be enough after the ich is cleared up to keep it from redeveloping.


Thanks, although my heater isn't very strong with the heat. My heater in my 29 gallon tank goes up to 95ºF and I currently keep the tank water at 84ºF in my 29 gallon tank. My ten gallon tank only goes up to 78ºF Not high enough I suppose.


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## Chickadee (Nov 15, 2008)

No you just need to get the temperature up somehow. You really do not need to keep the other tank at 84 degrees...usually 80 is high enough to prevent disease. But you really need to get the tank with the ich in it up to 82 at least for the next 14 days if you want to get rid of the ich first. Is there any way you can get an adequate heater for the tank that is really more important at this point than medication as the ich will return if you allow the tank to be cool.
If you do daily water changes it will not do anything but cool the water down. I would wait for the 14 days then do a big water change.

Rose


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## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

Chickadee said:


> No you just need to get the temperature up somehow. You really do not need to keep the other tank at 84 degrees...usually 80 is high enough to prevent disease. But you really need to get the tank with the ich in it up to 82 at least for the next 14 days if you want to get rid of the ich first. Is there any way you can get an adequate heater for the tank that is really more important at this point than medication as the ich will return if you allow the tank to be cool.
> If you do daily water changes it will not do anything but cool the water down. I would wait for the 14 days then do a big water change.
> 
> Rose


Alright thank you for replying.

Unfortunately I don't know if I can. I could try and see if my temperature can go higher.. although I have 20 W lights but I doubt that will help keep the water warmer. Although this isn't the first time ick has inhabited my tank. I had a small baby Oscar in my fish tank before and it died of ick. Unfortunately that was about 2 yrs ago. 

So please tell me. How does ick occur? I haven't had it in my tank for so long.


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## JIM (May 27, 2009)

*The parasite is always present in cool aquarium water, the key to keeping it under control is always provide you fish with the exception of cool water species with warm water. Cold water, in tropical fish causes stress which makes them more likely to get it*


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## Chickadee (Nov 15, 2008)

Yes, JIM is right. As far as I know unless the tank is warm your fish will keep getting the parasite.

Rose


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## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

JIM said:


> *The parasite is always present in cool aquarium water, the key to keeping it under control is always provide you fish with the exception of cool water species with warm water. Cold water, in tropical fish causes stress which makes them more likely to get it*


Okay, but then when I had goldfishes they did not get the ick to be growing on them. How does that work?


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## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

Chickadee said:


> Yes, JIM is right. As far as I know unless the tank is warm your fish will keep getting the parasite.
> 
> Rose


So I am guessing that temperature in the 70's for the Fahrenheit isn't warm enough?


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## JIM (May 27, 2009)

DarkRevoultions said:


> Okay, but then when I had goldfishes they did not get the ick to be growing on them. How does that work?


Goldfish are a cold water species and can tolerate, and in fact prefer cold water. therefore it does not cause stress.


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## Chickadee (Nov 15, 2008)

I would say that if the heater could hold a temperature of 80 it would be sufficient but with that heater holding at 78 and your fish being infected it is evidently not enough so while 78 would usually be enough, I am doubting that this heater is keeping that temperature all the time. It sounds like it is barely large enough to handle that tank or else is defective. You need a 50 watt or 75 watt heater that is enough to maintain that tank and I would seriously recommend a good quality one like the Visitherm Stealth for one reason.

This heater is lifetime warrantied and if it fails they will replace it. You will need to keep the box and receipt from the purchase but it is well worth it if you want to maintain the warranty. I have NEVER had one fail on me as I truly believe these people make these heaters to last so they never have to replace them. They stand behind their product and the product is also not made of glass so there is no chance of glass breakage in your tank as I did have happen with the Visitherm Deluxe heater. I realize it costs a bit more but in my opinion if you are having to replace cheaper heaters every couple of years you are going to have to pay much more in the long run for them or if your fish are dying and you replace a couple of fish you have paid more than one heater will cost.

I never skimp on a heater, it is the one thing in the tank that I insist be good quality even more than a filter. A cheap sponge filter will filter your tank but a bad heater will fail and cause you no end of problems.

Rose


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## Oldman (May 25, 2009)

The problem with the cold vs hot water is an easy one. Ich is a parasite that either is or is not present. If it is present, fish will become infested with it and until you kill it off in that tank it will recur. It can take longer to notice the ich in a cool tank because the parasite's metabolic rate slows down and it will take longer to become established in your fish. Once you have treated effectively for ich, it is no longer present in your tank and fish will no longer become infected. Effective treatment means continuing treatment long enough after all symptoms are gone to completely kill off the ich parasites that are in the part of their life cycle where they are not on the fish. A short period of the ich life cycle is spent in the tank's gravel and it is the free swimming stage that will cause new infestations. It is also the free swimming stage where the parasite can be killed by various treatments. There is a very informative writeup on the ich life cycle and some of its treatments here. The Skeptical Aquarist


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## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

Chickadee said:


> I would say that if the heater could hold a temperature of 80 it would be sufficient but with that heater holding at 78 and your fish being infected it is evidently not enough so while 78 would usually be enough, I am doubting that this heater is keeping that temperature all the time. It sounds like it is barely large enough to handle that tank or else is defective. You need a 50 watt or 75 watt heater that is enough to maintain that tank and I would seriously recommend a good quality one like the Visitherm Stealth for one reason.
> 
> This heater is lifetime warrantied and if it fails they will replace it. You will need to keep the box and receipt from the purchase but it is well worth it if you want to maintain the warranty. I have NEVER had one fail on me as I truly believe these people make these heaters to last so they never have to replace them. They stand behind their product and the product is also not made of glass so there is no chance of glass breakage in your tank as I did have happen with the Visitherm Deluxe heater. I realize it costs a bit more but in my opinion if you are having to replace cheaper heaters every couple of years you are going to have to pay much more in the long run for them or if your fish are dying and you replace a couple of fish you have paid more than one heater will cost.
> 
> ...


Thanks although I managed to turn the heater up to 79.5ºF but I am pretty sure that should be enough. It's only .5ºF from 80.. and the parasites, I can't find anymore. Although I probably hope that performing a water change everyday that may help.


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## Oldman (May 25, 2009)

If you can't find the parasites any more, keep treating the tank for at least 5 more days. Otherwise, you and your fish get to start all over again.


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## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

Oldman said:


> If you can't find the parasites any more, keep treating the tank for at least 5 more days. Otherwise, you and your fish get to start all over again.


Thank you  I managed to get the water heated up to 82F. So now I will be treating for 5 more days, and I will still do water changes every single day, and then I hope this will be fine  

All of my fish are doing well in this treatment, except for my favorite marble angel. It is still small, but the largest of all of the small ones and it is suffering  I don't know what else I can do. I'll have to put the carbon back in soon because my water at the top seems to have some thing at the top that looks like grease. I have seen this before, it may be due to too many fishes in my tank, or that the charcoal (carbon) has not been in my filter. I really do hope that this will go away after, but my marble angel is dying and I can't do anything to help it  Not even my own remedies work.


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## orion (May 31, 2009)

well heck just seems like a lil less than overnight the ick has attacked my freshwater 

i went to the petstore to get the lil tabs that get rid of it but it is bad i hope it helps tank water is 80 degrees and added the salt as well i cant believe how fast this happend i fed them last night and was watching them and no sign at all this morning got up and went to enjoy my babies and the white spots were all over them and they were huddled around the ornaments in the tank 

i about started to cry so i immediately went to the pet store to get some anti ick for 1 it doesnt look good but for the other 4 they are shy now but look ok

i must have brought it home from the petstore when i got a plecto last week 

man the despair


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## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

orion said:


> well heck just seems like a lil less than overnight the ick has attacked my freshwater
> 
> i went to the petstore to get the lil tabs that get rid of it but it is bad i hope it helps tank water is 80 degrees and added the salt as well i cant believe how fast this happend i fed them last night and was watching them and no sign at all this morning got up and went to enjoy my babies and the white spots were all over them and they were huddled around the ornaments in the tank
> 
> ...


Oh wow! my tank has no more ICK. So how many gallons is your tank? I just do water changes all the time for about one week. So I guess I should take all of the advice from what all the others said. That you should put in ick medicine, and they should have malachite green in them. Do a water change every day, and turn the temp up to 80ºF or higher.


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## orion (May 31, 2009)

10 gal fresh first fresh in years done it for the wife to try 

well before i done the medicine i done a 25 % water change my heater will keep up with it i usually have the water about room temp here at home neways just been watching them and added a lil stress zym to help out as well 

as far as air i have plenty of that ahhahahaahhaha 

this is the first time i have had a issue with ick in my life and it sux here is a good article i found on the web

The Skeptical Aquarist


the platties seem to be doing alot better now though i am praying


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## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

orion said:


> 10 gal fresh first fresh in years done it for the wife to try
> 
> well before i done the medicine i done a 25 % water change my heater will keep up with it i usually have the water about room temp here at home neways just been watching them and added a lil stress zym to help out as well
> 
> ...


Lol. I doubt that doing water changes and adding stress zyme will help you.. Praying definitely doesn't work on fishes. Unless you have some mystic healing abilities..

Does your pet store have any ICK medicine? Or can you get your temperature to go up higher than room temp?


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## orion (May 31, 2009)

yep the temp is at 83 right now and have been adding the ick meds but unfortunately i think its too late been babying them all day i just got done with my salt tanks a few minutes ago thank god they are doing good though i watch them all really close but i mustave missed the signs n our fresh water i should have been more on top of it


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## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

Oh, did your fishes die in your freshwater aquarium(s)?

I keep my temp at 84ºF all the time. The temperature never goes down. Mainly because the winters here are never really cold at all. 

I hope your fishes are doing well still.


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