Jones's tank has ich.

jones57742

I reentered the hobby last April after 35 years (ie. except for a fairly exhaustive review of the literature and 6 months experience I am new).

Three days ago I believe I observed my first case of ich on a 4" black angel which I have raised from dime size.

I believe it was induced from stress due to a major tank cleaning and WC with tap water (do app. 20% daily WC's with RO).

My typical water parameters are plenty good.

I started adding salt and raising the temperature (I maintain at 78F typically) [both slowly]{I have 5 very nice Plecs in the community tank which is planted with rock and wood caves}.

I am up to 80F and 1Tblspn/10Gal and the symptoms are "starting to go away".

Should I keep going to 1Tblspn/5Gal and 82F or would you recommend waiting and observing for "a day or so"?

TR

PS:

I have really grown attached to this angel. He has a personality and even "aggrevates" me to be fed. I do not want anything to happen to him.



[book][/book]

jones57742

Bump

TR

crazie.eddie

You can continue the salt treatment, but make sure you are adding the amount of salt equivalent to the amount of water removed during the water changes. I made the same mistake before, but luckily, none of my fish suffered any kind of stress from it.

Once you see no more signs of ich, continue the treatment for another couple of days.

I'm glad everything is fine. I know how we can get attached to the fish. One of my favorite angels is not doing well and I'm afraid I may have to euthanize it. It's had a swim bladder problem for about 2 weeks and the treatments are not helping. I'm trying to keep up it's strength by handfeeding it with bloodworms using a turkey baster.

caferacermike

Ron as you have a freshwater tank I moved your post from the saltwater threads to the freshwater threads. I hope you get more replies this way.

No harm intended. Mike.

I usually suggest raising up the temp a bit, say around 86F for about 3 weeks. Generally raise it about 2 degrees a day until you reach that point. Doing so will speed up the life cycles of the ich virus and make it easier to treat. I myself do not use meds. I prefer a more natural routine of temp raisings and more frequent feedings. By feeding smaller amounts more often your fish will metabolise all day long. This helps boost the immune system. This will also raise the body temp of the fish and will help fight off any more infections. I don't believe in adding salt to an existing tank unless it's an African cichlid tank and your are trying to recreate natural conditions. I'd recommend doing a dip in a bowl of water with a pinch of salt in it. they say that removing the fish and dipping it for about 2 minutes in a bowl with a pinch of salt will burst the cysts. It will also promote the fish to do a natural sheddign of the slime coat. Any loose parasites will be lost. Before adding the fish back to the main tank, it is recommended to dip it again for about 10 minutes in another bowl filled with your tank water. As in you don't want the slime coat to shed in the tank with all the nasties on it. Of course if you can quarntine the fish in a 10g by itself that would be even better. But raising the main tank temp really helps to limit the travels of the ich. As far as using any meds Pima and Melafix are supposed to be a great combination of natural meds that claim to not effect the entire tank in any negative way. I know meds are trouble for you and your plecos but the pima and mela combo are suppsoed to be safe for plecos.

jones57742

Thanks CE and CM.

TR

bettababy

I would suggest continuing the salt treatment, increasing the temp to 84 should be sufficient, as the ick parasite cannot survive long at over 82 degrees.
Just for clarification, ick ("ichthyophthirius") is a parasite, not a viral infection. It is caused by the cilliate "ichthyophthirius multifiliis", an organism, pear-shaped to spherical in shape and .2 - 1 mm in size. (the macronucleus is horse-shoe shaped and the micronucleus is spherical). Ick spends most of its life on a host fish, feeding off the skin, digging sealed off hollows into the flesh. The parasite has a 3 stage life cycle: 1, growth, spent on the skin, 2, cyst, when it drops to the bottom of the tank protected by a gelatin covering and then dividing, and 3, the infectious stage, when pear-shaped zoospores seek a new host. The cycst can divide into as many as 1000 zoospores, which have 70 hrs to find a new host. Ick is highly contageous, and survivors can acquire an immunity, but many remain dangerous, since they may be carriers without showing signs of the disease. This is why medication is the #1 solution to resolving the issue.
Because of the temperature tolerance limit for the parasite, using the salt treatment of 1 tbsp/5 gallons and raising the temp to 84 degrees should safely rid your tank from the parasite. The salt will effect the parasite also, and will act as a muscle relaxer for the fish. The use of salt can also help to avoid/prevent the chances of secondary infection in the fish.
Sorry it took so long for me to respond, I was having a problem logging in over the past couple of days. I hope this helps.

jones57742

Thanks BB.

TR