[Tarutan]

I have a new 10 gallon tank. I put in 3 platties, a sunset, golden, and micky mouse. 2 weeks in they seemed to be really healthy and happy, so I added a dwarf african frog. 2 anubias plants and driftwood, at which point I also did a 15% water change to make sure the water wasn't getting toxic.

When I did this water change I noticed the sunset platty had a white spot on its top fin. The I noticed the gold one was reclusive for the last couple days as well. This is when I researched all I could about Ich. I am a beginner, so I tried my best, but I realize I may have stressed them out too much.

Within 24 hours of noticing that first white spot, the fish fins got covered in white spots, the gold one getting it the worst in her gills and all over, severe infestation. I immediately ran out and all I could find at my pet store was Ich Attack by Kordon, a non toxic herbal treatment which I was assured by the employee was effective and what they used on their tanks.

I don't trust herbal remedies, so to support it I also dosed the tank with salt 1 tbsp per gallon. I raised temperature to 86degrees to speed up the cycle and removed the carbon filter. On day 4 the infection got worse and was not getting better. At this point I raised temperature to 91degrees. Within 24 hours the platties were cleared of any white spots, except the golden one... who now had more spots than ever before and couldn't breathe even at 86 degrees. She passed away on day 5.

Raising the temperature to 91degrees seemed like the most effective method. So I did a 50% water change to normalize the salinity and remove the herbal medicine, and I replaced the carbon filter. I am in the middle of day 6 and they lost all their white spots on day 5. Should I keep the heat at 91degrees until day 10? Or is it safe to lower the heat by day 8?


I know, I put them under alot of needless stress, but 2 out of 3 pulled through, and I learned how to deal with this disease. I ran out and bought some malachite green for the future, although I don't want to put it in the main tank. Would a 1 gallon bowl with gravel and water from the main tank serve as a good quarantine tank to dose new fish with malachite green? Also, when I do this, do they need to be in the quarantine tank for 10 days?

I plan to get a neon blue dwarf gourami in 2-3 weeks when the water is cycled, to finish my tank. So it would be 2 platties, dwarf frog, and a dwarf gourami in the end... maybe one more platter or tetra over time.

Sorry for the long post, but I appreciate anyone who takes the time to read it and respond.

 

[Romad]

Hello and welcome to the forum :wave:

Kordon is usually quite good at getting rid of ich but you shouldn't hit the tank with salt, raised temps., and medication all at once. Do you still have the tank at 91 degrees? When you raise the temp that much you should put in an airstone to offset the oxygen depleted at high temps.

And continue to treat for at least 4-5 days after you see the last of the spots. A week is even better if your fish aren't showing signs of stress.

As for quarantine, one gallon is really too small. Any chance you could upgrade the main tank to a larger size and save the 10 for quarantine or hospital tank? I'm overly cautious so I quarantine for at least a month before I add anything to my main tank.

 

[jaysee]

The heat treatment is for 2 weeks. I have not found a reason to experiment with just how long it NEEDS to be - its just easy enough to leave it. 91 is really warm - I top out at 88. With the heat treatment, it takes 4-5 days to see results - all spots should be gone by 7 days.

You should be quarantining new fish. Period. It's not just ich that you have to worry about. 10 days is not long enough, in my opinion. The absolute "minimum" is 2 weeks, but it really ought to be for at least a month. You can treat with medications if you want. I just use heat while the fish is in quarantine - I try to avoid unnecessarily medicating the fish, and the heat does the job. It's your choice though.

 

[Tarutan]

I noticed Kordon had a non herbal form of Ich Attack as well but my store only carried non toxic medicines. Weird, otherwise I am sure Kordon is a good brand but after using the herbal one I cannot say it was effective.

Yes, the water is still at 91 degrees. I will leave it there for 3 more days. Now I am on day 6, 2 days since I noticed every last white spot has fallen off.


I have been thinking 10 gallon was too small. First I thought it was nice and small so it wouldn't be too much work, but after all the work that went into setting it up and maintaining it I decided wow it's too much work for just a 10 gallon and the very few fish i can add to it. So I was thinking of returning it and getting a 20 gallon. If I did that though, I don't have the space to have a 2nd aquarium up and running. Especially plugged in? Yeesh. Maybe if I owned my own home, and wasnt renting a room somewhere.

 

[Tarutan]

The heat treatment is for 2 weeks. I have not found a reason to experiment with just how long it NEEDS to be - its just easy enough to leave it. 91 is really warm - I top out at 88. With the heat treatment, it takes 4-5 days to see results - all spots should be gone by 7 days.

You should be quarantining new fish. Period. It's not just ich that you have to worry about. 10 days is not long enough, in my opinion. The absolute "minimum" is 2 weeks, but it really ought to be for at least a month. You can treat with medications if you want. I just use heat while the fish is in quarantine - I try to avoid unnecessarily medicating the fish, and the heat does the job. It's your choice though.

I read that at 86 degrees they cannot reproduce anymore and at 91 degrees it eradicates the ich all together. At 91 you are essentially giving your tank a fever.

This was just supposed to be a small project to undertake, a small 10 gallon tank in my room for some peaceful scenery, and it has turned out to be alot of work, which is fine, but once I get my tank established I will not be adding something new every month therefore I don't need a whole other tank permanently for quarantine. A smaller bowl will have to do.

 

[Romad]

Keep the 10 gallon and use it only when you need to for quarantine or if you need to medicate one or two fish and don't want to medicate the whole tank.

You don't need to keep it out all of the time. It would be nice to have it completely cycled and ready when you need it but if you don't have the room, take it out and put it on a counter top or something sturdy. I only break mine out for quarantine and since I do frequent water changes while waiting, I have no ammonia build up with just a few fish in there.

It's good to leave it bare bottom too so you can see if your QT or sick fish are eating well and have normal looking poop (no parasites).

 

[jaysee]

There are heat resistant strains of ich. I treated at 86 once, unsuccessfully. Kicking it up to 88-89 did the trick. Yes, 86 is sufficient the vast majority of the time.... But not EVERY time, which is why I do 88-89. The whole point of my preemptive quarantine treatment is to make sure the fish are not carrying the parasite, whether they are showing spots or not. So, if I'm going to do it, I should DO it

As for 91 - if your fish are okay with it, that's what's important.

 

[Tarutan]

The herbal medicine wasn't doing anything, so I resorted to salt and 86 degrees temp and still nothing after a few days. 24 hours after raising temps to 91 degrees all the white spots fell off except for the one severely infested, that one passed away.

They don't seem too comfortable with the heat, understandably, but they don't seem extremely distressed either they just lingering on the bottom of the tank where it is cooler. I want to lower the temp to normal as soon as possible and most treatments say to continue for atleast 3 days after all visible white spots have disappeared. If that is true then I can start lowering the temp in the next 12 hours.

 

[jaysee]

Like I said, it takes 4-5 days for the treatment to work. Raising the temp higher may or may not have had anything to do with it - impossible to tell since it was done right at the time that results would be seen. In any event, glad to hear that your fish are spot free.