Ick!!!!!!!!!!!

[Dasher]

My fish have ick or at least i think it's ick,they have white spots on their body and fins,what is the best medication and the best method of applying it to the infected fish?

[Zoom]

Hey Dash,

I've never had ick, but from what I have read and seen, an outbreak of Ick could be a result of poor water quality. I would recommend a 50-70% water change immedietely, as well as a few smaller ones throughout the weekend.

I would also consider using a commercially available medication as per the bottles instructions. DO NOT MIX medications. Stick to one, and see the course through. Thereafter put som Activated Carbon in to the filter to removed the medication, followed by a good water change a few days afterwrards. If you have charcoal/carbon in your tank now, take it out before starting medicine.

I cannot, however, reccomend any medication, as I have not had Ick before.

[Big G]

The Waterlife one is pretty good! I've never had a problem with it, except for the first time I used it and overdosed!! Misread the label and miscalculated the ammount!

Lost a goods few fish that day!!

Cheers
G!

[Zoom]

Waterlife products are generally very good. A bit pricey in my opinion, but they do work fast!

[Vis]

I have used Daro inti ich, I know cheap, and it worked like a bomb each time.

[Dasher]

will get the producs after the holidays,all the petshops so far seem to be closed.

[slayer]

Turn up your heater to 29-30' and do daily water changes as zoom advised. No real need for meds

[Dasher]

Turn up your heater to 29-30' and do daily water changes as zoom advised. No real need for meds


isn't that a little bit to hight?

[slayer]

Yes it is but you need to in order to kill the ick bact in your tank. Once all the spots are cleared you can lower it to 27. I think the drop in temp caused the ick to thrive. You said your temp was 28 and you droped to 26. 26 is ok. But I stick to 27. Dep on what fish u keep aswell

[JesseG]

u need to raise the temp to 90farenheit,ask the ick parasite cannot reproduce in this temp,85farenheit should be acceptable as well,20% water changes every 2days will help as well..the ick parasite has a lifespan of 7days,but it is suggested that you keep between 85-90Farenheit for 10 consecutive days..u will need to oxygenate your water cause temps this high will deplete the O2..i treated my fish with the above method and it worked well..best of luck to you..

[Vis]

Ick is a parasite that lives on your fish in its infint stage. When you up the temp they grow faster and when reaching maturity they drop off. Meds are just efective in a certain life cycle of the ick that is why you want them to mature faster.
If you are not going to use meds make sure to siphon you substrate very good every other day.

[Dasher]

thanks for the tips,might save me some money.

i have 2 catfish shark,1 silver dollar,1 guppy and some unknown fish that hides under the ornaments in the tank.

[slayer]

Thanks 4 adding the extra airation JesseG. Missed that. Add extra airstones as Jesse suggested.

[Dasher]

i didn't increase the temp or use meds but this morning some of the fish in my tank no longer had ick,what negative side affects does ick give your fish anyway?

[Big G]

Death!! Can it be anymore negative than that??

What is possibly the case is that the spots have dropped off to the bottom and will hatch out into new parasites! Keep an eye out, and I'm sure you'll see plenty of new white spots on ALL your fish in a few days!?!

Sorry man, but its best to get some meds in! All the heat does is speed up the cycle for the meds to work quicker and kill off all the baddies in a shorter time!

Regards
G!

[JesseG]

Hey BigG, you have a valid point about medz killing parasites but it is not always necessary(fish in the wild don't use medz)..the ick parasite has a 7 day lifespan and they cannot reproduce in temps of 85F and above,if they can't reproduce and can only live for 7days then eventually they will all die..jus my 2c dude..

oh,just so there is no confusion,i am not disagreeing with BigG. I just said that heat alone can cure ick but medz and heat would work faster. I never used medz for ick though..

[Dasher]

added meds (anti-ick) this morning,just to be sure.

[shakester]

you have to act fast .you need to see wether it is ick or velvet [highly similar] turn the temp up get PROTZIN by waterlife an follow the doses exactly and according to the days on the bottle .R150 MAX for a small bottle of the stuff .but to run the madicine throw them into a smaller tank with less water[ minimum is 1liter coz it works as 1 drop to 1litre] i had velvet so i know

[Zoom]

Waterlife products are very good... BUT if you are already medicating with another product, FINISH THAT COURSE COMPLETELY FIRST before starting with any other medication.

mixing medications is LETHAL!

[Dasher]

most of the fish have lost the white spots now,thereis only 1 left with ick,but he has a lot less than yesterday.

[shakester]

they wil fall off so wen they cured completely do a big water change

[Dasher]

they are fin healty again,now it's time to move em back to the bigger tank.

[shakester]

ah thats a relief .since you expierenced it, now you know wat to do for ick

[Dasher]

yep,treat for 3 days with meds.(temp helps too,but i didn't raise the temp for fear of it not dropping/killing fish)

[scotty]

Hi dasher,

The easiest and cheapewst way to treat ICK is to add about 2-4kgs salt per 1000l water and to turn up the temp to 28-30C.
Always do a 20% water change before starting any form of treatment, no matter how simple it is.
Water quality!

[Dasher]

Hi dasher,

The easiest and cheapewst way to treat ICK is to add about 2-4kgs salt per 1000l water and to turn up the temp to 28-30C.
Always do a 20% water change before starting any form of treatment, no matter how simple it is.
Water quality!


salt?,i have a trop freshwater aquarium.

[JesseG]

yeah, salt does work, but use aquarium salt...you can google it dasher...

[scotty]

I would assume that when salt is refered to in this context that it would be aqaurium salt!
As I have said before, salt is very good immediate treatment when you notice an illness. Most forms of disease are single cell of structure and do not like a sudden small change in the saltiness/ freshwaterness in salt water tanks, and thus tend to start releasing themselves thuis allowing medication to work better.
Had a major ICK problem in a 800l tank and the advice given, by a very knowledgable person, was to add 2kgs per 100l of water.Worked wonders!

[Khalid]

warning :some fish and plants do not like salt
you risk killing them

[Khalid]

... by a very knowledgable person, was to add 2kgs per 100l of water.Worked wonders!


maybe 2 table spoons
2Kg is way too much

[fishcrazy]

Another name for aquarium salt is non-iodated salt aint expensive if you can get a 50kg bag from a farmers co-op.

[Dasher]

maybe 2 table spoons
2Kg is way too much

it's not 2 kg,it's 2 kgs.

[Khalid]

it's not 2 kg,it's 2 kgs.


1Kg = 1 Kilogram
2Kgs = 2 Kilograms
What is the difference except singular and plural?

[Dasher]

1Kg = 1 Kilogram
2Kgs = 2 Kilograms
What is the difference except singular and plural?


ok,i just though grams.2g

[shakester]

ahhh,crap i got ick and neon tetra deasease

[Zoom]

ahhh,crap i got ick and neon tetra deasease

I'm not surprized!

[Vis]

Hi Shakester, you have to be really sure you have neon tetra disease, because if you do you need to get those fish out now and chuck them.
You would also most likely have to dismantle your entire tank and clean it as you can not cure neon tetra disease.

[shakester]

what about protozin it says its for ntd

[Zoom]

Shakes... you need to be 100% sure of the diagnosis before just dosing a medication for something you THINK is wrong.

As far as I recall, the only medication for NTD is to terminate the fish, empty the tank, THROW EVERYTHING ELSE AWAY, and start from scratch.

[shakester]

no ,they deffinatatly got ick /velvet and even if they dont have ntd the protozin treats both and more so it ok

[Vis]

Your not sure if you have ick/velvet or ndt. The last 2 alone can wipe out a tank and you just want to add meds.
I hope for your sake you are right.

[shakester]

i am sure abt the ick

[shakester]

yoh this thing works like magic ,not that i have not see it do this before ,but wat a med it should be called the holy blue water or something

[TroyFish]

Oh well just discovered what as far as i read is ick. Problem is i dont have a spare tank to
treat them and lower the risk of the others getting. Have to go buy a small tank with
heater now:mad:

[shakester]

that thing is contagios, i thought of doing that but it is better to treat them all one time not just the ne with the spots

[shakester]

ha i ,figured it out ,i previously had ick on my oscar tank and stole that filter and connected it on to my juwel ,so wat non sense bio load, nitrates ,i was caused by bogies in my filter

[Aqua]

Some interesting reading on the life cycle of Ick:

Ich, Ick, White Spot Disease (Ichthyophthirius multifiliis)
Symptoms: Salt-like specks on the body/fins. Excessive slime. Problems breathing (ich invades the gills), clamped fins, loss of appetite. Ich, Ick, or White Spot Disease is the most common malady experienced in the home aquarium. Luckily, this disease is also easily cured if caught in time! Ich is actually a protozoa called Ichthyophthirius multifiliis. There are three phases to the life cycle of this protozoa. Normally, to the amateur aquarist, the life cycle is of no importance. However, since Ich is susceptible to treatment at only one stage of the life cycle, an awareness of the life cycle is important.


Adult phase - it is embedded in the skin or gills of the fish, causing irritation (with the fish showing signs of irritation) and the appearance of small white nodules. As the parasite grows it feeds on red blood cells and skin cells. After a few days it bores itself out of the fish and falls to the bottom of the aquarium.
Cyst phase - after falling to the bottom, the adult parasite forms into a cyst with rapid cell divisions occurring.
Free swimming phase - after the cyst phase, about 1000 free swimming young swim upwards looking for a host. If a host is not found within 2 to 3 days, the parasite dies. Once a host is found the whole cycle begins anew.

These three phases take about 4 weeks at 70 º F but only 5 days at 80 º F. For this reason it is recommended that the aquarium water be raised to about 80 º for the duration of the treatment. If the fish can stand it, raise the temperature even higher up to 85 º.
The free swimming phase is the best time to treat with chemicals. Raising the aquarium temperature to 80 º F will greatly shorten the time for the free swimming phase to occur. The drug of choice is quinine hydrochloride at 30 mg per liter (1 in 30,000). Quinine sulphate can be used if the hydrochloride is not available. The water may cloud but this will disappear. By reducing the time (with raised temperature) of the phases, you should be able to attack the free swimming phase effectively.
Some aquarists like to use malachite green, but it tends to stain the plastic and silicone in the aquarium. Most commercial remedies contain malachite green and/or copper, which are both effective.

[shakester]

and also similar to the larger white spot ,