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