View Full Version : Fighting White Spot
landonc
02-27-2006, 3:49 PM
My aquarium has been established for a few months now and contains a good ammount of large fish. The water is changed at %15 daily, and the gravel is cleaned every three days (due to messy eaters). Water condition is as close to perfect as possible. Though no matter what white spot will get to my fish every month, and this month ive treated it and it still seems to be getting worse with ICH CURE and Aquarium Salt. Why is this happening?
landonc
02-27-2006, 3:54 PM
After seeing this topic below would it be possible to increase my temp to 86f alone to cure the ich? The tank contains a black shark, black pacu (12"), common plec and 4 one inch convicts.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18175
the raise temperature only speed up the hatching of the parasite and as it is only the swimming stage of the parasite that u can kill, raising the temp gets all to that stage in the shortest time, continue to use salt and/or whatever ICH treatment you are. I dosed my fish extremely heavily to get rid of it, as im sure the recommended amount did sh** all
I am assuming that you are not using feeders so you might fave a med resistant strain, How much salt do you use? I suggest 2 tsp per gallon for 10 days at 85-86F, but if that is not working the fish you listed can all tolerate warmer water if you keep it oxygenated. 86F is the temp where ich is supposed to start dieing but if any survive you end up with a heat resitant strain. I would suggest that if you go with straight heat you go on up to 88-90F and leave it there for at least a week, just raise the temp fairly slowly.
landonc
02-27-2006, 5:02 PM
Right now its raised to 80f. Tommorow should i shoot for 85f? Are you sure my fish can handle it? I dont want to lose my 12 inch pacu.
Pacu is pretty hardy. When you raise the temp, make sure that you also increase the aeration because oxygen is depleted in warmer waters....
I always skip the meds now. Salt, heat and increased air have been effective for me.
Oddball
02-27-2006, 6:53 PM
The ick lives in our municipal water and your daily water changes could just be reintroducing the pathogen at every water change. I had that problem when I lived in western Washington. My solution was a water storage tank filled from my hot water heater. The 120 degree water killed all of the fungus before I ever placed the water in the aquarium. By the next day, the water was cool enough to do my water changes.
Oddball
02-27-2006, 7:13 PM
Hey landonc:
All the fish listed will tolerate up to 90 F if the increase is slow and you keep the O2 levels up, just watch for gasping behavior.
I raise temp to 85 when my clown loaches get ick, and they are hard to treat!
rook45
02-27-2006, 11:14 PM
i used guppy's salt method it works
landonc
02-28-2006, 5:45 PM
Salt seems to be working this time with the 85f temp! Considering i keep having the problem, is something wrong with my water? I change it so frequently (daily).
If you are not using live foods the most common cause of reinfections is a residual population of parasites caused by ending treatment early, this is something that happens easily if you have a slightly resistant strain. Try extending the treatment period to 14 days instead of just 10.