Bad Ich outbreak from nowhere!?

The tank has been running for about a year, nothing new added for a couple of months, now suddenly my clown loaches have it really bad, it's only affecting the loaches ATM as far as I can tell but it's bad enough that I have lost a smaller 1 already and they are flicking like crazy and have the "salted" look all over them

I have upped the temp but the problem I have is that my catfish is really sensitive to salt (so I have been told, it's an L.pictus?) and I also have a ray so that rules out a lot of the effective meds!

Amo 0
Rites 0
Rates <5
Ph 7.2
Temp usually at 80f but is now 85f




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convict360 said:

Love clown loaches but they're so prone to ich its unreal. Best of luck medicating, I had good results using seachem paraguard.

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I have always had clown loaches and this is the first time I've had this problem, any ideas why it's just happened out of the blue? Can it stay dormant? I'll look into that thanks, do you know if it's ray safe?


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viejafish said:

You have to treat the tank with no delay with Malachite Green with half dosage as recommended. Ick spread rapidly in loaches and will kill quickly.

Ick is not an opportunistic pathogen and has to be introduced somewhere. It's hard to believe ick can pop up from nowhere or can lay dormant for 2 months before showing up.

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Isn't machlite green toxic to rays? That's what I thought but the only thing added is an endli bichir 2 months ago! Nothing else has changed


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viejafish said:

The difference between toxin and remedy is the dosage. Sure, malachite green is toxic to sensitive fish like loaches,tetra and scalest fish, and this is why it is recommended to use half the dosage. You want to use a remedy that is toxic enough to kil; the pathogens, but not the host. A lot of people will recommend you to use salt and elevated temperature to treat ick. IME, salt works too slowly to save loaches once white spots show up.

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Ok I'll give it a go, not sure if I've spotted it to late this time tho as another 1 has died I will keep you updated


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