African Cichlids with ich

[CHOMPERS]

One of my Cichlids has ich really bad in one spot and has signs of it spreading. I have been treating for eight days now with salt, Quick Cure, Stress Coat, and Medicure. The Temp has been at 85F for the whole eight days. I have lost three fish in that tank and I have another past the point of no return. The one with the original infestation is still going strong but it still has a giant clump of ich on its side.

The big problem is that I am going on a three week vacation starting Monday.

My brother can feed them, but I can't expect him to successfully treat them. I need to get the tank resolved before I leave town. Is the clump of ich still viable at this stage? It is floppy and gelatinous when the fish swims. Should I manually remove the ich or will this do more harm than good? I have heard of this being done but I would think the process would cause more stress than the ich if it is dead.

Lastly, should I isolate him at this point? I think doing so will be a death sentence because he will have to go into a tank that is not cycled. The tank he is in is already infected but I am not sure if he is still contageous and still causing the infection.

Thanks in advance,
Ron

 

[CHOMPERS]

Here are some pics of what he looks like. By the way, he should be all blue and the ich and pink in his scales has stopped spreading since I started the treatment. The white blob of ich was more firm than it is now, so it seems the treatment is working...just not fast enough...

 

[Honda12]

Are you sure it is really ich, just adding the salt and haveing the tank at 85 degrees should have taken care of it by itself.

When I had my africans, just keeping the temp above 80 kept them from ever getting ich.

What I would suggest is a big water change. Then add salt like you have been doing and turn the temp of to 90 degrees, just make sure you have plenty of airation in the tank, cause of the low oxegen levels by the water being so warm. The salt and the very high temp should take care of it if it is ich.

Although it usually take about 10 days for it to clear up, so they might still have it when you leave.

I have done the high heat and salt many times and it has never failed me, but I cannot stress enough of good airation at a temp of 90 degrees, cause if you don't have enough they could suffocate.

 

[CHOMPERS]

And the kissing gourami that managed to sneek into both pictures is on its last leg...it was the culprit in bringing ich into the tank. (Maybe sneeking into the pictures is a cry for help?) Its companion was one of the fish that died.

 

[Honda12]

From the pics it almost looks like fungus or velvet, not ich. Do a water change and salt and add some melifix to the tank. It is hard to tell from the pic, but it doesn't really look like ich, cause ich should be all over the body, and mostly by the head since ich starts in the gills of the fish.

 

[CHOMPERS]

Thanks Honda, I'll do that! Do you think it will be ok to leave the temp at 90 while I am gone or should I turn it back down to 85 when I leave?
Ron

 

[CHOMPERS]

From the pics it almost looks like fungus or velvet, not ich. Do a water change and salt and add some melifix to the tank. It is hard to tell from the pic, but it doesn't really look like ich, cause ich should be all over the body, and mostly by the head since ich starts in the gills of the fish.

Ok, thanks again. (our posts are getting out of order ) Should I still turn up the temp to 90 or is that only for ich?

 

[Honda12]

I would leave it at 85. If it was ich that should have taken care of it. Is the white stuff, in isolated areas or is it all over the body?

 

[CHOMPERS]

I would leave it at 85. If it was ich that should have taken care of it. Is the white stuff, in isolated areas or is it all over the body?

The white stuff is only on the spot in the second picture. The spot was originally very white and stood out about 3/16" from the body of the fish. It is still there but not showing up in the picture well. It is more stringy now. Stringy is not a good way to describe it since it is not really like a bunch of strings. It flows in the water currents as if it were stringy. It is not a solid mass but it does look like it is strings stuck together. The strings are parallel to each other and are all perpendicular to the fish's surface.

 

[Honda12]

OK, I would leave the temp how it is. Keep adding salt. Do a waterchange, and then start doing a treatment with melafix, and that should take care of it. Hope it all works out for you.