Clown loaches with ick

[Aquanero]

Let me add some info about Malachite Green most hobbiest aren't aware of, MG is more toxic at lower Ph and hardness. It is at it's most effective if used in a Ph of 7.2 and above and with a KH of 50 and GH of 100 ppm or higher. On sensitive fish like loches and cat fish it can be used with excelent results if buffered with Triple Sulfa. The use of Triple Sulfa with Malachite Green also provides the benefit of increased secondary infection protection.

 

[dpk2313]

Down to one clown and he keeps getting worse, any other suggestions?

 

[ehh]

Everytime there is a ick question, someone comes up with salt and elevated temperature. This is old remedy before more effective medication becomes available. IME, salt and elevated temperature works too slowly to save clown loaches. Ick is persistent and spreads rapidly loaches. You need to use harsh chemicals to wipe out ick quickly,and don't delay or else you will have dead loaches.. Malachite Green, marketed under different trade name, is most effective in curing ick but use only half dosage for loaches as recommended. Typically, two treatments in 3 days is sufficient to wipe out ick.

Loaches are not scaless but have scales too tiny to be visible.

Lol. Wether they have scales or not, loaches don't do well with medication. Bad post.

Salt and high temps. Make sure you're doing a lot of gravel vaccing too. It'll take a couple weeks to clear out. Always gets worse before it gets better.




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[tiger15]

Down to one clown and he keeps getting worse, any other suggestions?

It may be too late now. If you wait for salt and elevated temperature to work, your clown will be all dead. The only way to save clown next time they get infected, start with Malachite green at recommended half dosage with no delay. I am speaking of experience, after losing many clowns to salt treatment. Ick is extremely fast spreading and lethal to clowns.

 

[viejafish]

Sorry for your loss. Whether it is too late or not to save the last loach, it's still a good practice to give one full treatment of malachite green to root out the ick larvae, so they won't re infest the remaining fish or new fish you restock the tank.

MG is the most effective treatment for ick. There is no need to raise the temperature as MG will kill off the ick lavae in one life cycle, or about 3 days, and there is no need to do post treatment water change as MG will biodegrade by itself. Salt and temperature, in contrast, is slow and tedious, and by the time it reaches therapeutic level, the loaches are long dead.

 

[dpk2313]

No mas payaso

 

[Oddball]

I'm surprised no one recommended elevated temp and Maroxy-II. This antifungal is safe enough to use on fish eggs. So, it won't burn the injury sites on loaches (or their gills).

 

[viejafish]

I have tried Maroxy II before, and it did not work on loaches. I have tried salt, Maroxy, copper, and formalin, all failed until I tried malachite green. The reason I was hesitant to try MG first is that the label warns against the sensitivity of loaches to MG.

One remedy I haven't tried though is Methylene Blue, and I don''t believe loaches are sensitive to MB.

Raising temperature is really not necessary to treat ick except for salt treatment because salt has low toxicity to ick larvae and you need to sustain salinity for multiple life cycles to root out ick. That can turn out to be a false comfort because when you notice that ick is all gone and do a large water change, the ick may return. Many LFSs with centralized systems maintain low salinity in the circulation to prevent ick as they bring in new fish all the time. The trouble is that when customers bring the fish home which appear fine showed up with ick later.