Hello everybody, I am a new poster and have a very serious ich problem....it is a long story because it has been going on for so long. I will begin at the beginning....
This last winter I purchased a 200 gallon tank. Before this time I had a 55 long off and on for many years (approx. 25 years). My roomate from college was an aquaculture major and it started me in the hobby. To tell you the truth I have never kept a very clean tank until I got the 200 gallon and I have never run into a disease problem like I have now.
I have kept various types of freshwater fish....Oscars, specialty Pleco's, smaller catfishes etc..and for the last 8 years African cichlids...specifically yellow Labs. I found them to be fairly docile and easy to keep and breed.
When I got the 200 gallon my horizons expanded and I ventured into my current stock of fish. Before I get started .....I know that you purists may cringe at what I am keeping together.....but it works with very little aggression. My current stock is....10 yellow labs, 3 blue Dolphins, 6 Yellow tail acei's, 5 Australian Rainbowfish, 6 Black Skirt Tetra's, 2 Golden Panchax Killifish, 1 Spotted Raphael Catfish, 1 Bristlenose Pleco, 1 Mustard Spot Pleco, and 1 Senagal Birchir.
I am running the largest Eheim classic cannister filter....rated for 500 gallons plus...I forget the model #.....2260? I think. It is the bomb!
I don't run carbon...never have. I also have approx. 100 lbs. of limestone sitting on eggcrate with a thin layer of sand. Some driftewood is also present. I used to have plants but have removed them during treatment that I'm about to describe.
When I began adding fish after my purchase I got ich. Stupid me did not use a hospital tank and now I am paying the price.....literally.
I did not see the ich at first, but my fish were scratching and scratching on all surfaces in the tank. Believe it or not I have never have issues with ich in all the years of keeping fish! I was not sure about the problem until it became rampant within the tank.
Worried about my expensive pleco's that I had had for over 10 years .....I had a Royal and the Mustard Spot at the time (approx. 80$ for both) and my catfish also an oldtimer. I treated with Super Ich Cure from Petsmart at half the dosage for a period of 10 days. I went on vacation with the house sitter making sure to keep up the meds. I also increased the temperature to 86 degrees. I came home to find that all 10 of my Tiger Barbs were dead and my old timer Royal was on his way out gasping at the top trying to get enough oxygen. (I had increased surface agitation and had three air pumps going at the time).
The Malachite Green and Formalin appeared to work somewhat but it did not totally knock it out. So after a few 30 percent water changes I started increasing the salt to approx. 2 tablespoons per gallon.....twice the minimum recommended to kill freshwater ich. All my fish seemed to handle the increase in salt without stress except the two plecos. I never see the catfish so I'm unsure how he handled it other than he survived. I kept the temperature cranked up to 86 plus for a full month and kept the salt at the high level.
This seemed to work somewhat as well.....but the ich returned. I turned the temps back down to around 80 degrees and started my Coppersafe treatment. I got a test kit (API) to make sure I didn't over medicate.......I screwed up and was looking at the test sample from the side rather than over the top looking down
I way overdid the copper and my fish were getting ulcers from the medicine 
Realizing what I did.....I did some water changes and got the copper down a bit ...... nobody died thankfully. I kept the copper in the water for another month! .....at 82 degrees! I tested frequently to make sure copper level was maintained.
The copper seemed to work a little but the stubborn ich returned. I did a bunch of water changes and have gone back to Super Ich Cure from Petsmart. This time I dosed at full strength......jacked my temps up to 87 degrees (as high as my thermometers will go)....repeated the full strength dose after 48 hours.......did not change water and put in another half dose 48 hours after that!.......guess what I see ich on my Rainbowfish.
This is absolutetly crazy guys.....I'm at wits end. I've spent a ton of money on meds and testing equipement etc. and the fish still have ich. Should I dose another 20 dollars worth of Super Ich Cure? Should I go for another round of Salt and Heat.....they are at 87 degrees right now......please help.
One more side note.....it would be virtually impossible to remove fish and limestone rock without stressing the fish and myself, so that is out of the question. I literally have huge limestone (one 40 lb rock) in the tank with lots of hiding spots for these Mnuba.
This last winter I purchased a 200 gallon tank. Before this time I had a 55 long off and on for many years (approx. 25 years). My roomate from college was an aquaculture major and it started me in the hobby. To tell you the truth I have never kept a very clean tank until I got the 200 gallon and I have never run into a disease problem like I have now.
I have kept various types of freshwater fish....Oscars, specialty Pleco's, smaller catfishes etc..and for the last 8 years African cichlids...specifically yellow Labs. I found them to be fairly docile and easy to keep and breed.
When I got the 200 gallon my horizons expanded and I ventured into my current stock of fish. Before I get started .....I know that you purists may cringe at what I am keeping together.....but it works with very little aggression. My current stock is....10 yellow labs, 3 blue Dolphins, 6 Yellow tail acei's, 5 Australian Rainbowfish, 6 Black Skirt Tetra's, 2 Golden Panchax Killifish, 1 Spotted Raphael Catfish, 1 Bristlenose Pleco, 1 Mustard Spot Pleco, and 1 Senagal Birchir.
I am running the largest Eheim classic cannister filter....rated for 500 gallons plus...I forget the model #.....2260? I think. It is the bomb!
I don't run carbon...never have. I also have approx. 100 lbs. of limestone sitting on eggcrate with a thin layer of sand. Some driftewood is also present. I used to have plants but have removed them during treatment that I'm about to describe.When I began adding fish after my purchase I got ich. Stupid me did not use a hospital tank and now I am paying the price.....literally.
I did not see the ich at first, but my fish were scratching and scratching on all surfaces in the tank. Believe it or not I have never have issues with ich in all the years of keeping fish! I was not sure about the problem until it became rampant within the tank. Worried about my expensive pleco's that I had had for over 10 years .....I had a Royal and the Mustard Spot at the time (approx. 80$ for both) and my catfish also an oldtimer. I treated with Super Ich Cure from Petsmart at half the dosage for a period of 10 days. I went on vacation with the house sitter making sure to keep up the meds. I also increased the temperature to 86 degrees. I came home to find that all 10 of my Tiger Barbs were dead and my old timer Royal was on his way out gasping at the top trying to get enough oxygen. (I had increased surface agitation and had three air pumps going at the time).
The Malachite Green and Formalin appeared to work somewhat but it did not totally knock it out. So after a few 30 percent water changes I started increasing the salt to approx. 2 tablespoons per gallon.....twice the minimum recommended to kill freshwater ich. All my fish seemed to handle the increase in salt without stress except the two plecos. I never see the catfish so I'm unsure how he handled it other than he survived. I kept the temperature cranked up to 86 plus for a full month and kept the salt at the high level.
This seemed to work somewhat as well.....but the ich returned. I turned the temps back down to around 80 degrees and started my Coppersafe treatment. I got a test kit (API) to make sure I didn't over medicate.......I screwed up and was looking at the test sample from the side rather than over the top looking down
I way overdid the copper and my fish were getting ulcers from the medicine Realizing what I did.....I did some water changes and got the copper down a bit ...... nobody died thankfully. I kept the copper in the water for another month! .....at 82 degrees! I tested frequently to make sure copper level was maintained.The copper seemed to work a little but the stubborn ich returned. I did a bunch of water changes and have gone back to Super Ich Cure from Petsmart. This time I dosed at full strength......jacked my temps up to 87 degrees (as high as my thermometers will go)....repeated the full strength dose after 48 hours.......did not change water and put in another half dose 48 hours after that!.......guess what I see ich on my Rainbowfish
.This is absolutetly crazy guys.....I'm at wits end. I've spent a ton of money on meds and testing equipement etc. and the fish still have ich. Should I dose another 20 dollars worth of Super Ich Cure? Should I go for another round of Salt and Heat.....they are at 87 degrees right now......please help.
One more side note.....it would be virtually impossible to remove fish and limestone rock without stressing the fish and myself, so that is out of the question. I literally have huge limestone (one 40 lb rock) in the tank with lots of hiding spots for these Mnuba.
