Ich and Pleco's... A pain I could live without.

[GEV83]

So I was selling some tanks I had and a friend from work wanted to buy my 20's. So I moved the smaller pleco's from my 20 to my 135 and well hadn't noticed the newest pleco had spread Ich in that tank. So now I am left with a 135 gallon tank with everyone having Ich. I was like oh no not again. I had gotten Ich with my pleco's (old pleco's I no longer own) before but they mostly died off. Medications didn't help much and never had success with heat n salt.

Well I saw my poor Papa Panaque just covered even his streamers were covered. So I jumped online for solutions. Saw an article on another forum were this guy uses a combo of salt heat and med to treat. Well I followed the instructions on the salt and heat but not the meds cause that seamed like it could end bad. Well some of the fish were looking better but the Papa Panaque was acting weird and was still covered. I had some meds from before for Ich which I never opened up by Jungle had enough to treat 130 gallons. So I dissolved those on day three in a gallon of water then into the tank. Well glad to be able to look at my Papa Panaque and see a dramatic turn around. Acting almost completely normal and the spots are down to about 20% of the original amount.

So Friday I added 1 table spoon per 10 gallon in the morning and then again in the afternoon. Did this for 3 days with the temp being a little shy of 85 degrees. The meds went in on day 3. Now it's what day 5 since treatment and things are looking way better. I just don't know how long to wait till I start doing WC to lower the salt content. It was mentioned not to do more then 30 percent or it could kill the beneficial bacteria or more importantly the fish due to the salinity change.

I was just amazed though how fast they covered the Papa Panaque. It's not a small fish at 7" without the streamers and in less then 2 days it was infested with Ich. But yea just wanted to share this. Nobody out here cares about fish enough to hear my stories lol.

Full quarantine next time. I would of seen they had Ich too if my light hadn't burnt out and with the tank painted on the back and walls it made for a very dark tank. No losses thankfully.

 

[Rotaryp04s]

Wow, I never had icks on my plecos. I see mostly the common plecos at the LFS with icks. I had fishes that come down with icks but it never spread to my plecos. I treat my sick fishes with quick cure( before they discontinued this brand) hope very things get better.

 

[Linus_Cello]

When I lost power and the tank got down to the 60s, my L204s came down with ich. But with power restored, and temps elevated to 80-82, ich went away (no salt).
Ich is always present in tanks as cysts, waiting to hatch and take advantage of sick fish.
I would also keep the tank dark and add extra oxygenation (air stone).

 

[GEV83]

Well I got the flow from the filter along with a powerhead to add more agitation and they seem fine. None are gasping for air. I read an article and it says that Ich in FW tanks going dormant is a myth. Either way I normally have my tank a bit cooler and never had problems with ich. The one who was infected would of been a L-001 I bought at the LFS. Since the light was out I couldn't see the fish and didn't see clamped fins so assumed (shouldn't of) all was ok. That's how my other ones got it. Fish seem happy again and eat like darn pigs even more so then before.

From what I can see there is two little specks on my Papa Panaque everything else is gone. I read just heat will work but also read in severe cases extra steps can and prob should be taken to help combat the situation which was the salt then meds. The constant higher temp wont stress the fish? I know some tropicals don't like it that warm and can suffer from it if kept in that temp for too long.

Rotary Quick Cure was actually the med they recommended in the article. Glad I didn't try searching for it now lol. Fish are doing good now. Had some baby L144's that were covered as well but they cleared up really quick. I can't wait to do a WC. Man the tank looks nasty now. Linus keeps the temp at 80-82 curious what temp you keep yours at Rotary.

 

[Rotaryp04s]

80-82 alway

 

[GlennDalton]

I had one goldfish with ich (among many without it) I increased the salt high enough to mess with any protozoans contractile vacuoles and slowly raised the temp to 84, a temp that I had on good advice would kill the ich protozoa. This natural treatment went on for several weeks but never resulted in a "cure" In the end the only thing that worked was API Ich quick cure. It's a fairley safe medication aside from staining everything green for awhile. My suggestion just go for the meds. It only lasts 48 hours. And it works.

 

[GEV83]

Hmm then I could just keep the temp a bit cooler then it is now its 84 last I checked which was last night and I'll be good.

I had one goldfish with ich (among many without it) I increased the salt high enough to mess with any protozoans contractile vacuoles and slowly raised the temp to 84, a temp that I had on good advice would kill the ich protozoa. This natural treatment went on for several weeks but never resulted in a "cure" In the end the only thing that worked was API Ich quick cure. It's a fairley safe medication aside from staining everything green for awhile. My suggestion just go for the meds. It only lasts 48 hours. And it works.

I use to use meds from the get go but I always had problems with pleco's. I used various products and all had the same result. Only one I had alright success with was Jungle Ick Cure Fizz Tabs. They also stain the items in your tank. I remember using it in a 10 gallon way back when and all my silicone turned blue. Was kinda cool in a way lol. But yea even with Jungle I had problems before but nothing like some other product I got.

I just got to make sure to do a full quarantine next time with a operational light hood so I could see the fishes health. Do any of you use preventative measures with newer fish like doing ich control even if the fish show no true signs of ich? I know allot of people use PraziPro when they get new pleco's even if they show no signs of having internal worms.

 

[GEV83]

Well just an update. I lost a L187a sometime last night. Also looks like my filter just threw up. Did my first 30% water change today gotta do another tomorrow and the next day. Then prob a 50 the next. Also plan to do a much needed filter cleaning tomorrow after work. Could just imagine how much saw first will be in there. As for now looks like all ich is gone no spots on anyone keeping the temp up for another 2 or 3 days then I'll drop to 80-82 fish are more energetic now with the higher temp.