ICH in my tank!!

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J

Juice79

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Oct 20, 2008
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I would first like to say this site is great. The collection of knowledge here is far better than one can get at any pet store. I have been doing a ton of reading on here recently since I started my new aquarium and have decided to post to share my experiences. I have a recently established (cylce completed) 55g tank with the following fish:
  • 2 Pearl Gouramis
  • 2 Irredescent Sharks
  • 2 Bala Sharks
  • 2 Red Tail Loaches
  • 2 Parrot Fish
  • 4 Tiger Barbs
I know this seems like alot for a 55g but all the fish are babies right now and I plan on getting a bigger tank once they grow up.

So I recently added the 4 Tiger Barbs and immediately noticed one of them had strange behavior, sure enough a few days later I started seeing the white spots on him and 2 of the other Tiger Barbs. I immediately raised the temp to 86(f) and added 1tbl sp of aquarium salt per gallon. I have also added Kordon ICH-Attack as it was recommended by members here since it was organic. I also removed the carbon from my 2 Aquaclear 70 filters as well. Sure enough two days later and the ICH has spread to about 5 other fish already. Once I spotted the ICH I immediately did a 30% water change (while cleaning the gravel) and boiled all my rocks.

Is there anything else I should be doing or that I am missing? I know its supposed to "get worse before it gets better " so I am attributing the spread to the other fishes to that.

Also, I learned the hard way that a quarantine tank is necessary so I picked up a small 10g for that going forward.

Thanks for all the info guys and any insight is appreciated!

Erik
 
What has always worked for me is to raise the temp and add aquarium salt... it is usually sold in a Blue and Pink box ( I am sure u seen this in a LFS) Quick question did u buy ur fish from Petland
 
don't boil the rock if the tank is cycled, you're killing off beneficial bacteria. heat and salt should fix it. good luck. oh and not to derail but those iridescent sharks are going to get very,very large...
 
Yeah i always raise the temp to about 90 degrees. In increments of 2 degrees everyday. add some aquarium salt according to your tank size. do that for about 2 weeks then do a water change
 
the heat and salt will work, wouldn't do the boiling of the rocks though, not sure what that will accomplish.
 
The fish that contaminated were not from Petland they were from a local Mom and Pop Petshop.

I had read on here in some threads that boiling to rock would kill off any left over bacteria that may have attached itself. I guess I will leave them alone on my next water change.
 
it will kill bacteria, but you are trying to kill ich, which is not a bacteria, instead you are mostly killing your beneficial bacteria.
 
Update...As of today there are no more signs of ICH on the fish!!!...Just did a 30% water change. I am going to continue the treatment for another 14 days and then lower the temps and stop adding salt. Cant thank you guys enough for all the help!!!

Erik
 
good to hear everything worked fine...ich is usually one of the easiest diseases to conquer especially if you start treating early
 
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