ich question

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Vertigon_z

Vertigon_z

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jan 16, 2019
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New Jersey
Good Morning all
I am treating a 55g grow out aquarium with cupramine. Copper levels around .6 ppm and it currently houses 8 emperor tetra, 15 cardinal tetra, 2x 2.5in scarlet places, and a 3in gold nugget pleco. I have noticed after 2 days of treatment the ich does not seem to be spreading but I still see the white spots on a few fish...none of the plecos have any ich yet ..i first noticed the ich 5 days ago as a few spots and began raising the temp to 84 and added 1 tbsp of aquarium salt per 5g water..all fish are active and eating up to this day.. my question is how can I tell if treatment is working on fish ...will the ich get worst before improvement is noticed ?... I am saving the first water change for tommorow morning but should I wait 14 days? Should I switch medication to Hikari ich-x? I have battled and conquered ICH 10 years ago successfully in 3-4 days with aquarisol but this product is long gone.
 
Would do one treatment at a time. Would wait till the 2 weeks is up. Won’t see anymore additional spots. Eventually it’ll start to disappear.
 
Thanks for the tip...so I will play the waiting game.. so I should not see the infestation get worst but eventually it will start to get better within the 2 week time frame. kno4te kno4te
 
Vertigon_z said:
Thanks for the tip...so I will play the waiting game.. so I should not see the infestation get worst but eventually it will start to get better within the 2 week time frame. kno4te kno4te
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Keep the concentration steady and should see less and less spots.
 
Thanks I really do have hope since I caught it very early kno4te kno4te
 
When spots disappear it means there are up to 100 tiny ich hatching off the fish from each spot, it doesn't mean the ich is gone, it just means its morphing into another stage .
When they hatch off the fish, is when the meds get them.

However some my be sitting in the substrate inert, at the dormant stage they are immune to treatment, protected by an impermeable cell membrane, once they become active again, the meds will get them. This is why treatment needs to last, a long period. Some may be programmed to hatch out at different times.
By doing a water change, where you vacuum the substrate you are removing some of those inert cells.
When you cured ich before in 3 days you were very lucky, no matter what med you use, they all work in the same manner, attacking the vulnerable stages.
 
Thanks duanes duanes I was thinking of doing the gravel vac tommorow then topping off the medication to bring the copper back to therapuetic levels but I was also considering just leaving the meds in for 14 days and letting it do its magic. I wish there was a 1 size fits all cure for this. I cured it in 3-4 days in the past after it gotten SUPER bad like full blown infestation with fishes covered head to tail in ich, with this situation I caught it very early at the first sign so lets hope for the best.
 
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that the treatment for ich halts a certain part of the life cycle. Due to this it takes time to work. The recommended treatment time for ich is 14 days which is why you may not have full resolution at this time. Continue the course for the full treatment then re-assess.
 
Itsadeepbluesea Itsadeepbluesea Thanks for the tip, so I should just wait 14 days before (water changes/redose medication)and monitor the infestation?
 
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