Ichity Ich
- Thread starter albirdy
- Start date
listen to dmed. i would never dose ick with copper-its too harmful-thats like cooking a hotdog with a flame thrower, a little overkill lol . raise the temp in the tank like she said to about 84-86, and read the back of that aquarium salt box-it tells you medication doseage-go by that. just wait it out and the ick will die off, then do a good 50 percent waterchange, and syphon your gravel really really well. the ick cysts will stay in the gravel dormant until its prime opportunity to outbreak again.
ive never heard of ick burning gills-thats new to me. ive treated ick a few times with the raised temp/aquarium (NOT table lol) salt method and it works for me.
ive never heard of ick burning gills-thats new to me. ive treated ick a few times with the raised temp/aquarium (NOT table lol) salt method and it works for me.
albirdy;1942942; said:
one tablespoon per 5 gallons, and raise the temp to 85 degrees. anything over 84 degrees will kill the ich, so will salt. salt will also help relieve stress and aid in healing any damaged areas of the fish.
at the grocery store, you can buy Morten's canning and pickeling salt. it is pure salt, ground very fine. it absorbs into water easily, has no additives and is only $2.00 for 5 lbs. its not sold near the food salt, you'll fiind it near where they sell canning supplies (mason jars, parafin wax, canning salt). I've been using it for months.
forgot to mention, keep the heat/salt for at least 10 days. I'd keep it going for 14 days, if it were me (regardless when symptoms disappear). ich has a 10 day lifecycle, so keeping these conditions so long should completely eradicate the ich from your tank for good. until its reintroduced by water from another tank, anyway.
In order to actually kill ich with temperature, you would have to raise the temp to almost 90F. Increasing the temperature just speeds up the life cycle of the ich so you can treat it faster. In a cold-water tank, the life cycle can take several weeks, but at temperatures around 84-86F it will complete in just a few days (four to five at 85F).
Ich is a protozoa, and its life cycle has distinct stages. Only during one of the stages is it actually vulnerable to any treatment - the free-swimming stage.
Ich on the fish (called a trophont) is encased in the fish's own epithelium. It is not treatable. Once it completes its feeding, it is shed and swims freely about the tank for a few hours - during this time it is vulnerable. Then it settles in the substrate and encases itself and begins to divide (at this point it's called a tomont, or a cyst, and it is not vulnerable). Each cysts produces hundreds of theronts which escape when the cyst opens and swim freely about the tank until they find a host fish and attach. They must find a host within 48 hours or they will die. This stage is when they are most suceptible to treatment. No matter what you are treating with - salt or meds, they are immune to treatment when they are on the fish and when they are in the substrate (and filter).
Ich do not burn the fish's gills. Ich like to attach in the gills because they are "soft", have the best blood supply, and don't have thick mucus coating. You can't see ich in the gills (or newly attached trophonts), so there is NO way of looking at a fish and determining if it has ich or not. Some fish are carriers and avoid large-scale infections but have chronic gill ich. Also, the only time ich can feed is when attached to a fish in the trophont stage. When ich are free swimming they must find a host to feed in about 48 hours (at normal aquaria temperature) or they will die. Also, when ich is in the tomont (cyst) stage, they have a limited amount of stored energy which is all used for reproduction. They can not live in the tank indefinitely unless they are on a host. Sudden outbreaks that are attributed to "dormant" ich in the gravel or the filter are most likely flare-ups of a chronic gill infestation when stressful conditions arise.
Since the ich are obligated to attach to a host, moving the fish around between several tanks is another option to kill ich. It's labor-intensive and requires multiple tanks, but it is 100% effective in eradicating ich. However, it may produce additional stress for the fish because it involves netting and moving them multiple times.
Gravel vac and water changes can greatly reduce the number of tomonts and free-swimming ich (theronts). Be sure to let your equipment dry completely between uses because that will allow any ich present to dry out and it will die.
Ich is a protozoa, and its life cycle has distinct stages. Only during one of the stages is it actually vulnerable to any treatment - the free-swimming stage.
Ich on the fish (called a trophont) is encased in the fish's own epithelium. It is not treatable. Once it completes its feeding, it is shed and swims freely about the tank for a few hours - during this time it is vulnerable. Then it settles in the substrate and encases itself and begins to divide (at this point it's called a tomont, or a cyst, and it is not vulnerable). Each cysts produces hundreds of theronts which escape when the cyst opens and swim freely about the tank until they find a host fish and attach. They must find a host within 48 hours or they will die. This stage is when they are most suceptible to treatment. No matter what you are treating with - salt or meds, they are immune to treatment when they are on the fish and when they are in the substrate (and filter).
Ich do not burn the fish's gills. Ich like to attach in the gills because they are "soft", have the best blood supply, and don't have thick mucus coating. You can't see ich in the gills (or newly attached trophonts), so there is NO way of looking at a fish and determining if it has ich or not. Some fish are carriers and avoid large-scale infections but have chronic gill ich. Also, the only time ich can feed is when attached to a fish in the trophont stage. When ich are free swimming they must find a host to feed in about 48 hours (at normal aquaria temperature) or they will die. Also, when ich is in the tomont (cyst) stage, they have a limited amount of stored energy which is all used for reproduction. They can not live in the tank indefinitely unless they are on a host. Sudden outbreaks that are attributed to "dormant" ich in the gravel or the filter are most likely flare-ups of a chronic gill infestation when stressful conditions arise.
Since the ich are obligated to attach to a host, moving the fish around between several tanks is another option to kill ich. It's labor-intensive and requires multiple tanks, but it is 100% effective in eradicating ich. However, it may produce additional stress for the fish because it involves netting and moving them multiple times.
Gravel vac and water changes can greatly reduce the number of tomonts and free-swimming ich (theronts). Be sure to let your equipment dry completely between uses because that will allow any ich present to dry out and it will die.
Thank you very much
I think I will raise the heat to 85, and add aquarium salt at its proper dosage for 5 days.
sound good?
I think I will raise the heat to 85, and add aquarium salt at its proper dosage for 5 days.
sound good?
oh yeah, and any equipment that touches that tank (nets, python, etc..) needs to be disinfected after the outbreak. i usually use a VERY mild bleach solution, but others may use something better.
Table salt will work just as much as aquarium salt and is much cheaper compared to the latter. The myth regarding the iodine concentration and other additives is being repeated. IMO, I do not think these are really an issue. Add salt gradually to avoid osmotic shock.
Okay,
so I raised the temperature to 82 yesterday
85 today
then 86 towards the evening.
This morning i added a pinch of table salt
and a pinch in the evening
Now it is 11pm,
and I notice my fish in their sleep trance.
One (the one who seemed to be under the most stress during the day) was resting upside down. When I hit the glass, it just spins in circles.
I am never adding salt to my aquarium again.
so I raised the temperature to 82 yesterday
85 today
then 86 towards the evening.
This morning i added a pinch of table salt
and a pinch in the evening
Now it is 11pm,
and I notice my fish in their sleep trance.
One (the one who seemed to be under the most stress during the day) was resting upside down. When I hit the glass, it just spins in circles.
I am never adding salt to my aquarium again.
Sorry about your loss.
Salt in the aquarium is very beneficial, particularly in the presence of disease and parasites. In addition to killing the parasites, the addition of salt decreases osmotic pressure, which reduces stress on the gills. Salt also helps in regeneration of the slime coat which has been disrupted by the ich. So, adding salt to the aquarium that is infested with ich kills the parasite, decreases stress on the fish, and promotes healing.
Raising the temperature and adding the salt are intended to occur at the same time. 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons is a very low dose and intended to be added all at once before turning the temperature up. This helps kill the ich during the short window of vulnerability and protects the fish from the stress of the disease and the increased temperature. I'm not sure why you added "a pinch" in the morning and "a pinch" in the evening. Measuring the salt and adding it appropriately is therapeutic, sprinkling salt on fish is really only helpful if you are putting them in a pan or on the grill.
This situation is like we said "step on the brakes, look behind you, then put the car in reverse," and you just put the car in reverse and now are surprised that you ran into something.
Whatever happened with the salt, it's unlikely that the salt killed the fish. The fish had ich. They got it because either: A. It was introduced into the tank by the addition of an unquarantined fish or plant, or B. they were severely stressed and had lowered resistance to a chronic low-level infestation. Ich does not just happen.
Again, sorry that you lost a fish, and I hope the rest will pull through. I would still recommend daily water changes and addition of salt at 1 tsp. per 5 gallons. Only replace salt when you remove water (i.e. if you take out 20 gallons, replace 4 tsp.) However, if you choose not to add the salt, you need to turn the temperature back down -- you are not treating the fish, you are stressing them.
Salt in the aquarium is very beneficial, particularly in the presence of disease and parasites. In addition to killing the parasites, the addition of salt decreases osmotic pressure, which reduces stress on the gills. Salt also helps in regeneration of the slime coat which has been disrupted by the ich. So, adding salt to the aquarium that is infested with ich kills the parasite, decreases stress on the fish, and promotes healing.
Raising the temperature and adding the salt are intended to occur at the same time. 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons is a very low dose and intended to be added all at once before turning the temperature up. This helps kill the ich during the short window of vulnerability and protects the fish from the stress of the disease and the increased temperature. I'm not sure why you added "a pinch" in the morning and "a pinch" in the evening. Measuring the salt and adding it appropriately is therapeutic, sprinkling salt on fish is really only helpful if you are putting them in a pan or on the grill.
This situation is like we said "step on the brakes, look behind you, then put the car in reverse," and you just put the car in reverse and now are surprised that you ran into something.
Whatever happened with the salt, it's unlikely that the salt killed the fish. The fish had ich. They got it because either: A. It was introduced into the tank by the addition of an unquarantined fish or plant, or B. they were severely stressed and had lowered resistance to a chronic low-level infestation. Ich does not just happen.
Again, sorry that you lost a fish, and I hope the rest will pull through. I would still recommend daily water changes and addition of salt at 1 tsp. per 5 gallons. Only replace salt when you remove water (i.e. if you take out 20 gallons, replace 4 tsp.) However, if you choose not to add the salt, you need to turn the temperature back down -- you are not treating the fish, you are stressing them.
