Ick Medicine with ropes amd elephant nose in tank

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo

Iron Buddha

Gambusia
MFK Member
Dec 21, 2008
143
2
18
St. Louis
I got a 55 Gallon tank with 3 rope Fish, an african featherfin catfish, African Brown Knife, Congo Leaf fish, Elephant nose fish, 4 Congo Tetra, and one yellow lab african cichlid. I notice that my new elephant nose is scratching up against driftwood once in a while, now the congo leaf is too....What type of medicine should i use, that is sensitive enough for rope fish and elephant nose and african black knife.

I also plan on adding a butterfly fish and a new dehlezi and a baby whale if I could find one? how would the medicine affect them...Are there any effective yet sensitive treatments for ick that i can use that will not harm these fish?
 
:irked:With those, I'd try putting the temp at about 82F and adding salt. I for one would not even CONSIDER adding more fish until I was positive the ich threat was gone. You're risking the entire current tank population as is. Meds add stress, hopefully more to the parasite than the fish, but that is how they work. Most ich meds are copper based which is pretty much a death sentence to scaleless fish like the knife and elephantnose, not much better for the ropes. If you use one of those, try it at half strength for a few days longer than full strength recommended treatment. You'll still probably kill them, but at least they'll have a prayer. This is exactly why quarantining is important! I hope for your fishes' sake it's not ich, just a stress reaction. Good luck!


IF you use carbon, remove it until you're ready to take out the meds, or you'll waste your money on the meds.
 
Thanx Cholly,,,i will do a 50% water change and try the salt thing, I have aquarium salt. Don't worry, i was going to add those fish in the near future...not while the others "seem" sick...
 
Mind you that I haven't tried this personally, but a bristlenose breeder I know claims to have cured an ich outbreak with the the higher temp and daily 50-60% water changes and substrate vacuuming. It kinda makes sense to me as there's a point in the ich parasite's life cycle where it drops off, between the higher heat reducing numbers and the vacuuming of the free floaters. Could be worth a shot with med sensitive fish. Here's hoping it was just stress though.:thumbsup:
 
MonsterFishKeepers.com