Ick

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Thalan

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Sep 30, 2008
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jacksonville
Can you get ick if your tank is steady 82f? I had thought it was a cold water thing but my two Oscars have tiny white spots mostly on their pectoral fins. The pleco in the tank doesn't seem to be affected so I'm confused. Treat it with Ick Clear? Raise the temp? I also have a SA bumblebee cat in the tank so I've been loathe to jack the temp up since what's comfy for the Os might be death for him. Also aren't cats really sensitive to meds since they're scaleless? So knowing all this what should I do?
 
yep...if stressed you still get ich. i keep all my tanks at 85, and seems to work well.

yes, use 1/2 dosage and just raise the temp and add salt.
 
do u have a spare tank? a hospital tank like a 10g or 20g would work. instead of dosing the whole tank, u just get the sick fishes.
 
if you want to treat your ich by using heat, you need to GRADUALLY bring the water temp up to 86f and hold it there for 2wks.
this works because it speeds up the life cycle of ich. ich lives in three stages and the 3rd is the stage at which you can kill them.

there are other ways to treat ich, like chemical use, but imo, heat is the best.
when you use chemicals, you destroy your beneficial bacteria in your filter and it also wekens the fish.
scaleless fish are the biggest worry when using chemicals too as they are less resiistant and may or may not make it through the treatment
 
Eleven Bravo;2422416; said:
do u have a spare tank? a hospital tank like a 10g or 20g would work. instead of dosing the whole tank, u just get the sick fishes.
Nope. Once the ich is in the main tank, everyone is infected regardless of whichever is weak or strong. Treat the whole tank with salt and heat combo. Doesn't matter if it is table salt or "aquarium" salt.
 
freshwaterz;2422425; said:
oh yeah.....

forgot about the quarantine tank. this is good if you choose to use chemicals because you dont have top worry bout destrying your filter
Meds are last resorts. They can prove themselves more harmful than salt actually does. Simply dissolve salt first and add slowly to the tank. It shouldn't be a problem. Adding too much quickly can result to osmotic shock which eventually kills the fish.
 
Lupin;2422427; said:
Nope. Once the ich is in the main tank, everyone is infected regardless of whichever is weak or strong. Treat the whole tank with salt and heat combo. Doesn't matter if it is table salt or "aquarium" salt.
Agreed. "O's" can get rid of ich quick, but cat need high temp's, salt. don't for get to add extra air in the tank.
 
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