Keep your clown loaches in warmer water!

[Cichlaholics Anonymous]

most cichlids can toleate the 82-84, but long term it will lead to shorter lifespan due to the speed up in the metabolism I imagine

 

[Rockbass6]

You're right about the cover. I have quite a bit of driftwood in my tanks. You would think that more hiding spots would keep them out of sight, but the opposite is true. I have found that many retreats makes them bolder and more visible in the tank.

Yea I know exactly, every morning mine come out to the glass begging for food! haha. They swim around all day, its just when they get scared that they will run under the driftwood.

 

[is300zx]

I keep my loach tanks around 78-80F and I never have any problems with Ich. Ich is a parasite that's almost always brought in from new fish and even from the water they came in from your LFS. If you properly quarantine and treat for ich, it should not be present in your tanks or have any outbreaks. According to this article you need to have the temps higher than 85F for temps to have any effects on stopping ich. Anything below you're just speeding up the ich life cycle.


http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php

Raised Temperature: There are two schools of thought regarding raising the temperature of the water to treat ich.

1. The first approach is used simply to speed up the lifecycle of the parasite, since whatever medication you choose will only be effective on the free-swimming tomonts and thermonts. It is understood that at temps above 75ºF, for example, an entire lifecycle can be complete in less than 4 days. (In contrast, it can take more than 5 weeks at temps below 45ºF, such as you might find in an outdoor pond.) Slowly raising the temperature a few degrees above normal (to approximately 80 - 82ºF) will do the trick, and you can treat accordingly with salt or a medication (see below). Always maintain good surface agitation, especially with a higher temperature.
2. The second approach is to actually destroy the organism with heat, and can be combined with the salt treatment below, but not with meds. The data I studied (including a report by the Southern Regional Aquaculture Center, which is currently archived here) suggests that most strains of Ich cannot reproduce at temperatures above 85ºF. To use this treatment approach, slowly (no more than 1 or 2 degrees per hour) raise the temperature to 86ºF, while maintaining strong continuous surface agitation to oxygenate the water. This is extremely important because water holds less O2 at higher temperatures. (This is why meds should not be used in conjunction with high temp – most Ich treatment products also reduce oxygen levels. Less available oxygen, combined with the respiration difficulties an infected fish is already faced with, could be fatal.) You can angle powerheads up toward the surface, or lower your water level to get a little extra splash from your filter return. As with any treatment, observe your fish closely for signs of stress (labored breathing, erratic behavior) and reduce the temperature slowly if necessary. (A note to the wary; my Malawi haps and clown loaches endured a temperature of 88ºF for 10 days with apparent ease – I never detected the slightest hint of distress – and the Ich was completely wiped out. One article that I read suggests the temperature be raised to 90ºF!)

The adjusted temperature should be maintained for approximately 10 days, or a minimum of 3 days after all signs of the parasite have disappeared. Do not discontinue treatment when the spots go away. This is critical, because we know that they are visible only as a trophont on the body of the host, and not during the reproductive or free-swimming stage. We also know that trophonts on the gills are impossible to see.
One last note on raised temperature treatment: If you follow the directions here thoroughly and have a subsequent outbreak without having added new fish or plants, you may need to try a different approach. It is possible to encounter a resistant strain of ichthyophthirius, as there have been rare instances recorded where the organism survived at 92ºF!

 

[ewurm]

I agree that a quarantine tank is essential. The suggestion of keeping warmer water is simply my experience. I rarely get ich outbreaks, and I can only attribute this to a higher ambient temperature. It works for me.

 

[Miles]

Ich parasites are present in any tank, but in remission. They attack weak fish.

Ich is a host parasite and needs a host to live on.. The 'Ich is present in all water at all times' is a long-standing myth. Sure, the free-floating tomites can seek refuge in substrate of filtration, but for only so long before they must seek out a host and continue their life cycle. Chlorine (and most anti bacterial/parasite agents) kills the free-floating tomite, so saying that it lives in and is spread through a municipal water supply is false.

Temps above 85 degrees will kill the free-floating tomites.. Raising the temp otherwise just speeds up the life cycle and you need a treatment to kill the free-floating tomites, such as Salt, Malachite Green, Formalin, etc..

Ich attaches itself to soft-tissue areas on fish, such as the gill tissue where it can go undetected for months on a scaled or armored fish. Clown Loaches, being scaleless, are an easy target. Certain stressors will compromise the slime coat, such as netting or sudden temperature drops... making them easy targets for the free-floating Ich to attach itself too, especially if it's a scaleless fish. As far as 'attacking weak fish'.. yeah, Maybe, but I don't think being a weak fish has much to do with slime coat production and/or slime coat damage from improper handling...

 

[ewurm]

That is true, but the simple fact remains that it works for me. The high temps speed up metabolism and probably resistance to the parasites. Without a degree in marine biology, I can't necessarily say why it works, but it does. Perhaps I am wrong and the diet I am feeding is causing resistance to the parasites, or the MFK sticker on the glass, but I'm going to go with the higher temp which is closer to the temps in the native range.

 

[ewurm]

Another good reason to keep your loaches at a higher ambient temp is temperature swings. If your home temperature changes, keeping your fish at 77 may cause swings in the tank temp that are too low, putting you at risk for ick infection if the fish get stressed.

 

[RD.]

Solid post, Miles. There appears to be a lot of misinformation online about ich.

I keep my loach tanks around 78-80F and I never have any problems with Ich. Ich is a parasite that's almost always brought in from new fish and even from the water they came in from your LFS. If you properly quarantine and treat for ich, it should not be present in your tanks or have any outbreaks.

Ditto, my clowns are kept at 80F year round, and I have never had any ich issues with my loaches. (or any other health issues)

One thing that I would like to add to this discussion, for anyone that is cranking the heat up in their tanks, keep in mind that at higher temps, water holds less 02, so make sure that you have plenty of surface agitation taking place to maximize the C02/02 exchange.

 

[Potts050]

My experience with Icthy parasites has been that warmer temperature tends to reduce the spread and effect it has on kept fish. The reason as I see it is the higher temperature increases the metabolism of both parasite and host.
Increased metabolism in the fish, as long as there is sufficient oxygen, low stress and adequate nutrition, enhances the kept fish's immune response to the parasite.


Icthy parasites while in the free swimming stage (which is when they attack a host and penetrate the skin) are incapabale of feeding in the water column and will die if they are unable to find a host. Starvation ocours faster at raised temperature, because their raised metabolisms.


Raising temperature can therefore be an effective way of reducing the spread of these parasites. Other effective measures include; reducing stocking density and diatom filtration to actually trap and remove the tomonts from the water. All three methods in my humble opinion are better than medication, which should be used in extreme cases and in prepared hospital/isolation tanks only.

 

[ewurm]

Solid post, Miles. There appears to be a lot of misinformation online about ich.




Ditto, my clowns are kept at 80F year round, and I have never had any ich issues with my loaches. (or any other health issues)

One thing that I would like to add to this discussion, for anyone that is cranking the heat up in their tanks, keep in mind that at higher temps, water holds less 02, so make sure that you have plenty of surface agitation taking place to maximize the C02/02 exchange.

I think 80 deg F. Is a good temp. I'm more worried about fish kept in the 70's. Again, this is my experience. I didn't go to school for ichthyology.