Minnow Ich? Or breeding rash?

[paul112]

Okay, that minnow i brought home is covered in ich. It had breeding rash on it's head when i got it, but do minnows get it all over their body? It has it all over its fins and body, so i'm guessing ich anyway. Is there a different treatment of ich for native (coldwater) fish?
i really need help anyway. Its a sunday, the petshops are closed, i have no salt or ich treatment. What can i do?
Paul

 

[davo]

not a lot without meds. just dont get the fish stressed. maybe turn the lights out

 

[paul112]

Can i not keep dumping the water and replacing it everyday? I could get some water prepared the night before in a bucket, but whats the best way to sterilise a tank against ich? Bear in mind i dont have hydrogen peroxide, but can i use bleach? and what ratio?
Paul

 

[sandtiger]

What species is it? I would raise the temp and add an airstone for added oxygen. Keep the temp raised and when you can get it go for some salt. The raised temp alone might cure it, as might the salt alone. Use both and ich is pretty easy to get rid of.

 

[davo]

water changes is a good idea to lower the free swimming pop. of ich. im not sure how cold water fish react to a raise in temp really, but you could try itguppy has a sticky on ich in health and disease section

 

[paul112]

But i thought raising the temp caused the Ich to quicken it's life cycle? Wouldn't that mean that it would fall off and multiply quicker?
Paul

 

[sandtiger]

It does speed up the lifecycle but you want that to happen, the sooner the lifecycle is over the sooner the ich dies, that means the fish will have it for a shorter period of time. The salt will kill and ich not on the fish. It is important to know the species so I can tell you how hgh to raise the temp, many species can handle warm temps, at least for short periods of time. Lower oxygen will probably kill the fish sooner than the temp so that is why an airstone is important.

 

[paul112]

Its just a phoxinus phoxinus.
Paul

 

[fisher12889]

Put some aquarium salt into the tank for now and see how that helps.

 

[sandtiger]

Fishbase reports 68 F as the highest temp. this fish can handle so raising the temp is not much of an option. You can still treat with the salt though, it will just take longer to get rid of than it would with the higher temp.