whats the highest temperature piranhas can tolerate?
- Thread starter jp80911
- Start date
well, the reason I'm asking is that I have noticed there are some small white dots in the tails and back of the danios and convicts in one of my tank, I'm pretty much sure those are ich but I have yet to see any on my piranhas which is a good thing.
so before it gets any worse I need to kill off all the parasites in the water and from what I have read that ich cannot survive above 86°F so I'm planning to use heat treatment first before I dose the tank with salt/med and work my butt off vacuuming gravel and water change everyday for 7 to 10 days.
so before it gets any worse I need to kill off all the parasites in the water and from what I have read that ich cannot survive above 86°F so I'm planning to use heat treatment first before I dose the tank with salt/med and work my butt off vacuuming gravel and water change everyday for 7 to 10 days.
Ichthyophthirius multifiliis can't effectively reproduce at 86F, but temperatures above 88F have been shown to actually kill the protozoan. So theoretically you could just bump it up to 86F and eventually it would clear up.
it's really hot in the amazon during the dry season. You could probably run almost 90.0F. Lower the water level to increase gas exchange at the surface. Also if you add tonic salt that will help also. The fish have organs which can adapt to the change in salinity, but the ich does not. Also the protective mucous coat the fish secretes in response to the salt will help the fish resist the ich infection.
I like the heat method too because it doesn't contain any copper, and because it treats the substrate, plants, filter etc. Anywhere that there's ich the heat kills it. One thing to be aware of though is that ich's life cycle is sped up by heat, so an exacerbation of the symptoms initially is to be expected.
I found an article from the university of florida about it:
http://www.aces.edu/dept/fisheries/education/ras/publications/Update/Ich infections.pdf
here's a pic of the life cycle. They're most susceptible during the juvenile stage (tomite). In fact, that's the only time you can kill them. What you see on the fish is the cyst.
it's really hot in the amazon during the dry season. You could probably run almost 90.0F. Lower the water level to increase gas exchange at the surface. Also if you add tonic salt that will help also. The fish have organs which can adapt to the change in salinity, but the ich does not. Also the protective mucous coat the fish secretes in response to the salt will help the fish resist the ich infection.
I like the heat method too because it doesn't contain any copper, and because it treats the substrate, plants, filter etc. Anywhere that there's ich the heat kills it. One thing to be aware of though is that ich's life cycle is sped up by heat, so an exacerbation of the symptoms initially is to be expected.
I found an article from the university of florida about it:
http://www.aces.edu/dept/fisheries/education/ras/publications/Update/Ich infections.pdf
here's a pic of the life cycle. They're most susceptible during the juvenile stage (tomite). In fact, that's the only time you can kill them. What you see on the fish is the cyst.
thanks for the info Coop. I already set all the tank heater to 88°F and plan to keep it there for 2 weeks to ensure all the every single ich is killed.
When you said that the only time one it can be killed is during the tomite stage, that doesn't limit it to heat correct? I believe that is limited to medicine only but could be wrong.
When you said that the only time one it can be killed is during the tomite stage, that doesn't limit it to heat correct? I believe that is limited to medicine only but could be wrong.
jp80911;3664299; said:
Hi Jack.
I don't think it is necessary to keep the temp that high for so long time Jack, I think a week will do. Remember you're keeping caribe and so much time with a high temp might drive them crazy and the levels of aggession can target badly.
Cheers.
I use Mardel Cletted Cooper but that's just me. I would recommend it but understand why people choose to aviod heavy metals so nuff said on cooper. I personally have had zero good results from meds like quick ick or psuedo meds containg tree tea oil. High temps and salts would be my next alternative. It's been my experience that the larger or older the fish is the higher the success rate. Juvi's can die rather quickly in some cases before you have a chance to react. I'd much rather deal with Ick (easy) than what i'm dealin' with now - Red Terror w/ tapeworms - I wish us both great success.