Question on Ich

[Jarrod]

Ive been reading the forum and website for the past 3 weeks (ever since i got my clown loaches). 5 days ago I discovered they had gotten the ich along with my neon tetra's two things happened during that week so either could have been the cause.

1. The water heater just stopped and the water temp dipped down into the low 70's (usually in the low 80's)
2. I added a piece of driftwood (I removed the driftwood yesterday)

I read what everyone else posted about ich and treatment. Ive been doing the following since i found the ich.

1. set the temp up 82-86ish
2. 20% water change daily
3. use Ick Guard II
4. removed carbon from my filter
5. turned the aquarium lights off

I also have black mollies in my tank but they have no sign of infection. The neon tetra's are getting better, the clown loaches seem to be getting worse . I don't think the one will make it by the time i get off work, is there any other measure i can take?

I really don't want to lose the loaches the few weeks I've had them they really grew on me.

[LoachOrgy]

welcome to LOL.

remember to only do half doses. not only that, i raised my temp to 82 and that was good enough to rid the ich. it came back after a 3 week treatment but it went away a few days later after that and it hasn't come back since. try this... follow the directions on the ich treatment.


only do the water change right before you are adding medication. do the water change, then add the medication. i managed to do a water change right before each treatment being 48 hours in between each treatment and water change.


really get in there with a gravel cleaner and suck up all the gunk and clean the tank so you can try and remove as much of the ich as possible. this really helped me i believe. other than that i wish you the best and i hope that all goes well.

[Jarrod]

thank you

I hit the tanks gravel yesterday when doing the water change, I'll nail it better tonight.

I wasnt doing half doses. I will start that today after work half a dose before work then a half when i get back home from work.

[newshound]

as always we need more info
new tank? water conditions etc....
I have used coppersafe with great success
one dose EASY SLEAZY

[Emma Turner]

Welcome to Loaches Online, Jarrod. Sorry to hear about your clown loaches.

It is really important to make sure that you increase aeration when maintaining the tank at higher temperatures, so if you haven't already done so, drop the water level by an inch or so, so that the return from the filter splashes down onto the waters surface to agitate it which will incorporate more O2. You can also angle the flow diverters from powerheads up towards the waters surface to help too.

It is unlikely that the driftwood was the problem, unless it came from an infested tank. More likely that the temperature got too low for the fish which in turn stressed them out.

Emma

[Jarrod]

The tanks a year old the ph is 7.0 the nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia are zero or close to it.

I test once a week before I do my water change and they were like that, now that im changing out water every day i havn't checked.

I did get that driftwood from a neighbor............

[chefkeith]

The clowns had the ich when you got them 3 weeks ago. Ich is usually unseen in the gills of the fish when you 1st get them.

[Jarrod]

One died today, the other doesnt look so good. It doesnt look as bad as the other one either so it may still pull through.

[Jarrod]

Its been a week now and my clown loach is getting better. It still has white spots in areas but is swimming around a bit. I ran out of Ich guard and with the weather we are having here I'm not going to be able to get some for a day or so.

Will it be necessary to keep it going on the ich guard?

[Ippo456]

Still use medications for 3 days after you see no more visible white specks.
I learned it the hard way - I stopped treatment too early & apparently I've created a more resistant strain of Ich.
Better be safe than sorry.

[Jarrod]

okay will do.

all the roads in my town were closed yesterday, but this afternoon during lunch i will run to the shop and get some more meds.

[shari2]

Jarrod, are you in NJ?
Definitely keep the meds going for several days to a week after ALL signs of spots are gone.
Sorry you lost one.

[Jarrod]

I'm in PA, about a hour and a half from Jersey depending on how I drive and where in Jersey i want to get.

[shari2]

I'm in sodden Jersey.
Glad to hear the once clown seems to be acting more normally. It is really important to keep the treatment going if it is working. Hope you can get out to get some meds.