Very bad ich, what else can I try???

[Cooky_Luvs]

I recently bought an albino rainbow shark from pet smart that brought a nasty strain of ich home with it. I have 3 loaches who all got it, my smallest two (4") have gotten better however my largest loach (6.5") and previously my healthiest has it the worst and I can't seem to irraticate it. It can't be a resistant strain since my smaller ones have improved. Anyways I've had the tank temp up to 92 degrees for the last week and a half, I added salt, one teaspoon per gallon. I have been adding a little more salt everyday as well. I am keeping hornwart in the tank to warn me when the salinity gets too high (hornwart dies in salt). I have also added ich medication here and there in small amounts since it's not safe w/ such high temps and the cysts refuse to pop anyway. Is there anything else I can do??? My loach is getting very skinny and pale. Below are some before and after pics. I hope he makes it.

Before:



After: You can't see the ich much in this picture but it's there and everywhere. He's so pale it blends in.

[loachmom]

Hi,

I'm not an expert on this, but if this was my loach I would keep the temp up (88 degrees or higher) and do water changes daily ---maybe 25% or so. I would also not add any more salt---just let it diminish from your tank with the water changes.

Also, are you positive that it is ich?

Hope all goes well.


Also, don't forget to lower your water level so you get a splash from the filter return. This keeps the oxygen levels up in the warmer water.

[Cooky_Luvs]

yep i'm positive it's ich, they all looked like big yellow powered donuts before. The big loach still has it but like I mentioned he's so pale you can't really see the ich in the picture.

P.S. I've actually read on loach pages that salt and high temps was the best way to go. The salt prevents the ich from rentering the fish once the cysts pop. But it's always good to add a little bit of meds to kill the ich once it pops but can be dangerous w/ the high temps. Also I've added a few airstones since the temp is up there.

[ckk125]

use temperature alone..it works...leave it at 90

[Cooky_Luvs]

it's been over a week so far though, shouldn't it all be gone by now? I've read that 3 days at 88 was supposed to make the cysts pop.

[ckk125]

90..not 88

are the spots still there or just the mucus?

[Diana]

Keep up the gravel vacs. When the Ich falls off the fish it falls to the floor of the tank to reproduce. Vacuum it up before it can reproduce.
Not much can affect the Ich that is burrowed in under the fish's slime coat.
I remember reading that a heat tolerant Ich had been found a couple of years ago.

If the fish are stressing because of the heat, lower the temp to whatever is optimum for the fish. TRy to keep the water as perfect as possible for the fish, and perahps their immune system will be stronger, to help fight.

Next time, and every time Quarantine!

[helen nightingale]

i am sorry but i am going to state the obvious! you have followed the instructions on any treatment EXACTLY, havent you? because the disease causing organism goes through several life stages, you need to kill all of them. you may kill the ick on the fish but not the eggs, so not treating the disease, if you dont use the treatments properly. you often have to treat for several days, then leave a few days and then treat again.

i am only checking as i have recently worked in a fish shop, and the boss had no understanding of this! presumably his inexperienced customers asking him for advice would be very mislead due to his lack of understanding, hence the myth perpetuates.

something else that is important to rember is to raise the amount of oxygen available to the fish. raising the temperature in the tank will speed up the life cycle of Ick, but it will mean that there will be less oxygen available for the fish. because Ick also affects the gills, even before you see the spots, the fish will be having difficlty in taking in oxygen from the water compared to healthy fish. its good you put in more airstones (remeber its better to have more small bubbles than a few big ones) that will more the surface of the water, and some powerheads, that that may help too.

i would be very wary of putting salt in!

[JonGuerriero]

Give this a read: http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php?t=2599

The more you understand it the better you can deal with it. I think most people have gone through this at least once so you're not alone.

Good luck!

[shari2]

I have to say it doesn't look like ich to me. I see a few spots along the dorsal ridge, but the powder-like white coating...is it just the slime coat? Doesn't seem so to me. Do you see any strings of mucous trailing off of him at all?

If not, do try shining a flashlight on him and see if it glitters at all or has a rusty reddish cast. There is a possibility you are dealing with ich and maybe something else by now...