Ick is probably the most common ailment in fishkeeping.
I eliminated ick in a 45gal planted tank. Understanding ick complex lifecycle shall enhance your chances of eliminating it completely.
Ick is a protozoan infection. This protozoan has three major stages in its lifecycle. When they attach to our fish they become visible and so far no treatment available kills ick at this stage. In a few days ick will reach another stage and fall out of the fish into the substrate, decor, plants, etc, where it will undergo certain changes until it reaches its third stage, where it becomes a free-swimmer looking for fish to attach to. At these two stages we can intervene.
The time it takes ick to go through its life cycle is temperature dependent. At higher temps this cycle is likely to go in a few days, at lower temps it might take a couple of weeks to complete. ick is intolerant of high end temperature and
salinity.
What to do: You have two major options that could consider using either in sequence if needed or combine simultaneously.
Option 1:
a) Elevate your tank's temperature to 82-84F (28-29C) range.
b) Increase levels of dissolved oxygen: turn off CO2 if you run it; take one inch of water wolume to increase water agitation via the splash of incoming water from your filtration system. Place several air diffusers: bubble wands/assemblies that produce micro-bubbles are better than rough airstones that produce big sized bubbles. If all you have are standard airstones, control the airflow to reduce the bubble's size.
c) consider using aquarium salt (no iodines). Do not overdose: use an
hydrometer to dose, otherwise skip using salt.
d) Heavy substrate vacuum, thorough aquarium walls cleaning, filter media rinsing, removing your plants,
driftwood, decor and give them a temperature shock treatment: dump them in tepid water, take them out and dump them in chilled water, rinse well and place them back in your tank.
e) perform daily 80% water changes.
Six days doing this should get your tank ick free. Monitor your water parameters afterwards to confirm your cycle is in place. Intervene if needed.
Option 2:
a) Remove charcoal from your filter if in use.
b) Remove sensitive/delicate aquarium decor -medication could stain it.
c) Medicate with a formulation that has one of the greens (e.g. malachite green, victoria green) and formaline if possible. That is the best combination available as tried and true. Don't overdose, this meds should not disrupt your cycle if used properly. (e.g. Jungle Ick-Cure Two).
You need to perform a huge
water change before adding medication. Once you dose it, let your tank rest for a full day, and perform another huge water change the following day (48 hours after treatment). Repeat dosing two more times (total of dosing: three).
In mild cases you don't need to use medications, temperature and thorough cleaning would get your tank rid of ick. Keep your tank temp in the upper range for a couple of weeks just to be sure. If you use salt (I choose not to) you may need huge water changes afterwards to get rid of it (salt stays in the water column).
Hope this helps.
Pepe
Santo Domingo
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