grneyez808

Hello fish people,
I am reaching out for some advice!!! I've had my tank almost three years and have not had any problems with my fish whatsoever for the past year and a half. About 4 days ago I noticed my gold severum had white spot and was clamping his fins. So I tested the parameters of my water and everything listed normal 0ppm/0ppm and nitrates were about 30ppm. I did a water change and used jungle ick fizz tabs"UNSUCCESSFUL" so I did a water change for two days and re added the medication for the second day. On the third day I switched to Quick Cure. Two days later my Severum is looking better. Now my angel fish is nose down on the gravel. He shows no signs of illness and I don't know how to diagnose him. I changed my water and added my filtration back in this morning. I need to continue the medication for one more day but am hesitant because I don't know if the medication is what's causing my angel to act this way. Also the ick has cleared from the severum's fins but it now looks as if they were damaged. Should I us Melafix to prevent secondary infections and help fin repair. Please help me!!!!!!!

joy1125

Hi grneyez808, sorry you're having problems.

ICH is treatable, so please don't panic. But you need to slow down, you aren't giving the ich treatment time to work. You need to understand the cycle of the ich parasite.

Here it is in a nutshell> When you see the white specs on the fish, that's when the parasite is encrusted on the fish (medication does NOT treat this stage). Once the parasite gets its fill, it drops off the fish and attachs itself to the gravel or other aquarium decor, where it forms its own protective cyst and multiplies, then after I think 48 hours (depending on water temp) it releases thousands of new parasites (swimmers) that seek out a fish host once again. The medication only works to kill the swimmers during that stage.

So stick with one treatment, and allow it to work. There's some good info regarding the ich cycle, if I can locate it here I'll be back to post the link for you.

But you can speed the ich cycle by raising the aquarium temp to 80/82 or ideally a tad bit higher if your fish can handle that temp, and adding aquaium salt.

I'm going to try to find that link for you now.

joy1125

here's the link

http://www.fishlore.com/Articles/CuringIch.htm

grneyez808

thank you for the info. I started trippin out because of my angel's status. She's not doing well infact getting worse. She has no signs of ich, but looks like she got hit hard by another fish. I almost want to say it's her swim bladder because she is unable to stay upright. I added the aquarium salt this morning when i did my water change. As far as the medication, the directions said to do a 25% water change after 24hrs then add the meds again. Thank you sooo much. I was freaking out though, it's been so long since i've had illness and or losing won of my lil buddies. I appreciate the info.
Aloha, CAmeron

grneyez808

If you might know, I was wondering if I should use Melafix when I'm done treating for ich. Today will be the fifth day for ich, but now my Gold Severum's fins look like they are damaged. I used Melafix before for fin rot and it worked well and it is a natural medicine "no harsh chemicals"

Shawnie

im sorry your fishies are ill I hope things get better!!! but angels dont tolerate meds well at all ...at this point, id do some 30-40% water changes with just stress coat....put in some fresh carbon and turn up the temps to 83-84 F ...ad an extra bubble wand if you can for more oxygen....dont use any more meds....the stress coat should heal up the fin damage but give it a couple weeks ....the water changes a few times a week will do wonders...some extra gravel vacs are needed also to get the ich spores that have fallen off the fish out of the subtrate...goodluck and I hope everyone perks up soon!!

grneyez808

Okay, One question my Severum just scraped his fin and body against my heater. I know they do this when they are sick, so should I medicater or not? I'm worried that if I don't he will die. I have to other angels and they are fine no signs of stress from meds.

Shawnie

NO medications....the warmer temps will kill any leftover ich..and the bubble wand will be needed for more oxygen as warmer water has less oxygen...each fish tolerates things differently..so dont assume the angels will be ok..it could take time to effect them or they may not be effected at all...and also, watch your cycle as MOST meds will kill it...you have already done enough meds so id stick with the daily changes, warmer temps, and stress coat...goodluck!

joy1125

hi Cam, how's the fishes? I'm going thru a bout of ich right now also, but only with one fish, and she's in the Qtank. I treated with Coppersafe, but then kindof freaked a little myself, when I started reading the pros and cons of it. I began secondguessing whether I'd gone the right route, so I understand exactly how you feel.

Keep us posted, and good luck. Hope all the fish pull through!

joy1125

just wanted to add.... Shawnie gave great advice.
I feel as though I should've gone the heat/salt route from the beginning, as I'm someone who keeps chemicals out of my tanks and only uses meds as a last resort..... but I had concerns because my fish with ich is a goldie, a young red cap oranda, and I was afraid of raising the temp so high. I've since learned that they can handle a bit higher temp (at 80/82) so I'm doing that and adding salt, with an extra bubbler going . I feel better about it, knowing the water is really aerated and clean. I've also been doing twice daily water changes as well, due to a spike in ammonia in that tank. I guess the Coppersafe did upset the cycle. So be sure to keep checking your readings too, in case the meds you used did the same !

grneyez808

Hello,
First off thanks to the two of you and your advice. My severum is progressing but he has some fin damage from the ich and stress. The temp is @80 degrees and my parameters are still good. I too hesitate using all of these chemicals do to their effects on the biological filter, but I know I had to do something fast in this case. I noticed my bala shark had some haze over his eyes as well as the fin damage on my severum so I did a fungal treatment to fix it. NO more ich medicine though, only salt and heat. My tank is well oxygenated already so hopefully this comes to an end soon. I took my fish being healthy for granted!!! lol but I think they will be alright with a lil TLC.

Shawnie

you need to go up a few more degrees as tropicals usually live in 80F ..you need 83-84 to kill the lifespan of the ich ....im glad things are looking up!!

Angela_96

The advice a bove is wonderful!, just stay calm. Ich is very treatable, and one of the most treatable fish ailments. Not a death sentence.
I hope your fish get better soon.

AlyeskaGirl

Great advice above and I hope your fish get well soon.

grneyez808

I'm gonna raise the temps today.
Aloha to you all

grneyez808

My temps have been at 83 degrees for two days with the addition of salt and more fish have ich now. Should I stick with this treatment and do a water change?

Nick Goody

I would up the temp to 84-85 and do a gravel vac and waterchange. Stick with it, it will work, but it takes two weeks to kill all the ich spores

Lucy

The temps need to be raised for at least 2 weeks to kill the life cycle along with thorough gravel vacs.

Here's some good info to better understand ich: Ichthyophthirius Multifiliis (White Spot) Infections in Fish