Clown Loaches Have Ich And I Dont Have Medication Currently

So my clown loaches have ich or white spot disease, and currently, I do not have medication for it, today I went into the fish room and found 1 of my loaches stuck to the filter(dead) and I thought it was just the fact that the fish was already sick and nearly dead but after school I went back into the fish room and I saw white spots on 1 of my loaches and after a while I saw white spots on 2 of my loaches, I started out with 5 and now I am on 4, and one of the loaches slime coat is peeling, and I see the tank mates picking on it,any help will be appreciated.

Stocking:
-4 clown loaches
-5 Bala sharks
-2 unidentified catfish
-4 black ghosts

I also forgot to mention, I quarantine most of my fish but I added 2 loaches and 3 balas to make it 4 and 5 and now they have ich, please if you have experienced ich on loaches before please help, should I wait for tmr to go buy medication or is there another way to treat it now, should I separate any of the fish? (the black ghosts were picking on it. (Please if u r a veteran please help)(if you need any info I can provide).

 

Is the tank bare bottom? That should make this easier for you. Start by raising the temp, 86-88 would be ideal but if you're not comfortable with it that high do 82(the higher the heat the more ich will just be killed by temp) This will at least speed up the life cycle of the ich which help you get it out of the tank faster. You'll want to do a water change every day and vacuum the bottom too. You don't really even need meds.

 

Hello...

You really don't need special medications to kill the Ich parasite. All you need to do is change half the tank water every two to three days, do a good job of vacuuming the bottom material and use a tablespoon of standard aquarium salt in every 5 gallons of the new, treated tap water. I would recommend feeding the fish sparingly. A little every couple of days. More poop in the water won't do anything to help the water chemistry. Just follow these steps until the fish improve.

Old

 

the tank is a half bare bottom, half substrate and should I separate any of the fish from the tank? because the catfish and the black ghost are picking on the loaches

 

Everything in there now has ick. So all need to be treated. As said above high heat, salt and vacuuming water changes will kill it. Ick starts as a free swimmer that attaches to your fish and becomes the white spots. The white spots are eggs they fall off the fish land on the bottom hatch into hundreds more free swimmers and start the cycle all over. The high heat and salt kill the swimming stage. The vacuuming water changes pick up the eggs before they hatch. Salt also help heal the fish. Plus a uv sterilizer also helps.

 

the tank is a half bare bottom, half substrate and should I separate any of the fish from the tank? because the catfish and the black ghost are picking on the loaches

You might want to separate so the loaches get a break, but you'll still have to treat all the fish.

 

Loaches are tough fish and very resilient. One thing I don’t see is a cave for them. They like and need caves. Something big enough for them all to get in together. How big is your tank? Some people use cut down pieces of pvc tubing for caves.

 

my tank is around 300 liters, I do plan on getting a bigger tank and maybe separating them after they grow a bit

 

Hello again...

Heat will speed up the life cycle of the parasite. It will also speed up the fishes' metabolism and will make them produce more waste. Nitrogen from dissolving fish waste will further foul the water and this isn't good for the water chemistry when you're trying to get rid of the Ich parasite. Heat will also damage any aquatic plants you have and warm water holds little oxygen. Fish in low oxygen water can develop internal problems. The tablespoon of salt is fairly low, so any plants you may have should be fine, I wouldn't mess with the water temperature. Lots of large water changes, salt and vacuuming the bottom material will do the job.

Old

 

I’ve read salt treatment isn’t ideal for loaches/ scaleless fish? And also to avoid medications containing formalin in treating them. Lot of misinformation out there so wondering if this is indeed the case?
So, last I treated clown loaches for ich, I made progress with just heat and water changes but it lingered a bit. Eventually some Paraguard did the trick (temp then adjusted to 29C). It depletes real quick though at the specified dosage, especially on big tanks, but does the job and isn’t harsh on the fish.
They are indeed pretty tough so if identified earlyish I’m sure they will come right!

 

There are three methods to curing ich, all are effective. You can use commercial medication, salt, or the heat method. There is no single "right" way. The method you choose depends on your situation and your fish.

Once you pick a method stick with it. If you combine methods, it will produce more stress for the fish, but it won't be any more effective.

I agree with the previous comments that it's the entire tank that get infected, so the entire tank must be treated. Also, make sure you treat for the duration according the instructions. The life cycle includes the white spots, then the white spots fall off and form cysts that sit on the bottom, then the cysts blow open and release zillions of little nasties that float around in the water column until they attache to a fish and form a white spot. Even if the white spots go away, the ich is still alive while it completes the life cycle. If you stop treating when the white spots disappear, the ich will return in a few days.