Heat treatment for ich not working on one fish

Hello,

So, on Sunday we got the heat in our tank up to 86F to treat for ich. We tried medication first, but that killed off our rummies and others recommended trying heat. We only have 2 pearl gouramis remaining. After we stopped medicating and before they died, the rummies were clear of spots, and so was the female gourami. However, the male had a lot of spots on him.

The female continues to appear clear, although occasionally I have a fleeting thought that I can see a spot, but nothing definite. The male, however, took a turn for the worse two days ago. He was acting normal despite the spots up until then. But now we think we'll lose him, as he just sits below the surface at the top of the tank. The female is still acting completely normal.

I'm confused because his spots aren't going away. I thought they would drop off once the heat was high enough that ich couldn't reproduce. And the female seems to have no problem. He was old as dirt and pretty beat up to begin with (we inherited him from my husband's grandfather, who was no longer able to properly care for him and didn't even realize he was still in the tank in the end). So I know his immune system was probably not good. But how can he still have ich after 5 days of heat and when the female has no signs?

Thanks. Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.

 

When I had ICH I kept the temp at 86 for about 2 weeks. I would suggest the same for you and just continue to do regular water changes and gravel vacs to get the ICH spores out of the water and gravel

 

Thank you. Yes, we plan to keep the temp up for that long. I was just concerned that maybe it wasn't working at all. It seemed like a lot of people said the spots would be gone in a few days, though the temp needed to continue to remain high.

 

If you're seeing results on the female then it must be working haha. The heat speads up ICH's life cycle but it may take longer for some fish depending on how bad they have it. I hope the male gets better soon

 

Thanks. I'm afraid we've not much hope for him. He's sitting so forlornly at the top of the tank. But I'll feed him some food with some garlic juice on it when I get home, if he's still with us, poor little chap.

 

Can you place a pic ?

 

Sure, when I get home from work in a little bit.

 

Agreed, a picture would be helpful

 

Pictures were hard to get, but here's what I have.

 

He also now has a long, large dark spot on the top of his head, impossible to capture in a photo.

 

Heat treatment doesn't work for Ich cause it isn't Ich.

Looks like bacteria (which love you for raising the temp) or a ciliate (Trichodina ?) to me.

Meds are definitely needed !

 

White spots that look exactly like the ich did on the other fish? What makes you think it's bacteria and not ich? My husband has seen ich in many tanks before, and this looks exactly the same. Maybe the pictures aren't showing it very well.

 

White spots that look exactly like the ich did on the other fish? What makes you think it's bacteria and not ich? My husband has seen ich in many tanks before, and this looks exactly the same. Maybe the pictures aren't showing it very well.

I think your fish had Ich, but one of the problems with Ich is the parasite damages the slimecoat/skin making fish vunerable for secundairy infections (bacterial, parasital or fungal).

The patches on this male are by far too big to be Ich and looking quite different.

As said : I'd lower the temp to normal and start using meds to treat this.
Other members can help you getting the right type / brand.

Regards Aad

 

I'm so sorry. I just realized that the first pic I posted makes it looks like he has very large white spots on him--what you're referring to, I presume. Those are water spots on the tank. I didn't even notice them, because I was so intent on whether he was in focus. My apologies. The photo was misleading. The only spots actually on him are the little tiny ones barely visible in the photos on his back and top of his head.

 

I'm so sorry. I just realized that the first pic I posted makes it looks like he has very large white spots on him--what you're referring to, I presume. Those are water spots on the tank. I didn't even notice them, because I was so intent on whether he was in focus. My apologies. The photo was misleading. The only spots actually on him are the little tiny ones barely visible in the photos on his back and top of his head.

Hahaha that makes thing clear.
Having a closer look it definitely looks like Ich . There have been reports overhere about heat-resistant strains of Ich. Don't wait and try a med (Esha Exit, Paraguard, JBL Punktol, Sera Costapur or so).

 

Thanks, DoubleDutch. And alas, he passed yesterday. The heat treatment definitely worked on the other fish, and the medication wasn't working on him at all either, when we tried it. So we're pretty certain he was just already so old and weak that his system just couldn't beat it. Thank you for your input and help!

 

Thanks, DoubleDutch. And alas, he passed yesterday. The heat treatment definitely worked on the other fish, and the medication wasn't working on him at all either, when we tried it. So we're pretty certain he was just already so old and weak that his system just couldn't beat it. Thank you for your input and help!

Awwww sorry to hear !!!

 

Hello I'm in the UK I haven't read all the replies so I'm sorry if I've repeated someone else's response but have you looked at using Protizin by Waterlife? I've dealt with white spot with this recently

Also, white spots from what I've been told are not always ich it could be bacterial infection in which case look at Myxazin by Waterlife

 

Thanks, also, jamesmeader. The fish who was still sick died. The remaining gourami seems to have responded just fine to the heat treatment.

 

Ok sorry to hear that but good that one is ok