Ich on new clown loaches .. keeping journal .. please read.

Will describe best I can what has happened to date.

My tank is fully stocked and all fish seem to be relatively healthy.

My guess is that the following would have contributed to the parasite showing on the fish:

* they are new fish (48 hours new)
* change in environment
* change in temperature overnight - I turned it off thinking I can save some electricity

I have read up a fair bit this morning and what I have done is:

* turn heater back on
* turn temp to 25 degrees Celsius (76-80 Fahrenheit was suggested)
* get medication called "White Spot Remedy" ingredients being malachite green and methylene blue and run for full life cycle of the Ich.

What other suggestions do you guys have for me? Be it treatment, prevention or comments on medication I am using etc. Thanks !

Will continue and report my findings to you guys.

----Journal----

10th March (Sat)
25% water change with added conditioner for chloromine that is prevalent in our Sydney water (not chlorine)
Later that day, I bought 3 x clown loaches, 2 Chinese algae eaters and 4 glass catfishs. Acclimatised fish and hand scooped them into my tank - no shop tank water introduced. All fish very lively all very happy

11th March (Sun)
Turned off heater thinking that the outside temperature will be OK, as it is summer and quite warm here in Sydney

12th March (Mon)
Woke up in the morning to find that 3 x clown loaches were covered with Ich .... overnight !! WHAT THE ^#@($ !?!??!?!
Got Ich medication (see above) for them - used half dosage as per instructions as loaches are sensitive to meds.

13th March (Tue)
Bit of improvement, not much
Got new tank heater (much larger and able to cope with tank size). Turned up heat gradually to 30 degrees.

14th March (Wed)
Gave them a second dose of medication - my tank is going blue !
Called my LFS just to confirm that I DO NOT do any water change at this point in time and to continue the 2 day treatment (i.e. add meds every 2 days) for 4 days after the Ich are gone

15th March (Thu)
Here we go - one loach is completely back to normal and the two bigger guys are about 50% fixed. The meds are working no doubt - just need to keep with it.
Would have expected the white spots to disappear quicker, but that may be due to the lower dosage that I am giving them.
The other fish have showed no signs of Ich at all.

16th March (Fri)
3rd dose of medication
1 completely healed; 2 partially healed

17th March (Sat)
I went fishing ...

18th March (Sun)
4th dose meds
Fish looking better

19th March (Mon)
Fish looking better again, maybe 2 or 3 Ich spots left on the biggest fella

10 days so far into treatment ... confirm that the meds work fine.
Will continue for maybe another 2 medication doses in the next 6 days and leave it at that.

SUCCESS ! ;D

 

13th March (Tue)

Woke up to see that my little friends still have white spots on them after the first treatment of 5ml per 40 litres of water treatment of the medication, which consists of formaldehyde and malachite green (blue substance).

The parasite would be in the first of three stages of it's life cycle hence I need them to drop off the the bottom of the tank whereby the medication will kill it.

"Stage 1 - When the parasite is visible to the naked eye, it is a nearly fully developed trophont which has burrowed under the fish’s mucus coating where it is protected from chemicals (medication). It has likely been feeding on the body fluid of the fish for several days and has swelled to many times its original size. At common aquarium temperatures of 75 to 80ºF this feeding stage lasts only a few days, at which point the fully developed cyst drops off the fish as a tomont."

quote from here--> (must read)

Next step will be to add another dose 48 hours after the first treatment.

 

It takes about 14 ays to get rid of ICH(white spot). Turn the temp up to 25c, do frequent water changes(warmer water has less oxygen) and do this for 1 days. clowns are really sensitive to meds so if you use any keep an eye on them. Clowns are notorious for getting ICH when moved from one environment to another ar if they get chilled.
Carol

 

It takes about 14 ays to get rid of ICH(white spot). Turn the temp up to 25c, do frequent water changes(warmer water has less oxygen) and do this for 1 days. clowns are really sensitive to meds so if you use any keep an eye on them. Clowns are notorious for getting ICH when moved from one environment to another ar if they get chilled.
Carol

How often for the water changes ??? Once a week still at 25% ? I don't want to change water when there is medicine in the water.

Or should I change water every 3 days and then add the medicine ?

 

I don't know about the medicine. I just raise teh temps, do every other day water changes and continue to do this for 14 days. Clowns need highly oxygenated water so watch for them to be stressed you may have to do a water change anyway.
Carol

 

I've got a bubble curtain and bubbles from the powerhead so I think it is highly oxygenated.

Should I do a 25% water change tonight before I put the medication in ?

 

Excellent idea with the bubble curtain. Yes a large water change before adding the meds is also an excellent idea.
Carol

 

Original post updated !

 

Thank You for the update!
Carol

 

I still have Ich after 7 days

One of the loaches are OK. But the other 2 are having trouble fighting it off ... hmm ?

Any thoughts ?

Temp is 30 degrees, meds are added every 2 days ... fed as normal .. help !?

 

Takes 14 days of heat before the ICH will be gone.
Carol

 

They are all gone !!

8 days after the first infestation - the Ich are gone.

I will properly update the first post so everyone can see my timeline for fixing this disease.

 

continue to keep the temps up for the full 14 days so it doesn't come back
Carol

 

Gonskis ..

Thanks all for all the help.. lucky for the swift treatment, all fish are still alive and kickin' !

 

Wonderful!!
Carol