Ick - what does it look like??

??? ???What is Ick and what does it look like? I just noticed that my fish have little white spots on them, is this what it could be? if so, what do I do? I am new to this fish world and still pretty confused!!!

 

Yep. It looks like someone sprinkled them with salt. There are many medications out there you can treat them with. Depending on what fish you have in your tank, ou may be able to just raise the temperature and add salt. Please post what fish are in your tank and how many look affected.

 

unless your fish prefer cold water like white clouds... raise the temp to 82-85 degrees... if your fish can tolerate it add 1 tblspn of salt per 5 gallons... less if you are concerend or if you have any scaleless fish

 

what type of salt? ???

 

aquarium / marine salt. what type of fish do you have? make sure they are capable of dealing with salt

 

I have 6 guppies (spots on 1) - 2 angelfish - 4 neon tetras (spots on all) - and 4 tetras (spots on 1) . I did a 50% water change tonight and that is when I noticed the spots - the water has been couldy and this is what I was told to do at the pet store. It seems to be only on this fish that I purchased 2 weeks ago. Does this make sense?

 

I'm not sure about the tetras, so just slowly raise the temperature to 85 degrees for now. I hesitate about adding salt because of the neons? Can anyone clarify this?

 

looking at the instructions on my heater the temp only goes up to 82 on the high setting? Does the heat kill the ick? ??? ???

you guys are being such a great help - being a beginner - this stuff is confusing..........thanks!! :-*

 

heat dosent kill ich it icreases it life cycle sos that when the ich gets of your fish what ever teatment you are doing will kill the ich

 

I'm not sure about that.  Here's more information from another forum:

White Spot (Ichthyophthirius)

A parasite that we will all encounter whilst keeping fish.
As an adult it is embedded in the skin of the fish causing irritation, your fish will probably be glancing off rocks and plants to alleviate the itching.
The parasite will feed and grow on the blood and skin cells of its host for a few days until it is fully grown.
It then bores its way out of the skin and drops off into the substrate, it then forms a cyst which then goes through rapid cell division until about 1000 young are released into the water to start the whole process again.
The whole process takes just five days at 27C.
There are cases where the parasite actually lies dormant in the skin of the fish and will not emerge until it is ready, making eradication quite difficult.
The best time to kill them is when they are free swimming and looking for a host.
Treatment must be external and aimed at the free swimming stage hence the need to dose again after a few days, suitable cures are widely available.

We also have a disease section here on FishLore:

https://www.fishlore.com/Disease.htm

 

Will Ich kill the fish? I cann't get any medication or salt until Monday when the stores open. We do not have Sunday Shopping here in Nova Scotia. Will that be too late? I have turned up the heat in the tank to 82. Is the salt only available in the pet stores? or can I get it somewhere else? I'd like to try to find it somewhere else if possible. I just read "ich an old cure for an old disease on this site and it mentions canning and pickling salt, does this seem right?

thanks again for all the help.

:-*

 

yes ich will kill the fish so I would try to find a pet store that's open to get some ich medication or aquarium salt about pickling salt I have no clue b/c I used the medication when my tank had ich

 

Tetras and some scale-less fish don't handle the ich medications well, so, if you use it, add it to your tank at 1/2 of the recommended dosage.   

 

I have a question about this whole thing --

If ick is a free swimming parasite (when it is looking for a host, that is the best time to medicate) then we do we quarantine ONLY the fish that are showing signs? When if that is true, it would not even be worth it to move the fish, because the entire tank has it.. You know what I mean? or am I talking out of my butt? LOL

 

You quarantine fish with ich because then if the parasite hasnt left the fish and formed a cyst yet you can avoid it spreading throughout your whole tank...

on the neon tetras I believe they will deal with the salt fine... just add 1 tblspn to your next water change then only change out the water with freshwater after that to remove the salinity slowly

I believe the angels would be fine with the salt and considering neons and angels have similar origins... both in south america in similar waters I would think salt would not be deadly to them

 

I think that's a good point by jon. If I would have quarantined mine I may have saved my other fish in the tank (tigers) which were fine until the catfish spread the ick to them. I also noticed nobody answered his question about the new heaters that have temp incrrements on them and maybe only go to about 80. Mine temp doesn't have them but was almost maxed out and could only get about 83 degrees (100watt in a 20 gal).
good luck and try to read the "disease" section of the forum it may give you more info..

 

Yesterday I put the medication in the tank for the ich, I have now lost the 2 angelfish and 2 of the guppies. I only put in half of the recommended dosage. the white spots are still on the neons and one of the tetras - how long before they fall off and the medication takes effect?

I have had the temp up in the tank to 82 since saturday, do I just continue to follow the directions on the medication?

Oh, this is so confusing!! :'(

Another guestion, what types of fish are scaleless??

thank again for all of the help.....

 

corie cats and fish that look slimy not with small scales... lots of catfish and loaches I believe are also scaleless... when you look at them its pretty easy to tell.

 

Joules,

If you gradually raised your temp up to about 84 or 85 (one degree per day) it would most likely persuage your ick parasites to release from the fish, and then the medicine could be more effective

 

my heater only goes to 82, it only has 2 temp settings - normal and high. is this a good heater to have or should I purchase one that can raise the temp even higher?

 

It might be wise to have one for the future -- You only need a few more degrees tho

 

I just noticed that one of my guppies and one of the tetra tails are not looking so good, would the ich medication do this? I am getting really worried about my tank now...... ??? :-\ ???

 

Joule.... don't feel bad but I don't think they will make it judging on your post. :-\ Are they still eating? Mine usually eat for about 2 days of giving them the medicine and then they quit and usually die in about 4 more days. I read a few posts about this also (higer heat). I know they say increase it by 1 or 2 degrees per day but I kept my tank at about 75 degrees which would take way too much time to get to a higher tempertature. In my experience once you see the ick you have about 1 week before they perish. I turned mine up about 4 degrees pre day to about 82 or 83 and they all died anyway after 1 week. And what a freeking hassle to do the 25% water changes daily for a week and they still die. I think next time if there is a next time I will try a higher temp like 85 and see if that works.

 

:-[ :-[ :'(I have now had 2 more fish die. I guess I am going to lose them all?

I have 3 of the tetras not showing the ich - so maybe,just maybe they will be ok. Last night I put the medication in again for the second time. both times I have only used 1/2 the dosage. How long does it take to completely get rid of the ich?

What do I have to do to clean up the tank after the ich is gone and to get rid of the medication in the tank?

Thanks for all of your help, you guys are wonderful.

Joules

 

Joules leave the temperature turned up for at least seven days after you see the last ich spot.
when the ich is gone you shouldn't have to do anything to clean the tank up.
Just remember to lower the temperatures slowly. If you lower it fast and they get chilled the ich will come back.
carol

 

:thanks again!

how long should I let the tank go to get rid of the medication, and when should I put the carbon filter back in. the directions on the medication said to wait 48 hours after the 2nd dosage and do a 50% water change. Is that when I put the filter back in? everything I seem to read seems to have different answers..

How long should I wait to replace the fishies ???

 

HI Joules If you are lucky enough to Kick the ick (I hope you are) I read that you should keep temperature up for about 10 days. I don't really know If I am the right one to be giving you advice because I have lost all 3 tanks now. Perhaps Butterfly, or Mike are better suited for this question. Did you take out rocks yet? I heard you should so the tomites can't hide as easily and also boil them in water for a bit to kill the ick. Be carefull not to boil anything else. I was a little overambitious and boiled my biofilter and melted/disfigured the frame. Now have to look around for a replacement. I find that putting all the tank decorations, heaters, power filters ect in the dishwasher works great. Please note. Do NOT use any soap just make sure the "water heat" is on so the water gets good and hot and kills the ICk..... 8)

 

p.s. joules I think as soon as the medication is all out of the tank (probably 3 or 4 partial changes) you could put the filter back. However I would be hesitant to use the old one unless you boil it firs.. ???

 

Put the carbon in like the instructions say "wait 48 hours, do a 50% water change then put the carbon in".
Can you put the carbon behind the filter media you have now? If you throw away/ boil your filter media you will lose all your good bacteria in the filter. Is not really necessary to boil all the decor. If you leave the temperature turned up for seven days after you see the last ich spot you will have it beat.
Good luck
Carol

 

I did the 50% water change last night and seen that one of the glowlights still had white spots on him, so I added another dose of medication - for the 3rd time. Thinking this was the correct thing to do, got up this morning and he was dead. :'(

The others have had no sign of the ich and seem to be acting normal through all of this process. Should I wait another 24 hours and do another 50% water change and then put the carbon filter back in. When I did the water change last night I used the rock washer and clean some of the stuff out of the rocks, would this help remove the ick as well?
/color] ???

So, as of right now, there are no signs of ick on any of the remaining fish (I started with 16 and only have 7 left now). I will keep the temp up for another week or so. Does this mean I might be ahead of the game? ???

Just hoping so.........

 

yes I heard it's good to vacuum out the rocks to suck up to tomites. Keep us posted to let us know if they lived. You had 26 fish? You must have a HUGE aquarium. well good luck

 

Oh sorry I misread you post . You had 16 fish? I never seen a glow lite before. I always thought people were talking about light not fish. You learn something new everyday...

 

Put the carbon in like the instructions say "wait 48 hours, do a 50% water change then put the carbon in".
Can you put the carbon behind the filter media you have now? If you throw away/ boil your filter media you will lose all your good bacteria in the filter. Is not really necessary to boil all the decor. If you leave the temperature turned up for seven days after you see the last ich spot you will have it beat.
Good luck That's true butterfly thanks. I just wanted to get started and try to cycle the tank asap. I guess I didn't want to wait that long for my new fishies.... ;D
Carol

 

???I put a 3rd dose of the medication in as 2 of the fish were still showing signs of the ick, I don;t seem to see nany signs of the ick this morning, just wondering if I should do another application of the medication or put the carbon filter back in and see what happens?

 

I'm not sure I would do another round of medications but I would leave the heat up for at least seven more days.
Carol

 

This is the 2nd day with no signs of the ich!! yahoo!

I must be getting ahead of the game.

Thanks Everybody!!!!