New Angel Fish with ICH

hello..
I noticed that my two Angel fish seem to have ICH.They have been in the tank for 5 days. So Ive been doing some research here on the best course of action. Yesterday, since I had some Aqua-Sol on hand, I followed the directions and started a course with that. I also raised the heater temp* from 77* to 80*. My question to others that have had to deal with the ICH problem, is which product works the best? Aqua-Sol contains Copper sulfate and says that it is a preventative & cure for Ich. Is this safe for Angel fish and the 6  serprae tetras I have in my 29 gallon tank? Is Jungle Lab, quick cure a better way to go? I would like to go buy something today that will help them to get over this, as there is only a few spots so far. Any suggestions on the best products to use? I have been doing daily  18%-20% water changes. Should I stop while treating them?

5/15am  API test:
ammonia: 1.0
nitrate: 10 ( twice as high as has been)
nitrite: 0
PH: 6.4

 

I don't use chemicals to treat ICH so I can't help you there, raising the temp to 82F for 14 days and doing every other day water changes seems to do the trick. Since warmer water contains less oxygen the water changes are important.
Hope that helps
carol

 

HI Carol~
thank you... I would like to use as less chemicals as possible in the tank as well. But I don't want this to spread to the tetras either. Tho they have no signs of it as of yet.
I would love to go that route.. but am alittle nervous that I may end up having to do more later. Do you think that at 80* is enough to kill the ICH, or should I raise the temp to 82-84*? thanks for your help! ;D ~ kate

 

82F would be better. If they have been exposed then they may come down with it. Did you quarantine the angel before putting it into hte tank?
Carol

 

No I didnt quarantine the fish first. The tank I normally would use, is a 2.5g and that's just too small for two angels. They looked fine, and with only 6 tetras in the tank with them, figured they would be fine. It may have been caused by stress, since the day I brought them home, was the same day they were delivered to the LFS. So after being moved around.. introduced to the IFS tank and then the drive to my home and into my tank, I'm sure that was enough to stress any fish! poor things...

 

yea, 82 is good.. higher if the fish could take it, but i'd stick with 82. we're currently treating our platys for ich. they're at 82F and we're using a new ich treatment on them:
- it's an herbal treatment, 100% organic and safe for any aquatic life, even fry. it won't mess up the good bacteria either.. not the best smelling stuff in the world but a nice alternative to chemical treatments that make you start the cycle over again and can end up harming fish.

 

yea, 82 is good.. higher if the fish could take it, but i'd stick with 82.  we're currently treating our platys for ich.  they're at 82F and we're using a new ich treatment on them:
- it's an herbal treatment, 100% organic and safe for any aquatic life, even fry.  it won't mess up the good bacteria either.. not the best smelling stuff in the world but a nice alternative to chemical treatments that make you start the cycle over again and can end up harming fish.

thanks dave & stacy..
hmmm I wonder if the copper sulfate that is in the aqua-sol will mess with the cycle? I sure hope not! I will look into the product that you linked too. As a note; yesterday I looked at the Angels again and didnt see what I saw the two days before. I know it couldnt have gone that fast in only two days of treatment and now I wonder if it was ICH after all, and not something they may have rubbed against in the tank. My air hose needs to be cleanned as it has some white stuff on it. Maybe they just rubbed against that and got some of it on them at some point? thanks, ~ kate

 

Kate it's possible that it wasn't ICH but you might want to finish up the course of meds and leave the temp up for 14 days just in case. Wouldn't want to have a relapse in case it was ICH, the second time around seems harder on the fish.
Carol

 

Kate it's possible that it wasn't ICH but you might want to finish up the course of meds and leave the temp up for 14 days just in case. Wouldn't want to have a relapse in case it was ICH, the second time around seems harder on the fish.
Carol

thanks Carol...
I will do that. They seem to be doing much better at the higher temp in the tank, including the tetras. I had the temp at 77*-78* lately, after we had a warm spell here. And maybe that was too cool for them? I read somewhere that copper sulfate wasn't that good for fish. Is the aqua-sol ok to continue to use? Maybe the local LFS has another better product, they do have some mardel products for ICH. Or should I just continue with what I have? Or would the higher temps just continue to do the work that the meds would be doing? thanks, kate

 

I have heard that about copper sulfate also but I wouldn't mix two different meds in the same tank and copper sulfate takes a bit to get out of the tank as the only way to get it out is through multiple water changes over time.
Angels really do better at the higher temps. Mine grew and spawned at 78-80F.
I just noticed in your original post that you have an ammonia reading of 1.0, that is rather high and since stress can cause an ICH outbreak perhaps this is your culprit. Daily water changes until the ammonia is down is essential.
Carol

 

I have heard that about copper sulfate also but I wouldn't mix two different meds in the same tank and copper sulfate takes a bit to get out of the tank as the only way to get it out is through multiple water changes over time.
Angels really do better at the higher temps. Mine grew and spawned at 78-80F.
I just noticed in your original post that you have an ammonia reading of 1.0, that is rather high and since stress can cause an ICH outbreak perhaps this is your culprit. Daily water changes until the ammonia is down is essential.
Carol

Yes the ammonia is still high, I do 20% water changes daily, and have been for quite awhile now. I have a very low PH of 6.0-6.4, so that has saved me a lot of problems.

 

Keep up the good work AND the water changes How long has the tank been set up?
Carol

 

Keep up the good work AND the water changes How long has the tank been set up?
Carol

Its been set up since march 25th.

 

You may still be going through a bit of a cycle. I'm not sure if the copper sulfate will mess with your beneficial bacteria or not. Just keep on doing what your doing for now, It will get better I promise
Carol

 

You may still be going through a bit of a cycle. I'm not sure if the copper sulfate will mess with your beneficial bacteria or not. Just keep on doing what your doing for now, It will get better I promise
Carol

thanks ! I keep waiting for it to cycle... seems like forever and a day! :-\

 

I understand- Been there-Done that . Over and over
Carol