# The ich came back!!!!



## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

I brought home some cherry barbs about 2 months back, of course they had the ich. Ok I treated it, lost my beloved bs pleco to the treatment, and all that. Now, it's back! I did the treatment before, raised temp used product, removed carbon, and after I did a second round (probably nt a good idea but I thought I saw something) I thought it was gone. Got new pleco recently too. And today, one little barb is COVERED in white spots! I looked close and some other barbs have them too. Why is it back? Should I keep treating like before? How do I prevent it?

Tank:
30 gallon
4 cherry barbs
2 golden barbs
2 dwarf gourami
1 bs pleco
6 rc shrimp
I was gonna add tetras but then this happened. 

Nitrate: 40 ppm
Ph: about 7.8
Hard water
It's been running for years, maybe 4, so I'm pretty sure it's well established, got 2 filters running on it, and lights are on 10 hours a day, I think.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

> new pleco


 from the same place as the icky barb, right? That's likely why.

If you do a thorough ich treatment, you can keep a tank ich-free as long as you QT (with ich meds) all new fish, snails, etc. 

Ich can come back if the first treatment wasn't long enough or the strain you have is resistant to the med you used and your fish get stressed. Something like a a sudden temp drop can trigger an outbreak. 

But a new fish is the most likely source.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Ick will fool you into thinking it's gone. It's primarily a gill disease. We usually only see spots when there is so much of it that the gills can't hold them all anymore.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

That's frightening.. Ya, maybe I should tell the store that this is my 4th fish with ich from them recently. The only thing I have that I could use as a QT tank currently is a half gallon, under gravel filter, no heater, no light, sigh lid. I cured one ich fish with that when I did the before release inspection. And a 5 gallon but it has my african dwarf frogs in it.

That's scary, I hope I don't have THAT much ich...


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## ZebraDanio12 (Jun 17, 2011)

Man I'm sorry. Ich is a pain. Wiped out my tank a month ago. From now on I am quarantining all new fish, and I suggest you do to. This will prevent all fish from catching it. QT new fish for around 2-3 weeks, if nothing shows up, you're PROBABLY okay. The risk is still there, but this is the best thing to do and I highly suggest it. You can treat the new fish with meds in QT if you'd like. I prefer to wait until I see something, and I am leaving them in QT longer to do this. Good luck!


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

I also did a very dumb. Thing and thought that pleco can't get ich so I moved to my 20 gallon planted for 3-4 hours. Does that tank have it now too? I have mostly bottom feeders, and I don't wanna kill all the shrimp and snail in there. What should I do about this tank?!


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Oh yeah, that tank has ick now. If there's no fish in it, though, you should be okay.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

TheOldSalt said:


> Oh yeah, that tank has ick now. If there's no fish in it, though, you should be okay.



There are, but they're like.. Uhh..
5 endlers
2 guppies
6 Cory catfish, 2 are albino
1 mystery snail
2 oto's
20 cherry shrimp
Live plants
Sponge filter

Won't a lot if things harm the plants? And then the snail and shrimp?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

yep, copper ich meds are a no no for snails and shrimp. And plants hate salt and meth blue cuts out the light. 

Really healthy fish can sometimes keep ich under control with their immune systems, but at the first little problem, you'll have another outbreak. 

Sorry to hear this. Don't know what you should do.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

What about just heat? Can snails and shrimp get ich?


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

No, but they can carry it from tank to tank. The heat would have to reach 94F to kill ick, which is a bit too high for practical use.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

TheOldSalt said:


> No, but they can carry it from tank to tank. The heat would have to reach 94F to kill ick, which is a bit too high for practical use.



94? Really? I hear 85 was enough. The ich is escalating quickly in the 30, all the cherry barbs are covered. The golden barbs and gourami's aren't, but I'm sure they have it. I moved 4 shrimp to my 20 and dosed some more meds into the 30, since there's less inverts to kill... I hope this pleco makes it too.. I took all the carbon out now and did a water change.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

85 is NOT enough. All 85 will do is accellerate the growth and spread of ick like crazy. We do that to make it more vulnerable to medicines, but without meds, it only makes things much worse.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

TheOldSalt said:


> 85 is NOT enough. All 85 will do is accellerate the growth and spread of ick like crazy. We do that to make it more vulnerable to medicines, but without meds, it only makes things much worse.



WEll there is meds in that tank, not the 29 though... Unfortunately this morning all the cherry barbs were dead... And my male blue gourami was dead... ;(


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

Well I hope the ich is gone now. From that tank anyways, my 20 gallon still has it. I can't use meds in it though! I just got a new filter for the 29, do I need to replace all the filter cartridges?


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## Guest (Mar 15, 2014)

v-paw: why can't you use meds in the 20 gallon? There is aquari-sol that you can get that you can use in the 20 gallon.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

Angelclown said:


> v-paw: why can't you use meds in the 20 gallon? There is aquari-sol that you can get that you can use in the 20 gallon.



Because I have a ton of inverts in there (maybe 40 cherry shrimp and an amazing apple snail) and I can't use salt because it's a planted tank  but it's getting worse... Almost all my endlers have died, the Cory's are getting it, and the heat has been around 89 F, maybe I do have a heat resistant strain..


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## Guest (Mar 15, 2014)

You can get Quinine Sulfate. It will get rid of the ich and I believe it is safe for inverts. Quinine Sulfate is even safe for clown loaches who are sensitive fish to a lot of medicines.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

Angelclown said:


> You can get Quinine Sulfate. It will get rid of the ich and I believe it is safe for inverts. Quinine Sulfate is even safe for clown loaches who are sensitive fish to a lot of medicines.



What about for plants?


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## Guest (Mar 16, 2014)

Do a Google search about Quinine Sulfate or better yet let me see if I have the number or email to Dr Aukes and you can contact him. I am not how safe it is for plants, I have heard that it will cure ich, even the resistant ich. I will PM you the number and email to Dr Aukes.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

He hasn't replied yet, but I did google it and it kinda seems scary now, haha. And I see they can't eat for a week either.


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## Guest (Mar 17, 2014)

Let me try to get a hold of a friend who told me about Dr Aukes. Hopefully I will get an answer back. Will let you know.


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## Guest (Mar 22, 2014)

v-paw: haven't gotten an answer from my friend about Quinine Sulfate. How are your fish doing?


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

No more died yet, but it took 3 endlers. They still have it though, the heat isn't working! It's at 89!


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## Guest (Mar 22, 2014)

Ok. Do you have any ich meds, like Rid-Ich or Cure Ick? I am not sure if those are safe for plants or not though.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

Angelclown said:


> Ok. Do you have any ich meds, like Rid-Ich or Cure Ick? I am not sure if those are safe for plants or not though.



I do, and ich attack, but it would kill all my inverts, which is the majority of that tank.


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## Guest (Mar 22, 2014)

I wonder if aquari-sol would be safe for all your plants and inverts? Talk with lohachata about it or he might see this thread and offer some insight on it. I know that it is safe for clown loaches but not sure about inverts. I know many medications are not safe for inverts. I hope there is a solution to this. Keep your heat up, put it a couple more degrees, the ich should die at 91/92 degrees or try to get it up to 94 degrees like TheOldSalt said. It does sound like you have the resistant strain of ich. Have you heard back from Dr Aukes yet? If not, I would keep trying to get a hold of him every few days until he responds.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Aquarisol is great stuff if you can get it


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

well , i was lucky and managed to buy several pints of Aquari Sol just after they quit making it..i have not ever had a problem with it as far as plants go and really have not had much luck with it killing them pesky snail unless i overdosed like crazy..but i am not so sure about shrimp as they can be quite a bit more sensitive to the copper..
i had offered Aquari Sol for sale in 2 oz. bottles but since only 1 person ever bought it i stopped offering it..


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

Why'd they stop making aqua sol? Isn't in the 90's too high for the fish?! All my endlers are slowly dying off... I can't see any ich now, but I'm not sure if I'm looking hard enough, since I don't see the Cory's too often unless it's feeding time.

Dr. Aukes never responded 


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

i do not take my tanks to the 90s....only about 86..
no idea why they stopped making Aquari Sol..wish they hadn't...but i have enough to last for awhile..may have to send some to my brother in law to see if he can anylize it and replicate it..


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## Guest (Mar 23, 2014)

Yea aquari-sol is really good stuff. I actually use it as a preventative medicine for my clown loach because she is a sensitive fish. Ok, with the temp, slowly bring it down to 86 degrees, and I mean very slowly, like over the course of weeks to a few months. You don't want the ich to come back if it is gone. Once you start seeing the ich again, leave the temp where you have it when you saw it and keep doing water changes like every day or two.

lohachata: they have aquari-sol made by APro, I believe. A guy at Farmland showed me when I was there last time. I will have to check again to be sure.


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## Guest (Mar 23, 2014)

lohachata: take a look at who makes aquarisol now. Don't know if these guys do in fact but if they do, I will be looking for it. Mardel makes aquarisol. Sorry v-paw, you cannot use aquarisol on the inverts, says so in the warnings. But it seems to be safe for plants.

http://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/lookup.cfm?setid=5dc44ac1-c37d-49be-9776-27daa739e2ea


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

I wish I put the fish that could get ich into my 30 gallon when I was treating it, but it didn't occur to me.. And then wait a week or two while the ich starved in the 20. So, a degree a day maybe? It's kinda odd sounding.. I barley can even see the ich since it probably finds my Cory cats easier and they're never out! My albinos are but it's impossible to see ich on them, of course.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

You don't want 90's water unless you you don't have ANY meds available. It's much better to use meds at mid-80's.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

Ok, I'm slowly bringing it back to mid 80's and still using ich attack 1-2 times daily


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