# My First Ich..



## Prez2 (Nov 4, 2005)

Well, no sooner did I post some suggestions in another part of the forum about what would make good tank mates with a betta and I wake up this morning to find 2 of my white clouds dead and now I see white spots on my betta and gold nugget pleco!

I will describe what I am doing, going to do and did ... please add any comment to this as this is my first experience with ich and I am doing more research on what to expect next.

6g tank (Eclipse System Six) 1+ years old

-- start Tank parameters

pH = 7.1
Am = 0
NiTri = 0
Nitra = 20
temp = 79

(1) male betta
(3) white clouds
(1) gold nugget pleco
(2) amano shrimps


I am going the salt/temp increase route. I have added some "Aquarium" salt and increased the temp by a degree or 2. I will continue with the temp raising daily but not more than 1 degree per 12hrs. I have added a air tube too.

I have been reading that the parasites will 
dislodge and bury themselves in the gravel. 
I only had about 1/2" of gravel on the bottom of 
the tank so, instead of daily vacumning
I removed all of it. I also removed the carbon cartridge.

What's left in the tank is a piece of driftwood with java moss and another piece of driftwood for the pleco.


** Should I have removed all of the gravel?
** Is it a wait and see game now?


Thank you!! =)

--- Oh, where do I think I got the ich from? Well, I am guilty of adding (3) white clouds about 5 days ago without quarantine and I also bought a live plant from Petco -- it was in one of those big floor tanks and it had gold fish, maybe ich was on the rockwool the plant container had? I would hate to think it came from the fish, I have purchased fish from this store before and they were fine... I'm going to phone them tomorrow. That was the only change in the tank for the past 9 months.


----------



## fishiefish (Sep 12, 2005)

*Ick treatment*

I'm sorry you have ick! I went through it the end of september, and used "Prevent-Ick" and raised temp... it took me two weeks of treatment (carbon out, water change at one week) before the spots disappeared, and four more days just to be sure. The ick didn't come back. I have had an awful algae problem since then (brown algae) which may be a coincidence or may be due to the warmer temps. I hope the salt treatment will work for you AND keep algae away. I read an article at http://www.fish-disease.net/articles/understanding_ick.php that was very thorough about the stages of ick especially.

Good luck!


----------



## Prez2 (Nov 4, 2005)

TY fishiefish =)


I have since called the fish store and they checked their tank and reported no signs of ick. I then went to Petco and had a GOOD look in the tank where the plant I purchased was ,,, and EVERY FISH in the tank was INFESTED with ick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so pissed. I spoke with the floor manager and she was very polite and considerate. She completely agreed with me that the tank should have been shut down and she has had more than one person tell her this. She then said to me that whatever I decided to purchase tonight to let her know and she would give me 40% off my entire purchase for my troubles. I didn't go nuts with merchandise, yes, some may think I should have  .... I picked up 2 hydrometers -- 1 plastic cup filling one with a pointer and 1 glass bobbing thing-a-ma-jig also some more carbon (just cause I need more) Aquarium Salt and some "Kordon" Prevent Ich 100% Organic stuf ..... anyone, anyone???

Wish my luck =)


----------



## Guest (Nov 8, 2005)

quick cure worked well for me. 
erm...you have a gold nugget pleco in a 6 gallon? gold nugget plecos get rather large and will eventually need at least a 55 gallon tank, if not larger.


----------



## Fishboy93 (Jun 11, 2005)

I heard that amano shrimp dont tollerate salt so dont over do it.......


----------



## Prez2 (Nov 4, 2005)

The gold nugget that I purchased must be a small species ,,, she has not grown much in the 1 1/2 years since we bought her and has been healthy all this time until now. We informed the place we purchased her at what we had for a tank and they said she would be fine and the chances were very slim for her to grow even close to 6".

Quick Cure is not recommended for scaleless fish.?.?.? I've looked at the active ingredients and it's a risk even at low dosages. I've come across about 20 web sites and forums that all use the salt/temp route and only a very few to use meds, especially with plecos.

We are figuring to lose the shrimp and possibly the white clouds but the betta looks the worse of them all.

I would like to know what the salinity of the water should be to kill the ich. I have only come across sites stating teaspoon per gallon this and that. I bought the hydrometers and would like to know what it should be ---- does anyone know? I will continue my search too.

I've also hooked up my HOT 350 Magnum filter (reducing the flow somewhat so not to over-current the tank...lol) using the micron filter in hopes of capturing some of the parasites when they fall off. I know I'm going a bit overboard here but I want every op to get rid of these things.


Thank you all for the suggestions and help, I VERY much appreciate it =)


----------



## Guest (Nov 8, 2005)

Prez2 said:


> Quick Cure is not recommended for scaleless fish.?.?.? I've looked at the active ingredients and it's a risk even at low dosages. I've come across about 20 web sites and forums that all use the salt/temp route and only a very few to use meds, especially with plecos.


ive used it on my scaleless figure eight puffer, i just lowered the dosage. he was fine and his ich cured within days.


----------



## Prez2 (Nov 4, 2005)

I've uploaded some pictures of my poor betta (shrimp in foreground in one of them) and a couple of the pleco -- beware the resolutions are large. I placed an ornament in the tank as the bubbler and the extra filter is causing some deeper water turbulance and the pleco was not liking that even after moving her driftwood underneath the larger piece. She seems happier inside the ornament now (pics).

The temp is above 80 now... I would say about 84 and that was done slowly since yesturday. I did a 1g water change tonight. My salinity reading is at 1.0004 ..ok?.?.?.?.? pH dropped a little bit so I added a VERY VERY small amount of ph UP powder and will add a small amount again tomorrow.

I can not see any white spots on the white clouds (yet) and the pleco seems to be the same as yesturday. My poor betta has just gotten worse and it looks more likely we will lose him (holding out a small bit of hope just because he is an arrogant mutha) :''( I have not added anything else to the tank.

24 hrs (since the discovery of ich) and counting...............


Gold Nugget Pleco 1
Gold Nugget Pleco 2
Betta 1
Betta 2
Betta 3


----------



## Prez2 (Nov 4, 2005)

Well, it's a sad morning for us, we lost our betta. He was the very first fish we ever bought, together, and was the only fish in the tank that had a "personality" -- which I had never seen before in a fish or thought one could have.

I understand that I should take part responsibility for not treating the plant prior to placing it in the tank but Petco should not be so negligent with the care of theirs. I am beating myself up inside now for not knowing better.

Wish us luck with the rest.


----------

