# Ich on otos



## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

I gotta make this short cause I gotta go to school,
my otos that I just bough apparently introduced ich into my 2g aquarium. Now, how do I treat this? I heard medicines aren't an option as they can hurt the otos, and neither is salt. Heating the aquarium to about 86f apparentley takes too long and is also dangerous to the fish. I can't gravel vacuum the bottom of the 2g as I'm using fluval stratum as a substrate and apparently you are not supposed to stir that, I'm willing to do that if it is not dangerous though. Any thoughts would be appreciated.


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## Guest (Oct 16, 2012)

You can heat the tank to 86 degrees. I believe it is 2 degrees every few hours as not to burn the fish or harm them. It is so that they get used to the rising temperature. When using medication, I believe you have to half dose the medicine for the cories but I am not sure.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

86 shouldn't take very long at all...maybe do it in a 6 hour period...i don't do it that way myself ; but it might be better for you..i just turn the heater to 86 and leave it...
i have used Aquarisol on a number of different species of fish ; otos included...cured them post haste without any problems whatsoever...


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

I don't have the option of heating the aquarium to 86 degrees as the heater I have is preset to 78f. I will go and pick up some medication now. Should I treat the main tank? I'm asking this because the white dots seem to be on the substrate as well. I also put the heater in a place of better water flow so that it can do its job better. Another question is, how do I go about feeding while treating the otos? And should I wait on dosing fertz for the plants while medicating?


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

I went to the lps and picked up Nox-ich by weco. It seemed to be the best treatment there and after consulting with the owner who knows a bit about fish as well I picked it up. I just added a half dose to the aquarium (like said on the bottle) and will do the same in 24h for three days. I'm going to keep feeding normally, and will keep you guys updated.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Right now is the morning after the initial treatment. Both fish are alive and so is the shrimp. The plants don't show a sign of weakness yet either but I'm sure that will come along pretty soon. Itch is still only visible on one of the ottos so I hope the other one wont get infected. They at least nibbled from a food pellet as it was moved through the aquarium and is now somewhere were I can't really siphon it out. I will leave it in there until when I get back from school and will see what to do then. Next update is then.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Well I said I would keep you guys updated even if no one reads this. As soon as I got back from school I added half a dose of Nox ich to the aquarium. Every animal is still accounted for but the spots on the otto that has ich look worse (there is more of them and they are easier to see). Both have a great appetite as they immideatly went for a piece of a sinking pellet I threw in. I will do a water change tommorrow with water that has the same dose of medicine in it. The shrimp seems to be doing fine so far but I don't know how well it will handle this new dose of medicine and the future ones, same with the plants.


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## Guest (Oct 18, 2012)

Can you get a heater that you can raisse the temp on? That is what will speed the life cycle of the ich and therefore help treatment. What are the ingredients in Nox ich? You want something that has malachite green and formalin in it. Rid-Ich plus has those medicines, actually any ich medicine should have those in it. Water changes are good as it will help get rid of the ich.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

I can't get a heater as money is tight right now. The ingredients are 50% malachite green and 50% sodium chloride (salt). I know that the malachite green and salt will kill the ich once the eggs hatch from the substrate, so I don't think I need the formalin. I will look for that the next time I buy ich medication though. The dots are still on the oto so I guess I will keep medicating until a few days after the dots came off.


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## RaynoVox (Jun 30, 2012)

I had almost a identical problem, with time it will end, the medicine works wonderfully most of the time. Theres no way to isolate the infected otto in a hospital tank or somewhere to prevent infecting the other fish?


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

the ich is in the entire tank..so you treat the entire tank...


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Like loha said, the ich is in the entire tank. If I had two tanks I could try to put the fish into a tank all by themself and treat them for ich there as the ich in the main tank would then die because there is no host. Problem is I don't have enough aquariums, filters, and money for that. Today is the beginning of day three and I still see no difference in the infected otos health apart from that he seems to move less. Today when I get back home I will do the water change as I didn't have time yesterday. The plants are starting to die so at least I know that there is medicine in the water. The uninfected oto is eating like crazy and swimming around and looks healthy overall. I will add the thrid half dose of medicine today after school and see waht happens then.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Got back from school. Did the water change with water that has the same medicine level and added half a dose of medicine again after. This is day three and the instructions on the bottle say that the problem should be treated after three days, if not wait a day and add more medicine for the next three days on the same routine. The problem is that I don't know how much more salt the otos can handle. I don't want to add too much since they are scaleless fish. So I will wait tomorrow and not add any medicine (like the instructions say), but after that I'm not sure what to do. Should I add more medicine and run the risk of killing my fish and shrimp? Or should I maintain this medicine level until I stopped the ich. Right now there is 3 drops of medicine in total in my 3g aquarium. Help would be greatly appreciated.

One thing I learned from this for sure is that I will never add fish without quarantining them first ever again.


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## Guest (Oct 18, 2012)

Stop doing the salt. That is probably why the oto is not getting better. Wait a day, then for three days straight without water change--medicate, after the third day, do a water change. Then dose again the same way. Leave out the salt as that could be why the oto is not getting better.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

The salt is in the medicine. I am not dosing extra salt, but ich medicine is made up of 50% sodium chloride and 50% malachite green. The salt kills the ich once they hatch and are free swimming.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Just a little update, the sick oto seems to be doing a bit better. He is actively searching for food and i think there might be less dots on him. I will continue medicating and keep you guys updated.


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## Guest (Oct 20, 2012)

I have never heard of salt killing ich. All I know is that salt prolongs illness and doesn't allow the medicine to work like it should.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Well, salt is in almost every ich medicine. One way to kill ich is to raise the temperature to 86f (to speed up the life cycle) and then kill the free swimming ich with salt. I didn't really trust that so I bought medicine, but the medicine is 50% salt so I guess it does play a role in solving the problem.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Well, here's another update. And its a good one  
The infected oto is doing better for sure. There is less dots on his body and fins, and he is not clamping his fins anymore!!!! This is a great sign, and I can't wait until the last few dots disappear. Tomorrow is the last day of medicating and from then on I will just keep the medication levels the same for a week or two. Does anyone on here know how long it takes ich to hatch after it has fallen of the fish in a tank heated to roughly 76-78f?


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