# What to do ? I may have an ICK outbreak



## guppycat (Jan 21, 2005)

I think I may have an ick outbreak, i have 8 guppies and 2 balloons. In a Ten Galon tank.Ive done a couple water changes, is there anything else I could do to get rid of this problem? I dont want to loose my stock.


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## Lexus (Jan 19, 2005)

Here is some previous posts about ick/ich

http://www.fishforums.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1717&highlight=ick

http://www.fishforums.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1555&highlight=ick

http://www.fishforums.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1499&highlight=ick

They may or not help, if not give us specifics


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## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

I would raise temp. to 85 degrees and add salt accordingly but slowly over couple hours so you do not shock the fish, no medications needed. This will rid ur tank well for the most part it should, in less then a week.


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## Lexus (Jan 19, 2005)

Yes, plus most livebearers prefer a little salt in their tank


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## cjdirri (Feb 21, 2005)

I have not had a issue with ICK in years then everyone posts about it on here over the last few days and guess what now I have a ICK outbreak. I am broke until payday so I guess I will try the temp/salt stuff I read on here.

I blame you guys still for this.


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## guppycat (Jan 21, 2005)

Thank you eveyrone I will try these methods. raising the temp, and some water changes, I know medications are too risky sometimes. keep the ideas comming.


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## buddah101 (Mar 20, 2005)

Actually you'll want to raise your temp to 86 degrees because the Ich canot live in temperatures above 85.


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## shev (Jan 18, 2005)

86 may kill/stress your fish, increasing the temp will speed up their life cycle until a certain point where it kills it off. speeding up their life cycle is usually for when you are using medication because it gets them to their tomite stage faster, which is the stage they are most vulnerable. when they are in crysts in the gravel you can vaccuum some out.


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## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

86 may stress out a little bit but shouldn't have too many problems not sure with all these friendly fish people geez, lol. cichlids way to go man. 

Now if u get ick in SW, now man that is a heck of a problem.


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## cjdirri (Feb 21, 2005)

One bala dead, I didn't notcie how bad the outbreak was cus they always stay over in the side of the tank that is not that brigh and when they would turn to the side they look finet. I didn't even see the spots until they swam over to the other side into the brighter light and damn it was all over.

Trying to kill it off before the other fish catch but I leave my house on the weekends to go out of town with my kid so this sucks.


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## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

bala? u never said anything about having a bala shark in there in the first sentence, lol. Salt will more then likely kill them i believe.


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## guppycat (Jan 21, 2005)

well I raised the temp. how long should I keep it raised?


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## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

safe to keep around two weeks i would say, i have never had ick last longer then a week when i first had it as i have had only one case of it...


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## cjdirri (Feb 21, 2005)

Since taking the temp up and doing a water change with a very small amont of salt mix the Bala is already looking better.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

I'm sure someone mentioned this already and I missed but but just in case............
You need to remove the bala shark. He gets way too big for a 10 gallon (needs 125 gallons or larger). They are also schooling fish so they really should be kept in aquariums smaller than 500. With him in the tank, you may never get rid of the ich as he will always be stressed out and most likely be stunted. He will also harass your livebearers as he gets bigger. Stress leads to weakened fish. Weakened fish are more prone to diseases.


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## cjdirri (Feb 21, 2005)

if your talking to me I am going to slap you.

Ok I won't but the deal is the bala is in a 55 and he is in their alone as of last night. Make sure you double check names and such before you jump on the "YOUR BALA IS GOING TO BE HUGE, SELL IT NOW" bandwagon ok?

If you guys want to stop bala's from getting sold then start fucking calling pet shops, don't bother the people spent the money on them already. God damn one more person brings this up and I am going to snap. Wait I guess I did already, go me.


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## Lydia (Feb 6, 2005)

wow....that was pretty good...lol


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## PeteyZ (Mar 26, 2005)

umm yea i ve heard many places that doing a water change is a bad idea for when u have ick, i had ick and i just raised the temp to 86-87 and added salt. This got rid of it in like less then a week


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## PHAT (Mar 30, 2005)

How much salt did you add? Over what period of time? 

There are arguments going on about the proper amount.


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## PHAT (Mar 30, 2005)

Does anyone have experience using a diatom filter with an ick infestation?

I am running a Vortex XL on my 125 gal tank. I got the filter in order to clear a persistant problem with green water. After running it a few days the green water cleared up. The manufacturer claims that it can help get rid of ick.

BTW, like I said, the filter works well with green water. However, it is a *nightmare* to set up so that it runs properly.


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## cjdirri (Feb 21, 2005)

The temp and salt seemed to have helped the ick outbreak, I use a little bit of treatment just to make sure but I did notice the bala was looking great when I got back to town last night.


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