# Ich is killing all my fishs...



## Samusaran (Nov 8, 2012)

Two weeks ago, I spotted a tetra neon with white spots like salt grains on it. I did'nt remove it from the tank soon enough, because it wasn't long before half of my tetra neon population got ich too.

I raised the temp. up to 30 degress celcius and added some meds ( Liquid Super Ick Cure from API ). My tetras neon died one after another. I also tried the salt method, but they didn't like it at all. One of my Glass Catfish died as well, probably from the salt and the heat. And the last two tetra to died had pop-eye.

I have two otos left, with two glass catfish and one tetra neon. I spotted two white spot on my tetra neon this morning. I thought I was safe, but it seems that I will have to continue the meds + heat.

One questions... Are otos and glass catfish can get ich ??

I don't have a quarantine tank, it's still cycling so I don't want to but the remaining fishs in it.

My water parameters are fine. Am I using the right method ?? How long before I can consider the tank rid of the ich and be able to put more fish in the tank ??


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## Samusaran (Nov 8, 2012)

*Oh no....*

And I think one of my remaining glass catfish got it too. The tail and the underbelly are a little shreded, and I think I saw tiny white spots on its body, but it's not easy to tell with this kind of fish. Could also be fungus....

Not easy to treat my fish tank when the treatment seems to kill the remaining fishs.


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## Banks757 (Nov 15, 2012)

Samusaran said:


> Two weeks ago, I spotted a tetra neon with white spots like salt grains on it. I did'nt remove it from the tank soon enough, because it wasn't long before half of my tetra neon population got ich too.
> 
> I raised the temp. up to 30 degress celcius and added some meds ( Liquid Super Ick Cure from API ). My tetras neon died one after another. I also tried the salt method, but they didn't like it at all. One of my Glass Catfish died as well, probably from the salt and the heat. And the last two tetra to died had pop-eye.
> 
> ...


I just had the same problem with my tank and I fit some good advice from if the people in the forum. I have a 50 gallon with 12 barbs, 2 algae eaters and a iridescent shark. I noticed that 3 of my barbs and shark had white spots and it was Ich. I ended treating my hole tank. I took out my filters out treated the whole tank with ( Kordon Rid Ich Plus). I used the Rid Uch according to the directions for about a week in a half. Every time you use the Rid Ich turn the temp of your tank up little bit intel reaches 86 degrees Fahrenheit. I only Lost two barbs in the process and my shark. Never used salt, but they say that works as well. Hope this helps. 


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

By the time you see the white grains, ich is everywhere in your tank and all fish are exposed. treat is all


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## Banks757 (Nov 15, 2012)

Don't forget to do water changes every time you use the the Rid Ich. 


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## Samusaran (Nov 8, 2012)

*Treatment*

I'm currently treating the whole tank. I'm slowly raising the temp. and adding meds (with water changes). 

Is it true that a temp. of 84-86 degress will kill the ich after 7-10 days ?? It may also kill some fish...

I know that the best way to be rid of the ich would be to empty the tank and clean it, but I still have some fish in it and I don't want to throw them away. And a clean tank would mean to go through the cycling process again.


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## Fishnut2 (Jan 18, 2005)

Continue to treat the tank. Don't empty it out and clean it. The fish are already stressed from the disease, and the additional meds. Make sure you don't have any carbon filters running, as that will pull out the meds. If you cover the tank and keep it dark, that will reduce any additional stress on the fish. Adding extra aeration would help too, because as the temperature rises, the dissolved oxygen in the water decreases. Next, be patient. 7-10 days is normal for treating ich. It's in 3 different stages. Parasite (attached to the fish) free-swimming (in the tank water) and cyst (eggs that haven't hatched yet) Make sure you don't use a net from that tank, on another tank. Ich is highly contagious. That med needs to be 1/2 dosed on cories and loaches...but I don't think you had any of those. You have already taken the right steps, so be patient, and good luck!


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

Samusaran said:


> I'm currently treating the whole tank. I'm slowly raising the temp. and adding meds (with water changes).
> 
> Is it true that a temp. of 84-86 degress will kill the ich after 7-10 days ?? It may also kill some fish...
> 
> I know that the best way to be rid of the ich would be to empty the tank and clean it, but I still have some fish in it and I don't want to throw them away. And a clean tank would mean to go through the cycling process again.


no the heat doesnt kill ich straight away, if my understanding is correct the heat will cycle the parasites lifetime over 3-4 days rather than weeks, it will make the parasite fall off its victim, the salt added gradually over the 2 week period will help kill the ich (check on your fishes tollerance to heat and salt) that is where the may kill some fish comes into it, their tollerance to the heat is lower.
it is possible to rid ich without meds and believe it should be tried 1st, meds (depending on which you get) can kill plants, dye your tank ornaments and various other things even to the point of being cancerous to you (jbl's med).
seeing as you have already started with the med's you will need to resume.
there are ways to reduce the chances of contracting ich (from what ive read) and the main way that seems to be quoted is to keep your temps at the 79/80 mark with a salted tank, im not saying for definate that it works but for the sake of it its worth a try if it does no harm


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## TankdreamerJim (Sep 25, 2012)

1 Tablespoon of aquarium salt per 10 gallons of water I always put the salt in a net and dip it in the filter to dissolve the salt. I use Jungle Aquarium Salt follow the directions on the package, I bought it at Walmart for a few bucks. Thats how I cured the ICH/ICK in my tank fish seemed to love the salt too. I have Guppies, Mollies, Zebra danio and Ghost Shrimp. Make sure the fish you have can tolerate the salt. Also do the heat treatment like the other say it works too, Providing your heater adjusts mine didn't and the salt was enough to get rid of the parasite!


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## TankdreamerJim (Sep 25, 2012)

Another thing you could try is to increase the current in the tank it makes it harder for the parasite to attach to a host, it they can't attach within a few hours they die!


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## Samusaran (Nov 8, 2012)

*Treatment*

Thank you all for your suggestions. You just confirmed that I'm doing the right thing. I just need to be patient.

And I can tell you now that one of my Glass Catfish got the fungus as well. It got little cotton-like white patches all over him. What to do ?? I can't treat the tank with two meds together...

I don't think I wil try the salt method, the fishs didn't like it at all the last time I used it.

My heater is adjustable, so I was able to elevate the temp. to 32 C / 84 F in my tank. I already had areation in the tank, but I will increase it... my tetra neon is breathing really fast. I removed the activated carbon when I started the meds, so I'm OK with that.

I will continue with the meds and heat for two weeks, and I hope the fishs will be able to stand it, along with partial water changes and gravel vacuum every two days.

I will keep you posted on the results.

Thank you again.


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## Samusaran (Nov 8, 2012)

*Another one...*

Another of my Glass Catfish died just an hour ago. It's all white... The last one to died was still transparent...

Anyway, it was probably a secondary infection that killed it.

So, I have a tetra neon left, one glass catfish (with a beginning of white cotton patches all over it), and two otocinclus.

My two otocinclus seems to be fine. Are otocinclus can be affected by ich ??


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## TankdreamerJim (Sep 25, 2012)

Aquarium Pharmaceuticals makes this MELAFIX that works great for fungus and is all natural so it shouldn't harm the bacteria in your filter. I have been using it for years! I think you can find it at petco, petsmart and amazon.com


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## Samusaran (Nov 8, 2012)

TankdreamerJim said:


> Aquarium Pharmaceuticals makes this MELAFIX that works great for fungus and is all natural so it shouldn't harm the bacteria in your filter. I have been using it for years! I think you can find it at petco, petsmart and amazon.com


I have some MELAFIX, but the question is if I can use it while using SUPER ICK CURE...


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## TankdreamerJim (Sep 25, 2012)

Super Ick Cure is made by API and they say that Melafix will work fine with it. I would go for it. The Melafix should clear up the fungus problem but wont help with the ICH. I'm wondering if maybe their might be something else going on such as Neon Tetra Disease because it just sounds like you can't get control over the problem and Neon Tetra Disease is one of the Diseases out there that can't be cured and for the most part can exist in your tank without showing any signs until it starts killing fish. I would also keep an eye on your water to see what the Ammonia, Nitrite, PH levels are if you have a test kit. Wish I could help out more but what your experiencing doesn't sound good and it baffles my mind. If all your fish die I would sterilize the heck out of that tank! Make sure you put everything in the tank in hot boiling water for no less than 5 minutes. I would also wash the inside of the tank with some type of disinfectant, swimming pool chlorine would work well, if you live in the city just the chemicals in your water supply should do the trick just leave the active carbon out for a week or so and put fresh carbon in a few days before getting new fish. I would also go for something easier to take care of glass fish and neon are a pain thats why I don't have any!


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## Samusaran (Nov 8, 2012)

*Still treating my tank...*



TankdreamerJim said:


> Super Ick Cure is made by API and they say that Melafix will work fine with it. I would go for it. The Melafix should clear up the fungus problem but wont help with the ICH. I'm wondering if maybe their might be something else going on such as Neon Tetra Disease because it just sounds like you can't get control over the problem and Neon Tetra Disease is one of the Diseases out there that can't be cured and for the most part can exist in your tank without showing any signs until it starts killing fish. I would also keep an eye on your water to see what the Ammonia, Nitrite, PH levels are if you have a test kit. Wish I could help out more but what your experiencing doesn't sound good and it baffles my mind. If all your fish die I would sterilize the heck out of that tank! Make sure you put everything in the tank in hot boiling water for no less than 5 minutes. I would also wash the inside of the tank with some type of disinfectant, swimming pool chlorine would work well, if you live in the city just the chemicals in your water supply should do the trick just leave the active carbon out for a week or so and put fresh carbon in a few days before getting new fish. I would also go for something easier to take care of glass fish and neon are a pain thats why I don't have any!


Treating my tank for tree days now with a mix of Super Ick Cure and Melafix. Seems to have stabilized my remaining two fishs. My glass catfish has some king of fungus but it's still breathing and swimming around. My tetra neon has no more white spots, and apart from a little discoloration and difficult breathing, he seems fine too. But I don't like to see them suffer... ICK or neon tetra disease, not sure anymore, but the white spots like salt grains really reminds me of ICK. But now, no more ICK but the patches of dicoloration on my tetra could me TETRA NEON DISEASE. What should I do with my remaining fishs ??

Strange, but my two otocinclus got trought all the problems in the tank and they didn't seem affected by any diseases. I really want to keep them... Could they be carriers of whatever diseases is in my tank ??


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## TankdreamerJim (Sep 25, 2012)

I would just follow the directions on the Medication bottles, increase aeration and heat leave it be for a week or two and see what happens. Just don't buy anymore fish for a while, if your fish that you have survive let them have time to recuperate before adding anything else. I would also do a small quarantine tank in the future, for new fish so you don't end up with anything like this again. How long have you been an Aquarius? How long have you had these fish and when was the last time you added any new fish?


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## Samusaran (Nov 8, 2012)

*Updates...*



TankdreamerJim said:


> I would just follow the directions on the Medication bottles, increase aeration and heat leave it be for a week or two and see what happens. Just don't buy anymore fish for a while, if your fish that you have survive let them have time to recuperate before adding anything else. I would also do a small quarantine tank in the future, for new fish so you don't end up with anything like this again. How long have you been an Aquarius? How long have you had these fish and when was the last time you added any new fish?


My last tetra died a couple od days ago.  And I'm pretty sure that the disease was introduced in the tank with my first batch of neon tetra. They were the first to get sick. My second batch got sick a couple of days after. And since all the fishs I got from a certain pet store got sick, I won't buy any more fishs from them.

So, I have one glass catfish remaining in my tank and two otos. The glass catfish no longer seems to be sick, it's eating and swimming around, and it's almost all transparent again (it was milky white some days ago). I dropped the temperature a few degreees but I continue the medication.

I'm seriouly thinking about transfering these three fishs in my two gallons hospital tank, and do a big clean-up of the other tank ( I will clean the foam filter block and throw away the activated carbon and BIO-max cylinders), just to be sure. I know I will have to go through the cycling process again, but maybe it's better to start all over again. I'm sure it was ICK, but towards the end, maybe there was an occurence of neon tetra disease and fungus.

I'm hesitating to get more tetra neon for my tank. But they were the perfect size for a 5 gallon tank, and I truly loved the colors. Maybe a couple of guppies or a shrimp or two, I will have to think about it.


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## TankdreamerJim (Sep 25, 2012)

Get Cardinal Tetra they are almost the same and don't have the disease problems that neon tetra do. They are resistant to neon tetra disease which was probably what you had going on in your tank. I would do the hospital tank, clean everything thoroughly let everything dry out for a week then start over again. If your local water supply has chlorine in it don't use chlorine treatment when you first fill the tank let the tank and everything run as normal with the chlorinated water, including filter without active carbon in it because it will remove the chlorine, any airlines, airstones, plastic plants, basically if it isn't alive but it goes in the tank put it in there. Let the Chlorine do the last step of killing off any parasite you might miss. Then after a few days add carbon to your filter add water treatment to remove chlorine then start the cycle process and when things are good add your fish back to the tank and I would do the Cardinal tetra but put them in the hospital tank when your first get them (quarantine) them so you wont have to go through all this again. This is what I would do if I were in your shoes. I live out in the country and have well water which is better for keeping fish and doesn't need to be treated however if I were in your case the Chlorine in the water is actually a good thing because you can use it to kill parasites but I would have to add it myself and don't know how to do that so I just use medications.


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