ich

[all4you]

Ok, i will try to give all the info on the first shot. I have 4 african cichlids, had origionally started off with 6, one died the day i got it, and the second died this morning, and i noticed a lump behind his front fin! I had never noticed it before, but maybe i am blind. Anyways, I noticed last week that my fish were rubbing their bodies on the gravel occasionally, so i read up on the internet to make sure that it was ick, and the symptoms seem to be right, so i bought the ma.... green solution at the lps which is supposed to help the ick problem. So the instructions read- add two caps full per 10 gallons on day one, three, and five. ( i have a 29 gallon) So i did so by adding 6 caps full on day one, three and five. It seemed to help, but then two days later, two of my fish started rubbing themselves on the gravel again, but not as much as before. So my question to you is should i do a water change, not do a water change, do the treatment again, maybe stronger per day? So to satisfy the questions about my chemical levels which i know you will want to know, I cannot remember my chlorine test, i did it yesterday, it was non existant, Amonia- 0
ph- 7.6
nitrite-0
i get the two confused so whichever numbers sound like thats where they should go! Nitrate- 30

So hopefully that should help the normal water condition questions. I also read in depth about the diffrent kinds of ich, or bacteria, fungus that does this to fish, and it seems as if i caught it in the early stages, luckily, i dont even see the white little bubbles on the surface of the scales or anything visable that would lead me to believe they had ick, just that they are rubbing their bodies. So any suggestions, comments.

p.s, sorry for the long post, and thanks so much in advance, you all have been a great help so far with questions i have had in the past.

[Dr Joe]

Originally Posted by all4you

Ok, i will try to give all the info on the first shot. I have 4 african cichlids, had origionally started off with 6, one died the day i got it, and the second died this morning, and i noticed a lump behind his front fin! I had never noticed it before, but maybe i am blind. Anyways, I noticed last week that my fish were rubbing their bodies on the gravel occasionally, so i read up on the internet to make sure that it was ick, and the symptoms seem to be right, so i bought the ma.... green solution at the lps which is supposed to help the ick problem. So the instructions read- add two caps full per 10 gallons on day one, three, and five. ( i have a 29 gallon) So i did so by adding 6 drops on day one, three and five. It seemed to help, but then two days later, two of my fish started rubbing themselves on the gravel again, but not as much as before. So my question to you is should i do a water change, not do a water change, do the treatment again, maybe stronger per day? So to satisfy the questions about my chemical levels which i know you will want to know, I cannot remember my chlorine test, i did it yesterday, it was non existant, Amonia- 0
ph- 7.6
nitrite-0
i get the two confused so whichever numbers sound like thats where they should go! Nitrate- 30

So hopefully that should help the normal water condition questions. I also read in depth about the diffrent kinds of ich, or bacteria, fungus that does this to fish, and it seems as if i caught it in the early stages, luckily, i dont even see the white little bubbles on the surface of the scales or anything visable that would lead me to believe they had ick, just that they are rubbing their bodies. So any suggestions, comments.

p.s, sorry for the long post, and thanks so much in advance, you all have been a great help so far with questions i have had in the past.

Ok, was the amount of the green solution a mis-type or is there only one drop per cap?

Ick can only be killed during the part of it's life cycle it is floating in the tank looking for a host. So it is going to take some time to cure this.

If your using charcoal in your filter take it out during the treatment time.

If the infection is bad enough, you can make a dip (very dilute) and treat the fish this way too. (gives them some extra relief).

Good Luck,

Dr Joe

.

[all4you]

no, the bottle says clearly, add two caps full per 10 gallon's. Is that not right? Am i killing my fish?

[all4you]

what do you mean make a dip?

[Tommy Gun]

Ok, first let me say that unless you are seeing the white spots on your fish, you may not have a case of Ich here. Many cichlids will "flash", meaning that they rub their bodies on decor or rocks to prove dominance in a new tank.

Second, what exact cichlids do you have? If you do not know, try searching for cichlids on an online store to see if you can match a picture to your fish. Otherwise, if you can post a picture on the forum, I am sure someone can ID them for you.

Now, let me say that using Malachite Green is not the best method for Ich treatment IMHO. Like Dr. Joe points out, Ich can only be effectively killed while it is in its free-swimming stage of the lifecycle. This means that you can have Ich in your tank that you cannot see, which is why you should treat for around two weeks or more after the white spots fall off of the fish. In its white spot form, Ich is pretty well 'hunkered down' and is hard to treat.

Let me introduce you to the 'salt and heat' treatment. In my opinon, this is the least invasive treatment for Ich and serves dual purposes.

First, SLOWLY turn the heat up in your tank to 85 degrees. You can do this over a number of hours so that you do not shock your fish from a rapid temp change. The higher temperature will speed up the lifecycle of Ich so that while it is in its white spot stage, it will drop off the fish sooner rather than later.

Second, depending on the fish you have (and any others), you can dose either 1 tablespoon of salt (sodium chloride...such as aquarium, not marine, salt, table salt, kosher salt, etc...) per every 5 gallons of water IF there are no scaleless fish (e.g. plecostomus, loaches, catfish,and even some tetras) in your tank. If there are scaleless fish, then cut that in half and dose 1 tablespoon per every 10 gallons of water in the tank. The salt will kill off Ich in its free swimming forms that you cannot see. Again, treat for at least two weeks after the last white spots fall off.

The reason that Malachite Green is not really a good alternative is because not only will it dye your tank (in fact, it really is a dye used for clothes and textiles), it is harsh on your fish and can be detrimental to your own health! IMO, it is just better to use the salt and heat method to protect you and your fish.

How did you acclimate your fish when you brought them home? (put them in the tank)

Your water test numbers look good. Did you go through a cycle process in which you saw the ammonia and nitrite levels raise high and then drop to 0? If not, I would test your tap water or water source for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates to see how they compare to your tank.

[Tommy Gun]

Originally Posted by all4you

what do you mean make a dip?

Dips are usually making up a solution of water and meds for which to put your infected fish in quickly to try and kill off Ich or other parasites. I have never used a dip on a freshwater fish, however I have recent knowledge supporting freshwater dips on marine ich work well. Hopefully some one else can convey what they learned from an experience with using dips on a freshwater fish.

[all4you]

i put them in the tank in the bag for an hour or so, then opened the bag and added a litte of my tanks water to the bag, repeated that again, then added the fish via net, not dumping bag water into tank. i think i will try the salt and heat method, and stop the dye treatment. Thanks, any other treatments recomended, or thoughts. I really hate to loose my fish as i have been doing really well keeping these suckers alive!

[all4you]

[quote=

The reason that Malachite Green is not really a good alternative is because not only will it dye your tank (in fact, it really is a dye used for clothes and textiles), it is harsh on your fish and can be detrimental to your own health! IMO, it is just better to use the salt and heat method to protect you and your fish. quote]

Its funny you say that, the suction cups that hold my air hose lines have turned green, i just noticed that, that sucks!

[BJP]

Please keep all pregnent friends and family members away from the aquarium until you finish with the malachite green.

[johnnypets]

You might want to try Seachem Paraguard. It does not dye anything and is gentle on the fish. You can use it as a dip or add it to the tank and you can use it for as long as you need to until the infection disappears.