A Little Ich Help / Talk

Luke.

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2015
Location
Kitchener
Ok , so as most know stuff is banned here and can find it anymore at our local fish stores , and have been told to go to vets . I never called one yet to see what they charge .
BUT
a little amazon search and you can find loads of ich treatment for sale .. what’s up with that ?

main question also if anyone could help me , I’ve only felt with ich once 6 years ago when I was new in the hobby and lost the fish in days (pretty sure I bought it without knowing it wasn’t eating being a rookie) Fast forward to now and I’ve never had an issue Took a 2 month break and sold off everything and restarted ...

now 2 weeks I’ve had A purple tang in a 20 gallon long he eats like a pig , and had 1-2 spots and went away in 3 days tops with some garlic soaked mysis .. unfortunately was working lots the last 3-4 days and nitrates crept up to 60-70 max ppm.. and today he’s got lots of little spots starting to show up (easily stages?) I did a 50% wc. Any advice ? He seems perfectly normal/ not stressed , he’s never showed signs of that .. I think I really messed up and the nitrates cause it ..

and what meds you guys have used / any kinds that don’t stain everything it touches lol .?

any advice would be amazing !
 

bluewater

Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2010
Location
Sarnia, Ontario
If he's eating then you have a very good chance

Add real garlic to your tank (peeled and slightly crushed). It interferes with the parasite finding a host (smell)

If you can catch the tang with minimal stress a freshwater dip in proper (dechlor, temperature, pH) causes the parasite to implode (or is it explode?) Due to osmotic shock. I've seen purple tangs relax and swim all mellow as if it were quite soothing to them.

Cheers
 

Luke.

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2015
Location
Kitchener
I would pump him full of quality food soaked in vitamins and garlic.

would you say “over feed him” and worst case a small water change daily or every other day? I think that’s the biggest issues , after my 50% wc yesterday nitrates are back down to 20-25 ppm , I’ll do another wc tomorrow and then keep it as stable as possible . He was doing great till then ..
Also is it smart to raise temp ? I did raise mine to 81.5 tonight
 

Luke.

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2015
Location
Kitchener
If he's eating then you have a very good chance

Add real garlic to your tank (peeled and slightly crushed). It interferes with the parasite finding a host (smell)

If you can catch the tang with minimal stress a freshwater dip in proper (dechlor, temperature, pH) causes the parasite to implode (or is it explode?) Due to osmotic shock. I've seen purple tangs relax and swim all mellow as if it were quite soothing to them.

Cheers


I’ll see how he does and if he gets worst I’ll try the fresh water dip but yeah
 

Matt1997

Active Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2017
Location
Barrie/Sudbury
would you say “over feed him” and worst case a small water change daily or every other day? I think that’s the biggest issues , after my 50% wc yesterday nitrates are back down to 20-25 ppm , I’ll do another wc tomorrow and then keep it as stable as possible . He was doing great till then ..
Also is it smart to raise temp ? I did raise mine to 81.5 tonight
I would leave temps at what they were. Raising temps won’t help. If he’s eating you will be fine.
 

bluewater

Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2010
Location
Sarnia, Ontario
Crypt has a roughly 21 day life cycle, raising temp speeds metabolism of everything in the tank... Including the parasite. This has had the effect of speeding up the process. Don't forget warmer water holds less oxygen so be sure to add aeration.

Messing with all these parameters surely reduces stability. Now that temp is raised don't drop it back down.

Dipping has worked for me time and time again. You can see if the fish is swimming normally, or lying motionless (stressed). After a short dip you will see remnants on the bottom of the bucket. Return the fish to a tank with garlic (remove carbon) and it'll have very little chance of reinfestation from next generation of ich.

Might as well gravel vac the substrate to reduce numbers of parasite while you're at it.

Cheers
 

Matt1997

Active Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2017
Location
Barrie/Sudbury
Crypt has a roughly 21 day life cycle, raising temp speeds metabolism of everything in the tank... Including the parasite. This has had the effect of speeding up the process. Don't forget warmer water holds less oxygen so be sure to add aeration.

Messing with all these parameters surely reduces stability. Now that temp is raised don't drop it back down.

Dipping has worked for me time and time again. You can see if the fish is swimming normally, or lying motionless (stressed). After a short dip you will see remnants on the bottom of the bucket. Return the fish to a tank with garlic (remove carbon) and it'll have very little chance of reinfestation from next generation of ich.

Might as well gravel vac the substrate to reduce numbers of parasite while you're at it.

Cheers
Do some Research on marine ich.
 
Last edited:

Luke.

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2015
Location
Kitchener
Here’s my qt I have a bubbler in it a filter / powder head in one and a heater
 

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Luke.

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2015
Location
Kitchener
Looks like ich moves in the water currant on my fishes skin , ( almost like a flag blowing in the wind) lol is that normal? I’m new to ich lol
 

bluewater

Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2010
Location
Sarnia, Ontario

Luke.

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2015
Location
Kitchener
Hm , I’m not 100% sure what it is he’s had it for going on 3 days now
Please someone correct me if I’m wrong but IF it was ich or marine velvet , wouldn’t the fish scrape on things ? Because for the 2 weeks I’ve had him I never seen him do it once or “tweak”
 

Matt1997

Active Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2017
Location
Barrie/Sudbury
Hm , I’m not 100% sure what it is he’s had it for going on 3 days now
Please someone correct me if I’m wrong but IF it was ich or marine velvet , wouldn’t the fish scrape on things ? Because for the 2 weeks I’ve had him I never seen him do it once or “tweak”
Sounds like an anchor worm.
 

Luke.

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2015
Location
Kitchener
So what happened to your purple tang?

unfortunately passed , was to late to find meds / will get meds before new fish .. some how .. not sure where to get tbh amazon I think has some stuff just don’t know what works really
 
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