best solution for freshwater ICH..??

[Llamarama]

hiya
noticed a bit of ick on my juvenile BP as well as my columbian shark about 35 days ago...removed carbon from filter and treated every day for 30 days with Jungle Ick cure liquid stuff at half dose due to my cory cats and my shark being sensitive...

30 days later everyone is fine...except my shark who is still COVERED in Ich :( no visible spots on anyone else so went out and purchased API ick cure liquid been using for 5 days and I think he's getting worse

any suggestions on what I can do for him?...we tried taking him out to QT and treat separately but he looked very unhappy and sick plus our version of QT is a plastic bucket as i have no extra tanks around but I'm sure this is going to start stressing the other fish sooner or later but he's not getting any better

[Wingin It]

My cure has always been to add some Epsom salts or aquarium salt and increase the temp. to about 81.

[Leah]

I always used coppersafe by Mardel and just follow the directions. :biggrin:

[Llamarama]

Thanks guys there is already salt and the temp is up maybe I will just have to try another med or just keep at it

[xblade]

I've used Nox Ick with Malachite Green .Wrks awsome.
1 drop per gal of water in fresh..Raise the temp and leave the lights off for 2 or 3 days.Worked everytime for me.Getting hard to find though.

[cale262]

Salt helps the fish heal, Increased water temperature speeds up the Ich's life cycle (10-14 days) but daily gravel vac's get rid of the Ich off-spring…They multiply in the substrate.:wink:

[Llamarama]

no worries :) sharky and co have been happy and healthy for quite some time now all is well

[Wingin It]

what did you use? or do?

[Llamarama]

well it's really hard to say what actually worked...but it was a combo...we upped the temp...added salt(marine salt not salt for FW) as well as medicating and 25% water changes daily for about 40 days...it was a long ordeal but everyone made it except my snail :( and they have been happy and healthy for over a month

[chotee]

I have found that a lot of the Ick medications often contain copper..even on time when it is not listed on the bottle it is still there in small amounts. Typically when you're piling these medications into the tank snails are not taken into consideration - copper is harmful to snails. Which is likely why you lost the little guy if you were using some of these medications.

In my experience the best (most natural way to tre at Ick) is with aquairum salt (the kind meant for freshwater tanks) and increasing the tempreature. Salt should be added gradually with water changes and temperature should also be increased gradually as to not shock the fish....which I'm sure you already know.

I see that this post is older and you have resolved your issue but should you run into this again I would advise trying salt and increased temps for awhile before the medications. Salt and increased temp often takes a lot longer to cure the situation depending on how bad of a case you have on your hands - but in the end everyone usually pulls through.

Also, you can add some salt to a healthy aquarium to keep your fish in better health and to better prevent ick.

Here's to hoping you stay Ick free in the future. :)