# Treating ich???



## paytheplayer (Jun 24, 2008)

I just recently put a Pictus into my 120 gal, and 2 days later I noticed that he had ich. So I took him out and put him into my quarantine tank. Then I noticed that a few of my tetras had it too, so I took them out, and now my bala and rope fish have it. I started treating my 120 gal with "ich attack". My question is, can these fish be saved because I am treating them, or are they doomed anyways?

If they aren't doomed, then how long on average does it take to get rid of the ich? Thanks.


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## iamntbatman (Jan 3, 2008)

In addition to the medication, you should try turning up the temperature to 84-86 degrees. I'm not sure what's in the medication, but if it for sure doesn't have any salt in it, you can try adding the recommended dosage of aquarium salt to the tank as well. Keep in mind many fish don't really like the salt at all (like scaleless fishes and most catfish). I'm not sure if the ropefish falls into this category or not. Good luck!


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

I had the same experience with my Pictus. Two days after putting him into the tank he had ich. Being a newbie I didn't know about quarantine and of course the entire tank became infected. I used Super Ick Cure and followed the instructions to the letter. It was a dose every 48 for three total doses, a 25% water change on the last dose. I thought he was doomed but he is now the *strongest* of my fish. Ick is definitely defeatable. Good luck w/ your pictus!


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

I forgot to add: As far as how long ick takes to be treated...with my outbreak it was gone by the third & final treatment, so for me it was six days.


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## onefish2fish (Jul 22, 2008)

i hope you QT your new fish in the future to prevent this from happening again.

ich has to go through its "cycle" to die off. if it is attached to a host (fish) it cannot be killed. it can only be killed in its free swimming stage. salt is a good way to fight ich, but as batman said, most fish wont like it.

:arrow: It has been found that Ich does not infect new fish at 29.4°C/85°F (Johnson, 1976), stops reproducing at 30°C/86°F (Dr. Nick St. Erne, DVM, pers. comm.), and dies at 32°C/89.5°F (Meyer, 1984), [1] 

:arrow: So the first step would be to increase the temperature slowly, 1°C/2°F per hour until the correct temperature is reached. This temperature should be maintained for 10 days, and then slowly returned to normal. 

:arrow: 25% daily partial water changes will provide several benefits: It will keep the water very clean, which will help fish cope with the stress of the disease.

:arrow: Use salt. In a non-planted aquarium with tolerant fish, the addition of Aquarium salt at the rate of 1 teaspoon per 4 liters/1 gallon of water disrupts the fluid regulation of Ich. Do not add salt crystals directly to tank. Always dissolve salt in a small amount of tank water before adding to tank. This dosage may be repeated every 12 hours for a total of three treatments. When Ich is gone, salt is removed with daily 25% water changes.

(those 4 :arrow:'s were taken from an article ive found on aquahobby.com)


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