Ich
- Thread starter salty's
- Start date
I have a tank where I have a problum with a fish that has ich. I Put in Neo Plex by sechem and then found out that it is for fresh water fish will it be OK?
elfdoctors
Active Member
Freshwater ich is a completely different disease from saltwater ich (which is caused by a parasite, cryptocaryon irritans. The treatments are completely different also. The only reliable treatments for saltwater ich are hyposalinity and copper. Look at the FAQ sticky in the disease and treatment forum for more info.
Welcome to the Boards!
Welcome to the Boards!
elfdoctors
Active Member
Originally posted by falconred
bring salt down in your tank 1.010 this will help
1.009 is usually recommended. Read the instructions in the FAQ carefully how to do this. Hyposalinity is toxic to all your corals, invertebrates and live rock. Fortunately ich cannot survive on these organisms longer then a month.
G
gobiodon
Guest
Salty's,
Be careful,
hyposalinity (the salinity is lowered to 1.009 of gravity) is a very effective treatment for parasitic conditions such as Marine "Ich" but invertebrates cannot tolerate low salinity and should be removed from the tank. Or fish to another tank...
Another treatment option: freshwater dips - are a highly effective form of treatment against ich.
For some reason, many of us are nervous about freshwater dipping their fish; yet do not have any problem about using chemicals or toxins for treatment. Yes, I was one of them ready to use some staff from KENT and I’ve killed my wet/dry filter for weeks.
If a fish dies a day or two later, it is more likely that the fish too damaged to survive.
Take RO or DI water, aerate for an hour to maximize dissolved oxygen, heat to match the temperature of the dip water to that of the tank water, and then add buffering compounds to match the freshwater pH to your saltwater pH.
The aeration should continue throughout the dip. It is crucial to match temperature and pH and to maximize dissolved oxygen.
I used 10 gal glass aquarium so you can watch the fish - any dip less than two minutes is useless. Many fish will easily tolerate five, ten, even fifteen minutes or more. The least tolerant fish are wrasses, lionfish, pufferfish.
:happyfish
Be careful,
hyposalinity (the salinity is lowered to 1.009 of gravity) is a very effective treatment for parasitic conditions such as Marine "Ich" but invertebrates cannot tolerate low salinity and should be removed from the tank. Or fish to another tank...
Another treatment option: freshwater dips - are a highly effective form of treatment against ich.
For some reason, many of us are nervous about freshwater dipping their fish; yet do not have any problem about using chemicals or toxins for treatment. Yes, I was one of them ready to use some staff from KENT and I’ve killed my wet/dry filter for weeks.
If a fish dies a day or two later, it is more likely that the fish too damaged to survive.
Take RO or DI water, aerate for an hour to maximize dissolved oxygen, heat to match the temperature of the dip water to that of the tank water, and then add buffering compounds to match the freshwater pH to your saltwater pH.
The aeration should continue throughout the dip. It is crucial to match temperature and pH and to maximize dissolved oxygen.
I used 10 gal glass aquarium so you can watch the fish - any dip less than two minutes is useless. Many fish will easily tolerate five, ten, even fifteen minutes or more. The least tolerant fish are wrasses, lionfish, pufferfish.
:happyfish
balistikb
Member
I also am treating ich on my fish. What I have done thus far is remove all of the fish from my display tank and put them in a QT. I had must of my fish die already in the QT, not sure yet what could have caused that. But I have a question. I read that I should leave my display tank without fish for 4 weeks. Right now I have a few shrimp and hermit crabs and stuff. Is it ok to maybe get a snowflake eel and put it in the DT? I just wanted to look at something in there while the weeks pass.
elfdoctors
Active Member
Originally posted by balistikb
Is it ok to maybe get a snowflake eel and put it in the DT?
I wouldn't. Any fish in the display tank can allow the ich to survive.
You can buy more inverts during this time to have something to look at.
Gobiodon, Freshwater dips (and hyposalinity) do not reliably kill ich at the trophont stage (the only stage that it is attached to the fish) because the parasite can survive while feeding on the higher salinity blood of the fish and staying semi-enclosed in the slime layer of the fish. Any trophonts left of the fish will reproduce. Something also needs to be done at the other stages of ich which are left in the tank. Otherwise your fish will only get reinfected.
Freshwater dips are effective for other ectoparasites but should not be done routinely as it does put some stress on fish.
TonyP Cleaner shrimp are not a cure for ich. Many fish will not take to a cleaner shrimp. A cleaner shrimp would also have to be able to treat the entire fish (including the gills) otherwise the ich can survive.