Stopping Ick!

[purplepuffer]

I was just wondering if this is true or not, or if anyone has heard this, but one of my friends who works at a petstore told me that if you keep you tank at 80 or higher, your fish won't get ick. She told me that ick breeds at 79 or lower, so higher would keep it away. What do you all think???
~~Megan

 

[barry]

Megan,
This may help. What can also help is to gradually lower the specific gravity of your water to 1.018 (get your fish used to this over a few days) as this can also help inhibit the lifecycle of ick.
GOOD LUCK!
Originally posted by Purplepuffer:
I was just wondering if this is true or not, or if anyone has heard this, but one of my friends who works at a petstore told me that if you keep you tank at 80 or higher, your fish won't get ick. She told me that ick breeds at 79 or lower, so higher would keep it away. What do you all think???
~~Megan

 

[fishgirl]

I'm no expert, but to me the 80 or higher rule makes no sense b/c there's ick in the ocean! I mean, that's 80 or higher!

 

[mr . salty]

I agree with fishgirl, Plus in my fresh water tank higher temps cause water quality problems. Also agree with the salinity, I think you two hit it on the nose. STEVE

 

[kmr]

I tend not to agree with that info unless there is a major differance between freshwater ich and saltwater ich. When I kept freshwater tanks I raised the temp to speed up the lifecycle of ich. I tend to believe that water temp over 80 might cause ich and encourage it to thrive. Just a thought.

 

[purplepuffer]

Thanks for the advice! My fish don't have any ick right now, (hopefully never!) I was just trying to make sure it stays that way!
~~Megan

 

[lapoza]

actually, what you heard about raisng the temperature is correct. but, you are suppose to remove your fish from the tank as this is only a way to get ick out of the tank, not off fish.

 

[bobsingh1]

I agree that keeping tank temperature higher than 80 but below 83 will keep ick in check. But if you have live corals, you shouldn't do it for more than a week.
Also, there is a difference between freshwater ick and saltwater ick. If this were not true hyposalinity would never work.
And ocean temperature varies a lot. At tropics where its the highest, it may be above 80 on the surface but at the depths where these creatures thrive, the temperature pretty much stays below 80.

 

[mr . salty]

I never said anything about freshwater ick. I just said it caused clarity problems. STEVE

 

[mitch24]

Get a good UV sterylizer
You should be alright!
I think just about everyone who has a marine tank for any length of time, eventually battle ick... Keep checking your water

 

[mainejo1]

I have had tremendous success in treating and preventing ich with two treatments. First, Megan, there is some truth to increased temp in decreasing ich. But, ich is just like a cold virus in humans. It is always there on the fish, and will rear its' ugly head in any stressful situation such as bad water quality, aggressive tank mates, etc. As soon as I see any signs of ich, I soak my fishes food (preferably bloodworms) in several cloves of coarsely chopped garlic. Then, every meal I fish the worms out of the garlic and feed to my fish. They love it. I also, at first sign, put a product called "melafix" in my tank daily for at least 5 days. This is an all natural oil from tea trees, and is safe for fish and inverts. If all else fails, I use copper in a qt, but despite many outbreaks I have yet to resort to it. Copper is highly toxic to fishes livers and compromises immune systems. So, at least for me, frequent small water changes, Melafix, garlic food, and CoralVital have worked great for me in mt 30 gal and 90 gal tanks that have been going since Feb. Good luck, Megan, and have a great time. What a pleasure this hobby is!

 

[kmr]

What I meant is there any major differances in the life cycle of freshwater ich and saltwater ich. Ich can only attack fish and for that matter be killed themselves while free swimming. Ich also multiplies while free swimming. When you raise the water temp ich thrives ( if thers a host ). In the sea fish find a thermal zone that meets their needs. If they can't they get sick. In a tank they can not move deeper or shallower to find the proper temp. If your fish are used to 74 degrees and you raise your tank to 80+ this can stress your fish into having ich as it's hard depending where you live to keep your tank from warming alittle during the day. If you keep your tank at 80+ you might hit 84-85 degrees with lights and pumps on. Thats too hot.

 

[mitch24]

I've read some articles that stated a 1 degree change in water temp. can be devasting to fish. Is there any truth to this? The temperature of my water is pretty stable, but it does fluctuate between 78 and 80 degrees, depending on the outside temp.
Should I be concerned about this?

 

[mr . salty]

MITCH, If one or two deg was devistating,my fish would all be dead long ago. My tanks adv. temp is 76, But has been as high as 84-85 a couple days when I get home from work. STEVE

 

[mitch24]

That's kind of what I fugured
Thanks a million for the info!