Hello..I have been battling some bad ick problems in my tank and have lost two blackmoors and now the last 4 aren't looking good.
I have a 37 gallon with a bare bottom and emperor filter. The water quality is good and I have been tesing with strips. The problem started when I got a blackmoor from Petsmart. I have vowed to never buy fish there again. I should know better.
The only thing I really question is the temperature. The tank is usually 68 to 74 degrees with the lower being at night.
Do I need to get a heater?
I have treated the tank with Jungle Ick Guard fizzing tabs, that didn't work. Then I tried Quick Cure but they are still sick.
I only used quick cure for one day so I am sure I need to start again.
Also I removed a hollow ornament I had in the tank.
I also read about covering the tank to block sunlight so maybe I should try that also.
I eally was wondering about the temperature whether it is ok at 68- 74 or should I get a heater and how many days with Quick Cure or should I try a new med? thank you

I just wanted to add that there are 4 fish in the 37 gallon Tall now...the biggest being a lionhead about 2 1/2 inches excluding the tail and two smaller lionheads maybe two inches in all with the tails and one oranda who is maybe 2 inches or less without the tails.thankyou

Hi sorry to hear that you allready lost two of your moors,that's so sad. If I were you,I'd start the cure Ick again,and do the recommended 3 treatments.It doesn't say it on the pkg that I noticed,but cure ick has malachite green/formalin in it-any time you see malachite green ,you should put the tank into complete darkness by covering with a towel or something.Light ruins affect of medicine from what I understand. After you do treatment,do a really good gravel clean. I actually used something recently-I think quick cure-I used it for six instead of three,and I kept them in the dark-completely.Hope this helps! Good luck!!!

DO NOT stop treating until you see no more white dots on the fish for at least 3 days. This can take a lot longer than the medicine package suggests, especially with some of the more resistant strains of ich you can pick up from the pet store.

I bought two blue rams a week and a half ago that brough ich with them. I started treating with quick cure when they had just 3 dots on one fish...

They still have it. It's resistant as22, and I lost one of the rams to it. I stopped treatment for one day because she was looking bad (I think from the meds more than the ich). It was a mistake, it went from 2 dots on the male to twenty overnight because there was nothing in the water to kill the free swimmers. You have GOT to keep treating them until the dots have been gone a while or you aren't doing any good.

I would get a heater, and keep it set for 74. This will keep the tank more stable, which reduces stress on the fish, allowing them more energy to fight off the ich. Don't bother if you can only afford a cheapy heater though. Unless it's a good one the temp has the potential to fluctuate more with the heater than without.

Put the meds in right before bedtime, and cover the tank to make extra sure no light gets in, this will help make sure the meds are as effective as possible. Do some gravel vacs during treatment as well to try to get rid of some of the parasites in the bottom of the tank.

Make extra sure the water parameters in the tank stay good (ammonia and nitrite especially), detectable levels are even more dangerous when you are medicating, as oxygen available to the fish is already reduced by the meds.

I wanted to add that (always repeating it .... sorry), I've had a lot of success with water changes alongside medicine treatment. Even when the parameters are fine, clean water is always refreshing and medicidinal when done properly. If at all possible, double up on your water changes. It will help get rid of some of those parasites who want to latch back onto your babies.

Hope you have better luck.

I'll back Ed on that. I think the bucket method would work wonders on ick. JMO

Thankyou soooo much for your replies. I am going to continue the IckClear with a cover on the tank. I will change the water 25% everyday before adding the medication. After this ick is gone I will get a good heater to keep the temp. constant. I will keep you updated. I also am looking into a UV sterilizer. Does anyone here use one? I change the water once a week normally anywhere from 50 to 25% and my husband just goes nuts telling me I am messing with the water way too much and I am doing the damage. Thank God for this forum so I know I am not crazy!!LOL!

I have UV sterilizers on both of my tanks. Personally I wouldn't have a tank without one. If you get one, I would suggest buying a sterilizer one size bigger than what the sterilizer manufacturer recommends for your tank size. You'll only spend a couple of pennys a day more on electricity, but you will be able to use a much higher flow rate through the sterilizer.

If you want it to kill parasites, keep the flow rate through the sterilizer at the very low end of the recommended flow range of the sterilizer, and keep the inlet tube close to the bottom of your tank. Most parasites will stay in the bottom 1/3 of your tank. For just controlling free floating alge or bacteria you can use a flow rate towards the middle or high end of the recommened flow rate.

Keep the quartz tube that the UV bulb slides into clean!!! Build up on the quartz tube will greatly degrade the function of the sterilizer.

Change the UV bulb at the munufacturer's recommended interval. An old bulb will also degrade the funtion of the sterilizer.

You don't have to worry about the sterilizer killing the benificial bacteria in your tank. Those bacteria are not free floating. The sterilizer will only kill things that are free floating in the water.

Good luck

Rick

Keeping you posted: I started yesterday morning with Ick Cure again. I turned off light and covered tank with a dark sheet. This morning all fish still have signs of ick but they are kind of perky not lethargic anynmore. I just did a 25% water change and added the dose.I covered the tank again. It does seem to be working!! they were not movingaroundmuch and now the are acting more normal. More updates later!!LOL

Well this is definitely the resistant strain! I have been using one drop per gallon of Ick Cure, keeping the tank covered, removed all the filter medias and 25% water change daily before adding medication. The Ick is still on all three fish, but they are not lethargic. I am on day 3 so I guess I will go for 6 days. I do not want to harm them by overexposing them to the meds.

I also wanted to say thanks for the UV info bak2it.....I am definitely getting one! I hope it helps with the ick.

Keep up the good work Make sure it is completely gone before you stop treating. The parasite stays in the water for a day or two before latching on again. It is then that the medicine kills it. The water changes I'm sure are getting rid those buggers too.

if I were you i'd raise the temperature in the tank to about 76-78F. The ich's lifecycle is drastically sped up at higher temperatures which makes for killing them off much easier. Remember, the ich can only be killed when they are NOT on the fish (ie, before they attach to the fish). When you raise the temp, though, remember, no more than a degree an hour(IIRC).

I treated for 5 days and there are no spots on them at all. The temp is still low(70-72), but I bought a good heater tonight and I am going to put it in tomorrow. The main concern I have now is my goldfish are just sitting at the bottom corner most of the time like the are hibernating or something. They are all breathing ok and eating somewhat but I wonder if the med was hard on them? And will they perk up after a while and a few water changes?

How long have they not had spots? If you apply heat now I guess it will help. So I would keep the meds for one more day so the parasite will completely die off. You could do a large water change before that to empty the tank of the parasite as much as possible. This will also help to get your fish off the bottom. After you remove the meds I think they will feel much better, especially.

One more thing I wanted to ask.....Do I have to put brand new filter media in or can I put my same filters back in the tank? The filter was onlyused for two days when I removed it...will the ick still be on it or can I rinse it in really hot water? I left the biowheel in of course. I also have a fillable filter frame that has new media that I took out but did use for two days before.....thanks

I don't know how to answer your last question, but I just wanted to ask if you had carbon in your filter when you were treating with malachite green. Carbon takes out medicine so you must remove carbon when treating them. Anyway, that just came to mind when I read your post. Glad to hear that things are looking up now.

Thankyou for your reply....I did take out all the carbon during treatment but was wondering if the ick got in the carbon before treatment and before the carbon was removed?

I would change your filter. It's best not to risk the little buggers coming back.

Yes I agree then...rather be safe than sorry..it will cost more in the end if they get sick again........thanx

well the ick was totally gone after losing three fish...then Ichanged the media put in a heater and turned all the filters back on..the fish were not feeling very well after six days of ick clear....so the big lion head and the bigf oranda are fine but my tiny lionhead has it again...so I figure it is in the tank...I bought a UV sterilizer and I am going to hook it up today so maybe that will get rid of the remaining it..I turnedmy heater down to 74 but it does get to 76 in the day.

hi

thats cool that you got a uv unit. those things work a charm for all kinds of things. if your aiming to kill parasites with it, youll need to keep the water flow to a minimum. your kit should come with a flow/kill chart that tells you how many gph to keep it set at... try to adhere to it as best you can.

and, be careful with certain meds and the uv, you just cant run it with some of 'em.

good luck!

Well, the Ick is finally gone after losing 4 fish. The larger(3 inch) fish were recovered completely and the small fish( 1 inch) still had it and died. So I hooked up the UV sterilizer and was left with two fish( 3 inch lionhead, 3 inch oranda). I decided to get two more 3 inch fish( lionheads) I have a 37 gallon high with no substrate. I found a nice all white lionhead and a calico lionhead. That is all the fish I am going to put in there. They all have no signs of Ick and seem healthy. The calico is kind of long and skinny so I am trying to feed him extra......So anyway I must have had resistant ick because I tried Ick cure, Ick clear and covering with a towel,treated for six days, A heater and no filters and none of it worked. It was only gone after the last small fish died. So back to stage one, but my female lionhead and and oranda are already spawing again!!

Okay, but I wouldn't get any more then that. Goldfish need at least 10 gallons to live a healthy life. The more water you have the more ick and most other diseases will keep away. Plenty of water, water changes and filtration is what keep me an my fish happy without all the grief of these crazy problems.