ICH and PH

[DoubleDutch]

Great news !!!

[Alex1]

Since last Tuesday I have been lowering the tank temp slowly. It's at 81. I hope to go back to 78 degrees. I have not seen no Ich on the fish and nobody is scraping on the wood or substrate. This was a total of 15 days.


~ I love my fish

[Alex1]

3 more days and then I can lower the heat.


~ I love my fish

[Alex1]

Heat is still at 85.5 degrees. Ram was scraping himself up against the wood, but I don't see any ick on him. He is breathing well and normal, so are all the other fish. They do seem to mind the heat a little. The only fish in the tank that does not seem to bother is the clown loaches. The loaches seem quit happy.


~ I love my fish

[DoubleDutch]

Nice. IME raising temp for 3-5 days with or without salt should get rid of ICH.

That's too short as heat-treatment.

[ptran]

Nice. IME raising temp for 3-5 days with or without salt should get rid of ICH.

[Alex1]

OMG! You won't believe what has happened. First of all Raphael striped catfish is Alive! Yes I said Alive! I saw half his body floating and the rest of him not moving and I even tapped on the glass so I assumed he was dead. But nope this fish is swimming around and his color looks better. He did start eating some algae I bought at fish gallery. They sale these sheets of algae and I thought I would try some to see if the fish like it. And yes Raphael is eating that over the loach tablet. I will keep him there for a week and give him the best care I can until I think he his strong enough to go back on his own. Nice to hear good news.


~ I love my fish

[Alex1]

Yes I will point the powerhead up and turn the air up.


~ I love my fish

[DoubleDutch]

Take care there is some good current / aeration!!

[Alex1]

Well I will raise the heat back to 85 slowly and watch closely the behavior of the fish and any signs of ick. Thank you


~ I love my fish

[DoubleDutch]

The spots dissappearing don't say anything of the parasite being there. Most meds only can kill the parasite in the (invisible) free swimming stage !!!
Be sure to do and finish the treatment by the manual !!!!! No spots doesn't mean cured !!
I

[Alex1]

Well my Raphael Striped cat did not make it. The medication was too much for him. He was a great fish. AKA the talking fish.
Yes I did raised the temp to speed up the ick life cycle, but I also used medication every two days and vacuumed and change 35% of the water everyday till I could no longer see any ick on the fish. And when that happen I dosed one more time to kill what ever ick may have been free floating. DoubleDutch do you think I still should keep the temp at 85 degrees? For a longer time? Any advice anybody? Because I really don't want to loose another fish. I still have 2 spotted Raphael's in the big tank.


~ I love my fish

[DoubleDutch]

If you've raised the temp to cure Ich, it should be up for two weeks (lifecycle of the parasite). Now you are using meds, it has only worked to speed up it's livecycle.

[Alex1]

Bad news. My Raphael striped catfish which I had for 7 years old is not doing well. The medication I used in the tank to kill ick has taken a toll on him. He is now in the hospital tank. All water test are good in there. It's dark and I put I tablet of food in there for him. He has not try to eat yet. It's all about wait and see. The medications that I used all did say this may hurt your catfish and loaches, so I'm not surprised. Just sad. I hope he pulls through. I keep all updated on what I do to see if I can get him back to good health.


~ I love my fish

[Alex1]

I did do it. I vacuum best I could. It being lots of plants everywhere I can't imagine I got everything. Oh well at least I'm more ready to stop it. If it happens again.


~ I love my fish