Treating ich in a planted aquarium with sensitive fish

[Leo1234]

So I housed a fish temporarily in my 150 gallon aquarium and a day after I removed it I noticed my barilius got covered in ich. Since multiple are infected and I can’t catch the fish, is there any suggestions for treatments. I see salt is often recommended, but the tank is half filled with many plants growing out of the water, but with their roots in the water and attached to driftwood. Removing the wood would mean removing all of the hiding spots. I also have a 4 line picture, a large spiny eel, and a few loaches. I hear all of these are sensitive to some treatments. I don’t have a heater since the temperature stays in the 70’s naturally and some fish are subtropicals and I worry about raising the temperature a lot.

I have new life spectrum ich shield and one other type of ich medication I can look at when I get home today

What treatments can I use? Thank you for the help!

 

[duanes]

The question is, do you want all the fish to die of ick? Because unless you treat the entire tank and all decor, the disease can go on forever. I always use salt (a salinity of 3 ppt (3lbs per 100 gallons) and expect a few fish losses, and plant loss, it is almost a given, because , what's the alternative, perpetual ick?
I treated successfully the planted 180 gal tank below, using 3.5 ppt with no plant loss, or fish loss (it included a Pleco.

The fish were wild caught in a river nearby so arrived with ick (so ick was not unexpected), and also had a few other minor parasites, and all added to the tank together, salt treatment for all.
That said not using a Q-tank is always a gamble (even for just holding a fish) .

 

[skjl47]

Hello; Unfortunately this common parasitic infection is somewhat controversial. The method that seems to get most favored status is to raise the temps to over 85 F and add salt. I also gather some of the over the counter ich treatments act in a similar way to salt which is to kill the newly hatched parasites by osmotic pressure differences.
You have a dilemma and duanes stole my thunder with his reply. Putting a fish in a tank without a QT period is always a risk. You have lost this time. I tend to agree with duanes in that if left untreated the parasite is very likely to kill many fish and will persist. With treatment you may save more fish in the long run.

Let me add this. Whatever treatment you pick, do not use a second chemical treatment at the same time.

Good luck

 

[Leo1234]

The question is, do you want all the fish to die of ick? Because unless you treat the entire tank and all decor, the disease can go on forever. I always use salt (a salinity of 3 ppt (3lbs per 100 gallons) and expect a few fish losses, and plant loss, it is almost a given, because , what's the alternative, perpetual ick?
I treated successfully the planted 180 gal tank below, using 3.5 ppt with no plant loss, or fish loss (it included a Pleco.
View attachment 1375824
The fish were wild caught in a river nearby so arrived with ick (so ick was not unexpected), and also had a few other minor parasites, and all added to the tank together, salt treatment for all.
That said not using a Q-tank is always a gamble (even for just holding a fish) .

The problem is I had it in a spare tank for more than a week before I had to move this fish out into my main tank as it was chased by another fish. The whole time it was in the spare tank I watched it to make sure if it was doing okay and it seemed healthy as it was eating and never showed any signs of illness. It only started showing signs of ich a day or 2 after I moved it to my main aquarium.

I will agree though it was or stupid I didn’t medicate just in case even though it seemed fine

I can try salt worst case, but the reason I worry is I have semi aquatic orchids in there that are sensitive to salts and are hard to find (don’t want to lose my orchids if possible)

Hello; Unfortunately this common parasitic infection is somewhat controversial. The method that seems to get most favored status is to raise the temps to over 85 F and add salt. I also gather some of the over the counter ich treatments act in a similar way to salt which is to kill the newly hatched parasites by osmotic pressure differences.
You have a dilemma and duanes stole my thunder with his reply. Putting a fish in a tank without a QT period is always a risk. You have lost this time. I tend to agree with duanes in that if left untreated the parasite is very likely to kill many fish and will persist. With treatment you may save more fish in the long run.

Let me add this. Whatever treatment you pick, do not use a second chemical treatment at the same time.

Good luck

Would medication be easier on the plants? It sucks as I know ich is usually treated with temps above 85F, but with some of my fish 85F can Ben lethal in the long run. I will post what medication I have for ich in a second

 

[Leo1234]

This is the medication I have for ich
Sorry if my posts are a bit rushed

 

[duanes]

When in the states, I always quarantined all fish for a minimum of 2 months, it often takes at least that amount of time for many symptoms of disease appear, or become obvious.
A friend who runs the fish exhibit at a municipal zoo, quarantines every fish at least 6 months.
My wild fish here in Panama, showed up with maybe one cysts each, which in nature that one is usually not problematic because of the limitless space, but in a closed system, ick has no where else to go but to constantly reinfect, becoming lethal.

 

[Leo1234]

So I found a spare heater in my tank supplies. I can try to increase the temperature to 82 or more. The tank is 150, but is currently filled 2in above the halfway mark. The heater is rated for 79 us gallons. Will this be okay to use and how slow should I raise the temperature if it’s in the 70’s right now?
I can lower the water level a bit more if I need to make it easier on the heater. I think I can at most lower it to around 1ft or so
I’m going to try heat and the medication I posted above

Edit: I changed the equipment around so worst case I can lower the water even more

 

[duanes]

Heat doesn't kill ick (especially some of the tropical varieties), but it does speed up their life cycle, and certain stages of the lifecycle are when they are vulnerable to treatments with meds, or salt.
The tank I just treated, I did not try to raise temp (my normal tank temp here is 82'F during the day, slightly less at night), I just kept salinity up for 3 weeks or so, to allow any hatching stages of ick to be killed by the osmotic pressure of the salinity.
When in the states, I used rock salt by weight, here in Panama I used 18 - 20 gallons of sea water in the 180 gal tank to attain the 3.5 ppt salinity. That salinity needs to be maintaintaned to lyse all emerging ick generations.

 

[skjl47]

I’m going to try heat and the medication I posted above

Hello; I am not familiar with that medication so do not know the ingredients. There is a chance it has methelene blue (mb) or malachite green (mg). The mb can be hard on plants if I recall correctly. Not sure about the mg. Of course could be some other agent. Also possible either or both use osmotic pressure differences the same as salt does.
I guess with no treatment you can save the plants and sacrifice the fish. I also have come to like my plants and lately would be more concerned about them than some fish. I do not keep special fish any more but do have some nice plants. I am not sure how long it would take for the ich parasite to die out in a plant only tank. That is a question I have never studied nor can recall any discussion about. This is a very wild guess and needs some confirmation but I wonder if dipping plants briefly in a Clorox solution might work.

Heat doesn't kill ick (especially some of the tropical varieties), but it does speed up their life cycle

Hello; Yes to this. There is some confusion in that a few members do insist that heat only is enough to kill the parasite. I happen to be in the camp that thinks some other agent is needed and as duanes says the heat speeds up the life cycle.

I have no good solution for you. Without evidence my leaning is to think the salt likely to be the safer in terms of the plants. The parasite has at least three life stages and only one is able to be killed by treatments that do not also kill the fish. That is when they first hatch out of the egg and before they attach to a fish. I guess it is much like medicine for people in that there are plenty of things that kill pathogens but hard to find ones that are safe to swallow.

One last suggestion. If you decide to treat with salt or whatever do not go halfway. The levels needed to be effective should not be lessened as at lesser concentrations will not do any good. Also do not take too long to get the concentrations up to a proper concentration. I have known members taking days to add the correct amount or adding only half the amount thinking they were being easier on the fish when it was a waste.
Good luck

 

[LBDave]

So I housed a fish temporarily in my 150 gallon aquarium and a day after I removed it I noticed my barilius got covered in ich. Since multiple are infected and I can’t catch the fish, is there any suggestions for treatments. I see salt is often recommended, but the tank is half filled with many plants growing out of the water, but with their roots in the water and attached to driftwood. Removing the wood would mean removing all of the hiding spots. I also have a 4 line picture, a large spiny eel, and a few loaches. I hear all of these are sensitive to some treatments. I don’t have a heater since the temperature stays in the 70’s naturally and some fish are subtropicals and I worry about raising the temperature a lot.

I have new life spectrum ich shield and one other type of ich medication I can look at when I get home today

What treatments can I use? Thank you for the help!

I treated ich with salt and the tank had a bunch of amazon swords. Though they got some brown leaves they lived through it. I just prune them now and then. Although I do keep ich medicine on hand I would probably use salt again. Don't want to stain the tank. I also use salt for skin abrasions if they are severe.