Aqua Posted March 2, 2003 Report Share Posted March 2, 2003 My siamese fighter (Mitsy) has Ick!!!! He looks like someone's been chasing him with a salt cellar!! How dangerous is this? He's still in the tank with the other tropical fish, as I don't have a quarantine tank to move him to... He's moping around the tank, sitting near the bottom a lot... Here's hoping he holds (what alliteration!!) on till tonight, so I can get to the pet store after work for some anti-ick stuff... :lol: Just needed to share! Nik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted March 3, 2003 Report Share Posted March 3, 2003 It can be dangerous as it can infect all the other inhabitants. Get him treated as fast as possible and try and work out what caused it in the first place. Most likely is stress (is something chasing him?) or water conditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aqua Posted March 3, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2003 I think it's water conditions... What's the best temp for a Siamese? The tank is sitting around 26-27°C at the moment, I brought it down to that about a week or so ago, because my room is getting incredibly warm and I didn't want poached fish! I've got 11 neon tetras and a peppered cat in there as well, so I'm hoping to find a temp they all enjoy.. I also just recently (like, yesterday) replaced the carbon filter in my Millenium 1000 wet-dry trickle filter... Maybe I changed it a bit too late :-? I've just doused both tanks with Blue Circle White Spot Cure. It's turned my tank a lovely shade of very light blue... Maybe I should keep this stuff in there all the time! I've also pulled the carbon filter out, so it doesn't steal all the fish medicine :lol: I doused my new tank, (coldwater, for the minnows, I just bought a new tank for them) becuase I've put one of the plants that was in my tropical tank into the coldwater tank, as it's a taller tank, and the grassthing looks nicer in there (I don't know what it's called, but it looks like a few strands of cutty grass) Hopefully Mitsy will survive!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shilo Posted March 3, 2003 Report Share Posted March 3, 2003 You can start treatment tonight if you want. I discovered Ick on my Tetras on Saturday, just after the local shops closed Brought on by stress and new fish (the rainbows are running rings around the tetras). My chemistry set is still reading 0ppm To counter it I increased the temperature to 30 deg and added 1 tablespoon of non iodised salt per galleon. 12 hrs later another dose of salt. This morning (Monday) there was no new infections in the tetras or other fish. It's still there but not increasing. At lunchtime I managed to sneak away from work, grab the only bottle of White Spot Cure on the island and treat the tank. I need to cure it by the weekend since I will be on holiday for a week 8) , but am confident that the combination of treatments will lick it. Give salt and heat a try tonight, it couldn't hurt and can only help improve the commercial treatments. Good Luck Cheers Shilo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aqua Posted March 3, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2003 yeah, I've just treated both my tanks Hopefully it clears up soon, otherwise I'll have to make ANOTHER trip into Newmarket to buy more Ich treatment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dambarwa Posted March 4, 2003 Report Share Posted March 4, 2003 Hi All, I have heard from LFS Man that White Spot travels through the water. For every tiny spot, there is thousands of White Spot spores. These then travel through the water for more fish to 'live off'. The good news is that it's very, very easy to cure. BUT it should be 'attacked' with meds straight away. Also do extra partial water changes to remove the spores in the water. This worked for me. If my information isn't right please tell me. Annie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shilo Posted March 4, 2003 Report Share Posted March 4, 2003 Hi Aqua, How’s your Ich going? The last spot disappeared from my fish today. Since the tank will still have spores in it I'll keep up the treatment by dosing again next Thursday after a gravel vac and 50% water change. Don't know if it was the extra heat, salt, or medication that did it but the combination worked well. The heat and salt certainty stopped any new infections. By the way I only used 1/2 the recommended dose of White Spot Cure since I have Skunk Loaches and have read that scaleless fish like this are venerable to medication. I think the amount used is not as important as the duration because the Ich has a 3 part life cycle and can only be killed in the free swimming stage. So if you came home tonight and are disillusioned about the fish still being spotted, keep treating - it will disappear in the next couple of days. Hi Annie, You are correct. Ich has an interesting life cycle. As far as I'm able to pickup on it - A fish could be a carrier with no recognizable symptoms (ie spots) and get introduced to your tank. Stress in the form of water conditions or bullying will make the other fish in the tank more susceptible to it. The spots are "pimples" that contain cysts of the Ich. After a period of time which depends on water temperature, the cysts fall off into the gravel where they will "hatch" into thousands of free swimmers. These float around until they come into contact with a fish or get zapped by medication. They can only survive for (I think) 70hrs in this form. Thus the reason for treating the tank every 3 days. Once they have found a home they burrow into the flesh and live happily ever after until they form another cyst. There is a theory that a fish can become immune to Ich once it has had a dose. I hope so! Cheers Shilo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peety Posted March 4, 2003 Report Share Posted March 4, 2003 Scarrier still is the theory that all fish carry every parasite, and organism ever introduced to them. (they're just biding their time) Scared now? Regular preventative doses is my new slogan. I have UV on 2 tanks and it will be on a third as soon as I get paid. Watchim while ya gotem..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shilo Posted March 4, 2003 Report Share Posted March 4, 2003 Hi Peety, How about going on the complete opposite track?: To acquire an immunity you have to be exposed to the organism before you produce antibodies to it. So shouldn't we deliberately and fully expose our fish to every disease out there? You could buy vials of Ich, Fin Rot, Black Spot, Fluke etc at the LFS along side the various cures. Kind’a like the live in a glass bubble or eat dirt as a kid scenario. Nah, I think I would prefer your technique. The Ich was scary enough Cheers Shilo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dambarwa Posted March 4, 2003 Report Share Posted March 4, 2003 Thank you Shilo, I'm more than happy to share what I know, and I'm happy to stand corrected. That way I'll learn something!!! BUT it's nice to know I'm on the right track. Thank you! Annie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aqua Posted March 4, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2003 The Ich is still there With treating every 3 days, I treated on Monday, so do I treat again today, or tomorrow??? Maybe I'll put the temp up a bit, it's only sitting around 25°C atm... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shilo Posted March 4, 2003 Report Share Posted March 4, 2003 I also threw in the 1st dosage on Monday (lunchtime). So should retreat Thursday lunchtime. This is 72 hrs later which gels with the Ich life cycle of 70hrs. Because I want to do a water change as well and won't have time at lunch, I'll be doing mine tonight instead. If the Ich is just as bad, consider using salt and extra heat as well as the medication. It worked on mine. I had the temp up to 30 deg from Sat until today. I'm just slowly bringing it back down now. The higher the temprature - the faster the Ich goes through its stages. This means there is more chances of the meds zapping the free swimming stage. Bring the temp up slowly so the fish don't go into shock. Cheers Shilo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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