# Ich



## Dooner (Mar 10, 2019)

Okay.....bad news. I just went to feed the fish and the mated pair Of yellow peacocks in the 40 were both dead. I had salted and raised the temp yesterday. It was at 84.4. There are three juvies still in there from the last batch but I lowered the water to about 20 gallon, ich x treated and added a handful of salt. I am boiling the rocks that were in there as well. I will raise the heat some more and wait a week before setting the tank back up.

The 210 is at about 83 and I had added salt yesterday and some more today. No big signs of ich but there is more flashing than I would like. I will raise it to about 85 today. They don't look that great today, some are pale in color.

That is a loss of four fish in the last week, bummer. Not due to aggression as the pairs were both in separate tanks. The male peacock was covered in white specks about three days ago and I had started treating right away with Ich X. Other than water changes can't think of what brought it on.

How high can I safely raise the temperature and for how long?


----------



## Dooner (Mar 10, 2019)

My heater only goes to 85, is that hot enough to kill off the ich? Should I stir the gravel up as I do water changes during the next week?


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

You don't want to do both a medication (I assume ich X is a medication) and salt/heat. It is either or.


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Are you using a medication?


----------



## Dooner (Mar 10, 2019)

I was until today when I ran out. You stated not to do both so I will just do high heat and salt


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

85 degrees and 2-3 tablespoons of salt per 5 gallons should work. I would not go higher.


----------



## BlueSunshine (Jul 13, 2014)

At higher temps you will need good surface agitation to help keep oxygen in the water. 
From what I've read, I think you will be your worst enemy. Slow down and think about what you are doing. 
I wish you luck.

Here is a very good read for you.
https://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php


----------



## Dooner (Mar 10, 2019)

I am continuing to lose fish. Lost them out of three tanks. Today I lost the first from my show tank, the 210. Temp has been up to 85-87 and the salt has been in for three days now. What I am consistently seeing is that they seem to decay rapidly overnight...the eyes are bulged, red patches all over, kind of a scummy look and the fins are partially missing. All this from a fish that was looking okay the previous day. I did not take pics but will if I lose another one. I will retest the water tomorrow morning as well.


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

That does not sound like ich. Can you post a pic? Maybe someone will recognize what you are seeing.

The patches caught my attention. Are they fuzzy at all? Fairly large compared to fish size and start symmetrical on the sides near the gills?

Google columnaris and see if it looks like your sick fish.


----------



## Dooner (Mar 10, 2019)

I read the article, thanks. Don't know if it looks like this...maybe....problem is that the fish look normal the day before so I would think it could not progress that much so very fast. I would describe it as death due to extreme aggression and then decay of several days to a week. Hopefully I don't lose any more but if I do I will definitely post a picture. Should the salt and elevated heat work, do I need to remove and cleanse the rocks in the tank before cleaning the gravel and doing the big water change. I am scheduled to clean the tank next week, so I could start removing the rocks and cleaning them daily. I already removed all of the driftwood. I understand that any remaining ich die after they are in the open air for a bit. I read vairious lengths of time for the heat/salt treatment for five days to 10 days. I have the heat up fairly high. Would you back it down to 85 after four days?


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I would not have raised it higher...they say three days after all spots are gone.


----------



## bdublu (Jul 4, 2011)

I've used this stuff with great success. Bonus, you can treat your community tank without harming your biological filtration. Just make sure to follow the proper dosage.

http://www.kordon.com/kordon/products/o ... s-toxicity!


----------



## Dooner (Mar 10, 2019)

Update: I have lost 11 fish to date. That includes one catfish, two mated pairs of Malawi cichlids, one young adult and five juvies.

I am sitting with one empty tank (10 gallon) which I have heavily salted. I am going to let this sit for a month before adding any fish. A 40 breeder which I am using standard salt and heat treatment. It contains one juvie and a 7 inch pleco. A 10 gallon with a female that is holding and three juvies. This tank is not treated. My 210 tank which is fully stocked is being treated with heat and salt. I did a partial water change yesterday, kept the heat up and replaced the salt.

I don't see any more signs of ich, but I will be patient and keep an eye out. Thanks all for your support.


----------



## Dooner (Mar 10, 2019)

Maybe spoke too soon, found a half eaten/decomposed fish in the 210. Too far gone to know what it was. I am going to start slowly backing the heat down over the next few days. I will keep the heat at 86 for the next few weeks and not replace salt when I do water changes. Testing water parameters today as well. Going to start work on the outdoor pond today. Still too cold to fully open but I need to do some stream work and general cleanup.


----------

