PlanetCatfish.com

4 days ago my tank came down with ich. I have added the salt to .3% and it doesn't seem to have helped much. I've been syphoning the gravel every other day. It seems to have gotten worse. I don't know what to do. I have a big 8" blochii catfish, 2 striped raphael catfish, a mid sized pleco, and some gouramis. My blochii catfish is completely covered. He won't stop swimming. He has been swimming all around the tank like crazy for 4 days straight. I haven't seen her rest at all. She's already 8-9 years old. I'm so afraid she isn't going to make it. Is there anything else I can use? Thanks!

Try raising the temperature to 86'F (30'C). That won't cure the Ick, but it will help speed up the life-cycle. The salt only helps against the free-swimming form of Ick (same applies to other Ick medecines), so by shortening the life-cycle, it helps getting to the free-swimming form quicker.

--
Mats

What i would do is gradually (24h-48h) up the temp in the tank to 30C.

This speeds up the ich metabolism and helps kill it, but it removes a lot of the oxygen from the water.

To compensate for this, add as much aeration as possible in the form of airstones/powerheads.

Also remove the lid/cover of the tank to help the gas diffusion.

Some people may also use an ich treatment at this stage, but just the heat and salt treatment often works and is less stressful for the fish.

Do a forum search for "ich" or "whitespot".

Hope it goes well.

Could this kill my fish? My 8" blochii catfish named Sassy is really upset. She is 8-9 years old. She is going crazy itching herself on everything. I have raised the temperature, and added aeration. Since the temp has been raised she seems to be acting worse. Will this kill her? She keeps bumping the glass on purpose. Is there anything I can do for her. She is covered with ich. My husband is very upset with me. Thanks for the help!!!

Since the temp has been raised she seems to be acting worse.

This is to be expected, as you have have sped up the metabolism of the fish as well as the ich.

Will this kill her?

I hope not, but as with any treatment there are risks. It's better than doing nothing though, as the fish would surely die.

If the fish is not looking better by sunday, I would add an ich medicine.

It would be another risk though, as the chemicals can be quite harsh and often remove even more oxygen from the water.

You don't put your location in your profile, so I don't know of a brand to recommend.

Best of luck though

I live in Ware Massachusetts. The only medication I have seen in the stores around here is clout, ick away, and jungle tablets. I will not use clout, I've had bad experiences with clout on my goldfish. The ick away says it's not safe on scaless fish, so to only use half of the dose. Hopefully they will be okay without medication, but if I have to use it I will. I usually buy all my medication off the internet so if you can give me some names of medications that are safe for scaless fish, I can just order them from the internet. Thanks!

You may want to go to the "profile" menu at the top of the screen and edit your "location" to say something like "Massachusetts, USA", as that will help us know where you're from and suggest suitable medications, etc, etc.

Many of the Ich medications are "unsafe for scaleless fish", so it's not unusual to see that. I think there are some that are safe, but it's often better to avoid strong medications if possible. But as Racoll says, if you do nothing, the fish will almost certainly die, so even tho' medication (and I count salt as a medication in this case) may be a risk, it's still better than "nothing".

--
Mats

Also try reducing the amount of light per day. It will not kill the ich, but help reduce the stress of the fish. Ich is like a common cold to humans, so we need a clean environment and plenty of rest. The raised temp and salts should help, so just let the fish rest more to fight it off.

Also, make sure when you added the salt that you dissolved the salt in water first and slowly poured it into the tank. This will help spread the salt solution throughout the tank. Some people I know just pour the salt crystals directly into the tank, which could harm the fish that come in contact with the salts.

All my fish look great!!! Thanks for all the help. With raising the temp and speeding up there metabolism, my large catfish started eating my gouramis. Can't win them all. How long should I keep the tank temperature raised? I don't see any ich on them at all. I still have been syphoning out the gravel good.

The life cycle of ich is, I believe 48 hours. Therefore, a week minimum would be best.

My tank seems clean of ich. I have 2 1.5-2" striped raphael catfish in the tank along with an 8" blochii and 4 gouramis. My smallest striped catfish has been moved back into the quarantine tank, because he isn't doing well. The blochii catfsih started picking on him. He seems to just be sitting and not moving much. He's not eating. He seems to have rapid gill movement at times. Could this of been from the ich or the salt/raised temp. Is there anything I can do for him?

Ich is very often affecting the gills before anything else - it could be that the fish still has Ich, or it could be that it's had its gills damaged by Ich.

Nice clean water and calm would be the best medication.

--
Mats