# Treating ich in a live plant aquarium



## robitreef (Jan 4, 2005)

I got a bout of Ich in my 75 gallon plant tank. So far my clown loaches and red eye puffer are affected. I was originally treating the tank with a product called Ich Attack for a week, but it is not really doing the trick. 

The LFS suggested I use Quick Cure along with some aquarium salt. Since Quick Cure contains formalin, they said that my plants may not tolerate it. I have Java moss, Fern, Jungle Val and Crypt pontederifolia. My main concern are the crypts. 

Does anyone know what I can expect?


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## Roy Deki (Apr 7, 2004)

Do not use any chemicals...remove the fish if possible, place them in a quarantine tank and treat them there. Turn your heater up to 86* (2* per 3-4 hours) whether you remove the affected fish or not. Leave it up for 2 weeks even if all signs of ich are gone.


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

I have always treated ich with CopperSafe at half strength and in about 10 days the ich is gone. I've never seen much of an affect on my fish and plants from the meds. I even have shrimp and cardinals in the tank. You also have to wait, sometimes it takes a few weeks for the ich to fall off the be killed by the meds. Also are you using carbon and did you remove it when treating?


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## robitreef (Jan 4, 2005)

I haven't been using carbon in my cannister filter, so there is no worry of the medications being absorbed by the carbon. I hope that putting in the salt won't affect anything either, though I know from this forum that some plants can tolerate salt.


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## imatrout (May 12, 2005)

I have used Quick Cure per the directtions with minimal impact on my plants. In conjunction, I also raised the water temp to 86. If you are unsure, raise the temp and add Qc at the 1/2 rate recommended for tetras.


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## Salt (Apr 5, 2005)

You can try using a phytoncide. Phytoncides are derived from vitamin K (naphthoquinone), and aquarium phytoncides contain natural sources.

I know of at least two. One is by Kordon and it's called Ich Attack. It's often overlooked because of the way it's packaged and named... it looks like a medication, but it's not. It's a phytoncide. Kordon also makes a more dilute version of the product called Prevent Ich. The ingredients are not disclosed. It is a dark thick brown color and has a sharp pungent smell. It will stain the water but only for about 12 hours. By 24 hours the color will be gone. It won't stain anything in the tank. At the recommended dose, it won't harm plants, invertebrates, or bacteria. It will actually help all of these organisms.

Another Phytoncide I know if is by Aquarium Design Association (ADA) called Phyton Git. The ingredients are not disclosed. It has a sharp, woody, organic smell, and it's quite powerful. If you keep the bottle in the unopened box and put the box in a cabinet, the cabinet will very shortly take on the smell of the product. It's a clear liquid and does not stain water. Again, at the recommend dose, it's designed to actually help both fish and plants.

Ich are only vunerable when they are in the "swarmer" stage. Once a swarmer has burrowed into the fish's scales, it's protected from just about anything you put in the water. This is one of the reasons it's recommended to increase the water temperature to 80°F or higher... it speeds up the life cycle of the parasite which in turn results in swarmers being sent out sooner.

It's actually possible to cure fish from Ich using two empty treatment tanks and no medications. Put the infected fish in one tank at 80°F. After 24 hours, switch the fish to the second tank at 80°F. Completely clean, scrub, and rinse down the first tank. After 24 hours, switch the fish back, then completely clean, scrub, and rinse down the second tank. Keep switching every 24 hours for about 10 days. What this does is rinses out the swarmers before they have a chance to burrow into the fish.


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## robitreef (Jan 4, 2005)

Salt:

If you read my starting post, I have been using Ich attack for a week, and I have not seen any results. In fact my puffer was ich free until I checked him this morning. The clown loaches are breathing heavy and are starting to get listless, so I definately need to get a remedy before I lose anyone.

I don't have the luxury or space of having a series of tanks to move around the inhabitants, so I have to treat the main tank.


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## Salt (Apr 5, 2005)

I apologize, I could have sworn I read it as "Rid Ich," which is a medicated product made by Kordon. I don't know how I read Ich Attack as Rid Ich. 

As I mentioned, nothing you put in the tank will kill the Ich already inside the fish. The trick is to kill the swarmers before they have a chance to reinfect the fish. The Ich already in the fish will die off naturally.

Are you able to increase the temperature to 80°F - 82°F? At lower temperatures, the Ich will reproduce more slowly and will send out swarmers over a longer period of time. This will make medications, salt, and/or phytoncides less effective. All it takes is one surviving swarmer to completely reinfect the entire tank.


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## robitreef (Jan 4, 2005)

Yes, I raised the temp to around 80 when I started treatment last week, but I will raise it up to around 86 when I get home tonight. I already bought the quick cure and some aquarium salt. The LFS told me to do a 50% water change and to not add de-chlorinator as long as the fish don't look stressed. They said that the chlorine can actually affect the ich protozoans. They said I should have some water conditioner on hand in case I see distress in the fish. My other "scaled" fish don't show any signs of the illness as of yet.


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## wannabescaper (Oct 14, 2005)

I don't know about using chlorine/chloramine to combat ich. sounds sketchy. My tank with german blue rams (sensitive fish) was rid of ich in 1 week with a temp of 87 degrees.


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## Salt (Apr 5, 2005)

If it were me, I would raise the temperature to around 83°F, then double dose the Ich Attack for 10 days, then do 50% water changes each day for 2 or 3 days when done.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Robotreef... The method I used in my planted tank to treat ich was the salt/heat method. It worked very well with no plant or fish loss (even Tetras & loaches). Here is a link that I used... http://aquaden.com/phpBB2/articles2.php?type=fishwhat


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## Gumby (Aug 1, 2005)

I've treated ich in a heavily planted tank with metronidazole with no ill effects on plants or shrimp. I'm convinced that metro is a maricle medicine.


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## yildirim (Nov 25, 2004)

I never use any chemicals for curing the ich. I simply raise the temp to 30 degrees celcius (not know how much in F). Clown loaches are very easily gets infected with ich after tank changes or great environmental changes in the tank. But high temperatures may have adverse effects on the plants so you must not keep it for long terms Of course this depends on the plant species you have but 2-3 days will not make a problem and usualy treats the ich. I have read that higher temperatures makes the plants require much light, so you may consider adding a bulb or keeping the lights on for longer during this period. This is my method for battling the ich.

YILDIRIM


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