1 fish got ich

[andrewtyr]

I saw a spot on 1 on my ruby tetra. Seems minor, but do I have to take precaution? I really hate to let it affect the rest.

[Johnc]

One spot today, a thousand spots tommorrow...

You could try isolating the fish, but I doubt you can contain the spread if you are very sure it is ich.

I would immediately treat the whole tank before it is too late, if i were you. Get the medication from the LFS (make sure it is plant friendly). Dose today and tommorrow, then count 4 days from the second does, and dose again for two days. Don't forget the second step even if no more spots appear.

E.g.

Mon - dose
Tue - dose
Wed - wait
Thur - wait
Fri - wait
Sat - wat
Sun - dose
Mon - dose

This is needed because of the life-cycle of the ich. Do a search on the net for details.

Hope this helps

/John

[andrewtyr]

One spot today, a thousand spots tommorrow...

You could try isolating the fish, but I doubt you can contain the spread if you are very sure it is itch.

I would immediately treat the whole tank before it is too late, if i were you. Get the medication from the LFS (make sure it is plant friendly). Dose today and tommorrow, then count 4 days from the second does, and dose again for two days. Don't forget the second step even if no more spots appear.

E.g.

Mon - dose
Tue - dose
Wed - wait
Thur - wait
Fri - wait
Sat - wat
Sun - dose
Mon - dose

This is needed because of the life-cycle of the ich. Do a search on the net for details.

Hope this helps

/John

You mean ONE spot can do lots of damage?
Barrane told me salt treatment is just as effective.

[Johnc]

You mean ONE spot can do lots of damage?
Barrane told me salt treatment is just as effective.

Salt is effective --- but you may kill much of your plants in the process.

From what I understand, 1 spot (one mature Ichthyophthirius multifilliis) can produce up to 2000 tomites (young protozoans - that swims about to infect other fishes). The medication is only effective during this swimming stage.

Having said that, I must say that if you have only ONE spot, it is unlikely to be ich (though it is possible only one is visible today). Look out for more spots. If there is one, there will likely be hundreds or thousands more.

/John

[sage08]

Ich spread v fast.. medication will certainly help. Also, ich is also partly caused by fish experiencing chill due to water too cold or abrupt changes in temperature, esp true these days when it rains whole day. The bacteria thrives on cold water too and prolongs the breeding cycle. So, you could try heating up the water by maximum 2 degrees at a time and maintaining the temperature. As to the max temperature, got to observe your fish lah.. i guess no more than 30 degrees..

[taz_boy]

make sure u isolate that fish and observe if other fish kanna already,
this disease is super infectious man...if nv take care propoerly,get ready to lose 30-60% of ur fish...

meanwhile, dose more salt, but if u have scaless fishes, dun put too much, if not they also cannot tahan the high salt level in the water...

rightfully u should raise the temperature, but that's up to u...
some medication i think are useful are those that contains malachite green, i think...

heard changing water also aid to reduce the no of floating parasites in the water

[barmby]

The best method for me is still raising the temperature to 31-32 deg C. It does not hurt your plant (for a few days). But your shrimps will died.

But, if you consider malachite green - plants will suffer and shrimps will still died.

This is my personal experience. up to 32 Deg C is no problem. It kills fugus and it kill ich. At 27 Deg C and lower, ich propagate very fast. You better watch your temperature.

There is a reason why Uncle Gan keeps his tropical fishes in a 'green house'. And the 'green house' is very hot on a normal S'pore day.