How do i treat ich in my fish tank without harsh chemicals?
by Aquaboy on Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 | 3 Comments
I have a Green Spotted Puffer, a dalmation and black mollie, & a neon tetra left after loosing three fish to ich i didn’t know existed. now all of my fish are in seperate tanks with room tempture tap treated water. help?
Well the Puffer and Mollie are easy. Move them to brackish water (add aquarium salt).
The mollies prefer it and the GSP actually needs it to survive long term, and it will kill any ich parasite.
You cant cure Ich by moving the fish out, they will be carrying the parasite with them and you have just infested the other tanks. Thats like trying to cure Nits by moving house.
The Neon (and probably the Mollies) will just beome a snack for the puffer in time, so that needs to be in a different tank anyway.
Ian
Hold on. You’re housing a GSP, (highly aggressive, brackish water fish,) with Mollies, (peaceful, brackish water fish,) and a Neon Tetra, (peaceful, freshwater fish,) all in one tank?
No wonder they’re stressed!
Well, I suggest you treat with a combination of raising the temperature to about 80F, and using aquarium salt if you don’t want to use chemicals.
I also suggest a good bit of research into the basic needs of the fish you have, and that you find a good local fish store with which to do business. Avoid whatever store sold you that combination like the plague.
Adding chemicals to a tankful of fish is never a good idea. However, sometimes it is a necessity with some diseases or parastites. And, some fish are sensitive to many of the stronger meds, so be sure to read the labels thoroughly. Curing a disease or parasite without meds is very difficult and in some cases impossible.
Curing an infestation of the ich parasite without chemicals, however, is as simple as raising the tank temperature to at least 86 degrees and keeping it there for a minimum of 10 days. Ich is a protozoan parasite that cannot reproduce at temps over 85 degrees and its’ life cycle is only 7 days. So, no new parasites will be hatched and the adults will live out their lives and die. The warm water actually speeds up the parasite’s life cycle a little, too.
You should increase aeration (extra air stone) during the raised temp, warm water does not hold as much oxygen (O2) as cooler water. You do not want your fish struggling to breathe as they battle the parasites attached to their bodies.
A little salt can be added to the water if you have no salt-sensitive fish like some of the catfish and loaches or botias. I typically used 1 teaspoon per gallon for the duration of the heat treatment. The salt helps make life difficult for the parasite, too.
Continue feeding your fish as usual, but you might want to add a few extra high protein treats to give them a little extra stamina during the treatment. Their metabolism will speed up due to the raised temp.
In the past, I have cured ich many times with this treatment. Nowadays, I get most of my fish from other hobbyists or at the auctions where they are coming from hobbyists. These fish are typically healthy with no diseases or parasites.
If I get fish from a retail store, I place them in the quarantine tank for a minimum of two weeks and then they go into their intended tanks. You must watch them very carefully while they are in the Q tank for signs of illness or parasites.
BTW, all those fish are tropical and need temps around 72-74 degrees. The neon is the most delicate and should be kept at 76-80 degrees to stay in the best of health. Room temp water is never a good idea for tropicals unless you live where the ambient temp is in the mid to high 70′s even at night. Day to night fluctuations are not good for fish at all. The contant changing affects their immune system and eventually it will fail them.
8