Final week I wrote about tips on how to know in case your fish is contaminated with ich. In that article, I mentioned how ich is kind of contagious and may simply have an effect on a whole aquarium. I additionally talked about methods to stop ich.
Prevention is at all times one of the best methodology, however even with one of the best processes in place, illness within the tropical fish aquarium can nonetheless occur.
Provided that unlucky data, this text discusses what to do in case your aquarium is contaminated with ich, together with remedy for the entire tank.
Deal with instantly
Crucial factor to find out about ich is that when you see indicators of it in your tank, you must deal with the issue instantly. White spot illness (one other identify for an ich infestation) can kill the fish. Because the ich parasite feeds on fish, they start having hassle taking in oxygen.
Ich is rather more harmful in aquariums than in a fish’s pure atmosphere. That’s as a result of the tank is a closed atmosphere, leaving little room for the parasite to journey away from the fish. As a substitute, it should merely take over your entire enclosure.
You’ve gotten choices
There are just a few other ways to deal with ich:
Elevate the temperature
The very first thing to find out about elevating the temperature of the tank is that doing this alone is not going to kill the ich parasite. Nevertheless, what it could do is velocity up the parasite’s life cycle, making it simpler to deal with the infestation.
To do that, you’ll need to increase the temperature step by step over a interval of some days, to about 83 or 84 levels Fahrenheit and depart the temperature at that vary for about two weeks.
Solely use this remedy methodology if the fish and crops in your tank can tolerate these temperatures. Goldfish want cooler waters and are usually not an excellent candidate for elevated temperatures as a part of their remedy.
Salt the tank
Including aquarium salt is a pure technique to deal with your entire tank for ich. The standard salt dosage is about two components per one thousand. That is a couple of tablespoon of salt per each 2.5 to three gallons of water.
Once more, this remedy methodology solely works when you have fish that may tolerate residing in that quantity of salt. Sure, there are freshwater tropical fish that may tolerate a reasonable salt content material of their water. Verify tolerance on your particular species.
(You could find extra detailed directions on this video.)
Some tropical fish that tolerate salt remedy for ich embody:
- Guppies
- Mollies
- African cichlids
For fish with a decrease tolerance to salt, you possibly can nonetheless do this remedy with a smaller dosage, akin to 1 tablespoon salt per each 5 gallons of water. If there are crops within the tank, chances are you’ll have to halve even this smaller dosage, until you don’t thoughts killing the crops with a view to do away with ich.
Salt can scale back the oxygen accessible to the fish, so including an air stone will help maintain the fish more healthy throughout remedy.
It ought to be famous that utilizing warmth and salt works greatest when you catch the infestation early. In case your fish are already exhibiting many white spots, you’ll most likely want to maneuver on to a extra heavy-duty remedy…
Ich remedy
Utilizing remedy particularly made for treating ich is a protected and efficient technique to maintain ich. If pure remedies don’t work, remedy can save your fish. Make sure to use the dosage listed on the container.
At The Tye-Dyed Iguana, we stock two sizes of ich remedy comprised of pure natural elements:
Kordon Ich Assault 4 oz.
Kordon Ich Assault 16 oz.
You need to use remedy similtaneously the opposite two remedies listed above. As a result of the drugs solely deal with protozoa which can be shifting within the water, not those which have burrowed into the fish, chances are you’ll have to proceed with remedy for per week (if temperatures are raised) or two (for cooler tanks) after all of the white spots are gone from the fish.
Different concerns
You could need to flip the lights down in your tank extra typically whereas treating ich. It helps the fish to relaxation and chill out, similar to chances are you’ll want being in a darker room to relaxation if you’re not feeling properly. You might also need to scale back the dimensions of feedings as a result of some fish might have a smaller urge for food whereas sick, and also you don’t need poor water high quality from leftover meals whereas treating the tank.
