# URGENT : Continuous Ich Cycle



## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

Running:
60 Gallon
2 x Fluval 3 Plus
1 x Eheim 2215
All low flow
DIY CO2
No carbon, have 2 small bags of crushed corals and bio media in eheim
PH 7
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0

Haven't checked nitrate and GH KH!

But doesn't matter! I don't want to state where I got this fish, but I finally found one true emperor tetra to add to the aquarium.. it had ich.. my bad, I dun blame anyone because I should of quarantined first! Anyways, after I noticed there wuz ich, i wuz like umm.. oh wellz, it's been there for hours, it would spread anyways, BUT, it did spread, for over 2 weeks I've been battling this! Over and over my fish recovers one day, gets it the next day or two! Then fin rot started appearing... they all eat and swim healthy.. until tonight, came home to a dead Angel Fish.. one of my wifey's favourite fish!

I have to get this cured.. its way too depressing!

My ONLY worries is, I tried bumping temperature to 82 and 84! I've check parameters every 2 days and no problem...! I tried adding aquarium salt! I NEVER had an ich problem like this, but this is CONSTANTLY coming back nonstop!!
I need something safe with plants, and safe with my two filter shrimps!!!
I'm seriously going insane, and the only thing i have is Sera Omnipur, and it already says it's not safe for plants!
Sure it might ruin my plants a littler, But it won't kill it will it?
And is it even safe for shrimps?

=( please someone... i'm horiffied!!!


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## Ursus sapien (Apr 21, 2010)

get yourself a uv sterilizer and leave it running. do whatever treatments you need to do, but for elimination and prevention, you need the sterilizer.


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

Dun mind picking that up! =( so upset so upset!

But i'm asking if there's a solution to this RIGHT NOW, is Omnipur safe or not? and how bad it'll damage my plants!


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## crazy72 (Apr 22, 2010)

Did you see this thread here?

http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=296


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

READ! Speaks nothing of Shrimp safe~ (or i missed it?)
I didn't see anything in regards of shrimp!


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## crazy72 (Apr 22, 2010)

Can you move your shrimps into another tank?


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

All other tanks occupied with carnivours! =( oscar and convicts would devoured them into shreds!


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## crazy72 (Apr 22, 2010)

How many do you have? Would a cheap 10G hospital tank host them?


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

Just 2 filter shrimps! I have a bowl, I'm about to just dump them into! So anyon suggestions on omnipur?


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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

Hi Eternity302, I have never had to deal with ich and so I don't know omnipur, but I have built up a bit of a pharmacy, including some meds that treat ich. If someone here can tell you which med is safe for your shrimp and tetras, I can give you some if I have it. I have Quick Cure, Parasite Clear and Para Guard, among others. But I don't have the expertise to tell you what would work for you. If you figure out what you need and you don't have it yourself, send me a PM.


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

I can't thank u more than enuff for the offer! But since I have a day off tomorrow, I will definitely chek out IPU since they're two blocks away only!
And since no one can tell me, I can only take my chances a try it out tomorrow! At least after I test it, I will know further in the future!

Thanku so much


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

Well.. since I got no choice... i'll take one last picture of my plant tank before i dose! =( I've been warned that it wont be too pretty! reason being, medication will have a chance of damaging my plants and coloring them up! But i think it's worth my fishes lives right now!

Before I start medication tonight (becuz i wuz recommended it's best with lights off), I will continue dosing my plants throughout the process, i'll also be fishing out my filter shrimps (why do i care so much right? cuz they just shed not too long ago, and they turned bright orange) =( and i guess the process will begin soon~ if anyone cares.. i'll let you know how the API Quick Cure power tablets work! Will only be doing half dosage as i forgot that I do have a yoyo loach and a dwarf loach!


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## chillin (Apr 21, 2010)

don;t forget the water changes ,and redosing of meds. i have used paraguard in my planted ,without any problems, doesn;t seem to cause any, filter , water , or plant issues ...imo..chillin


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## O.C.D Fishies (Apr 21, 2010)

Hey eternity302

I hope that things are going to work out with your plants and your fish pull through. I am unsure about the plants but with the super ich cure but I know about the invertabrets will not do to well. I was just at Fraser aquarium today and the guy told me to do half dosage one day, wait 2 days another. And he added to do another half dosage 7 days after the second one. I have started doing my tank tonight as well, at half dosage. Well I hope everything goes well. I will let you know how the liquid works and tell me your expirience with the tablets.

Best of luck


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

Thanks OCD, I am doing half dosage aswell, 3 tablets for 30 gallons of water in a 60 gallon tank, reason being, it'll be easier on the plants, and COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN that i have a yoyo loach and a dwarf loach! I started dosing when lights were out, as they say it's better! Thanks for the update on yours as well, and I wish you best of luck too! We'll know in 4 days!


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## thefishwife (Apr 21, 2010)

When I have had ich. I use "Kordon's Ich Attack". It is organic and when I used it, it was safe for all my shrimp and all my plants. I didn't loose anything.


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## Nicklfire (Apr 21, 2010)

A UV sterilizer is a solution to it currently, they are cheap and work effective. Keep in mind you cannot kill the ich that are attached to your fish already. The UV sterilizer will kill the free floating ich which are the ones you want to worry about.


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## Ursus sapien (Apr 21, 2010)

thefishwife said:


> When I have had ich. I use "Kordon's Ich Attack". It is organic and when I used it, it was safe for all my shrimp and all my plants. I didn't loose anything.


great info, thanks!


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

thefishwife said:


> When I have had ich. I use "Kordon's Ich Attack". It is organic and when I used it, it was safe for all my shrimp and all my plants. I didn't loose anything.


Thanks.. i'll keep that in mind!

And as for the UV Sterillizer.. already talking to jiang604 about his used one! =)


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

x2 for UV... Just installed mine two weeks ago pre-filter.

Had ick once when I first started, never want to have it again. Organic sounds like a good way, *IF *it's effective. I tried some organic algae remover, it didn't do anything but add fungus.


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

Well... it's almost been 24 hours of medication! Color seem to be gone, could be the plants absorbing everything, but no plants seem to be colored at all!
No one's dead.. everyone seem fine, but noticed a bit of fin rot on my angelfish and a rainbow....  could be the stress from two weeks of ich... now i'm seriously not sure what to do!


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

Well.. before I head to bed... I just wanna mention from my first post:

Sera Omnipur..
Took me awhile to find information in regards to this product, as because I have used this medication with great success without any fish lost! Fin rot and fungus were both completely gone in 2 days! Well, not sure bout fin rot, but it didn't eat away anymore after I started dosing!
This product isn't safe with small plants and invertebrates! (When they say small plants, I honestly got no clue) But only one way to find out, testing it myself!

I will adding in my Quick Cure tomorrow for second dosage as per instructions! Once the whole guide is completed and if I do see more fin rot, I will be dosing to test on omnipur, since it never let me down yet! =)


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

Quick cure has Methyl Blue or machilite green I believe, don't use it with shrimp. I know Amanos can croak from this, and they're pretty tough shrimp. I'm speaking from experience when I first started, 2 months in freaking out about this disease.

Just pull your shrimp out if you can find them, and keep them in a warm bucket or something, they can't carry ich any how.

Just be careful with it, especially with your loaches.


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

Also, IF you have carbon (I now read you don't) you should pull it out of your filter. It will absorb your medication rendering the process less effective, causing more medication to be required than should be necessary.

Post an update on how your fish are doing. Keep doing frequent water changes, you'll flush the spores out sooner. They can lay dormant for weeks.


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

Well, most fish are doing well, but it's wierd how I'm getting fin rot on a few, I'm guessing the stress pass the two weeks sure owned them! Praying that they're fine right now!

Some of my favourite fish:
Angel fish, the only angel that survived still has fin rot
German Blue ram, still iched up, but seem to have less covering the body
Pakistoni Rainbow, still seem to have fin rot
Denisoni seem to be on the ground... no clue why! he's breathing and swimming, hoping it just got a fright from something~

Good thing is, no one is rubbing themself as I can see so far!


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

48 hours has pass! I just added second half dosage!
Nitrate is a little high at 20! Becuz of me being an idiot, dosing KNO3 by mistake with the one TBS instead of the one TSP!

Praying that they'll be fine.. plants don't seem to be affected too much, just some are in a blueish green color!


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

Second dosage wuzn't completed! Did a 50% water change as I noticed the nitrate wuz too high!

One of my denisoni barbs wuz red around the anus area!  and later just drifted and died! I can't even find his dead body in this planted tank! I'm thinking he's already being fed on... hopefully, he just floats up!

As for this 2 week ich outbreak...

I now have ich, then fin rot, then bloat, then internal disease! The stress of a simple ich that I thought would be no trouble to cure in a few days, have led to ALOT more than i imagine.. and ALOT more than I have experienced over these years!

Total deaths: 2
Denisoni barb x 1
Marble Angelfish x 1


As for the API Quickcure, it seem to have worked!

I'm planning on just partial water change daily at the moment! after this 50%, i will be doing 20% daily to see if it helps!


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Seems you've passed the hump now. Keep and eye out, but you should be able to breathe easy now. Good job.


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

2wheelsx2 said:


> Seems you've passed the hump now. Keep and eye out, but you should be able to breathe easy now. Good job.


i wish it wuz this easy...!

I don't think i spotted ich on any of the fish!

And the denisoni barb already died!

But i'm not sure if the fin rot have stopped! I think it wuz actually a fungal fin rot on my angelfish, as she has no more white around the fin rot areas! So I'm only assuming it's about over for the fungal/fin rot!

As I am also uncertain about one thing... i saw some red lines on the top fins of one of the fish, I'm not sure if i'm seeing things or not, but I did some research and it tells me that it's an internal disease that eats away in the blood vessel and fish hardly survives from it! but i'm not certain as I can't seem to find the fish!

Anyways, I'm starting to blame this all on myself.. since I've been dosing with the wrong spoon, I jumped the nitrate a little too high, I think that caused even more stress and problems, that's why I did the 50% water change!  I'm a dumbass... and about to run out to buy a new denisoni!


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Don't add any fish until you have everything cleared up. Why take any chances? And the nitrates may have caused some stress, but it's not organic nitrate. Plenty of people have up to 50 ppm nitrates before they do a water change, so I wouldn't blame it on that. I'd take a good look at the fin rot and maybe medicate for that.


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

=( no.. no new fish! I'm a disaster! I stress more on my tank rather than my job!

Odd part is.. why isn't the yoyo loach the first one to be affected? They should be much more sensitive!

I am about to take jiang604's advice to pull out all the fish, medicate in a tub, and then fix the tank itself with water changes~

Your advice? I cant seem to see anymore visible ich! Only 2 fish with finrot... one seem to be fine now.. the other.. i have no clue!


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

Perhaps those ich have died\fallen out, and you're currently in its free floating life stage.

I'd just keep medicating as normal with the Methyl Blue or Machilite Green, it will take out external parasites as well I believe. For internal parasites, there's other medication and special food you can treat them with.


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

effox said:


> Perhaps those ich have died\fallen out, and you're currently in its free floating life stage.
> 
> I'd just keep medicating as normal with the Methyl Blue or Machilite Green, it will take out external parasites as well I believe. For internal parasites, there's other medication and special food you can treat them with.


Down side is that it's a planted tank... i want to do the most minimal damage I can!
I am about to just take jiang604's idea of taking all fish out to treat and then treating the tank itself!


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

It is easier to treat in a quarantine tank if you can. Then you don't have to worry about the plants. The plants may be disinfectly if they are hardier varieties (no Cabomba and the delicate ones) by using a 10% bleach dip or Hydrogen Peroxide dip and the returned if you're worried about them.


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

2wheelsx2 said:


> It is easier to treat in a quarantine tank if you can. Then you don't have to worry about the plants. The plants may be disinfectly if they are hardier varieties (no Cabomba and the delicate ones) by using a 10% bleach dip or Hydrogen Peroxide dip and the returned if you're worried about them.


If i treat them all in a quarantine tank for a week, do i need to do ANYTHING at all for my planted tank except the water changes?


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

You need to dose your tank to keep feeding the plants, since there will be no fish to provide nutrients. Since you're doing EI, you're set there already.


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

Woke up this morning and noticed all fish were fine now!
No scratching, no rubbing against everything, pakistoni rainbowfish seem to be growing back his fins or at least it doesn't look bad at all anymore! Can't seem to find ich on anyone neither!
Thought I give everyone a shout on it! I'll see what happens tonight when i get home!


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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

Great! I hope they all recover fully.


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

Thanks Morainy!

Anyways, came home tonight to find...... EVERYONE'S HEALTHY AND HAPPY!! No ich, no more advance fin rot, everyone seem to have survived and recovered.. except the lost denisoni barb and the angel! But It's alright...

Anyways, I can only guess that API Quick Cure did work, and as they recommened a 25% water change, I did it one day before I wuas suppose to change the water and did 50% instead, the next day, everyone seem to be fine! But however, I will do another 25% water change tomorrow night just to be safe... or maybe even 50%!


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