The Worst Ich Infection EVER

[pablo111]

I'm tired of crying about it so I guess all I can do is laugh.

I have had Ich forever. Won't die. Aquarisol. Clout. Malachite Green. Nothing.

As a last ditch effort I am trying to cook the Ich. Tank is now at 86F

I STILL HAVE ICH

and its STILL MULTIPLYING

This is right messed. If I get it much hotter I'm going to have No ich alright- because all the fish it feeds off of are going to be Extra Crispy!!!!!!!*laughingc

 

[pablo111]

and I've got Keyhole Cichlids, so they aren't happy.

Corries don't seem to care though.

 

[Lotus]

Are you sure it's ich? Is it possible you have a secondary infection, or it's a different disease or parasite? Ich can certainly be persistant, and I wish you the best of luck with ridding your tank of whatever it is. Patience is the key

 

[Avalon]

If you haven't been able to put a dent in ich, then chances are, you don't have ich, or you have water quality conditions worse than Wal-Mart.

If they are still rapidly multiplying, you may have costia. This is one disease that multiplies by binary fission--it essentially splits and multiplies exponentially. I do know that there is a disease that is mistaken for ich that does infect fish, usually pond fish.

To treat, you should always do frequent water changes to eliminate the water column of parasites, and you can go ahead and lower your temperature to 80F before you cook your fish. A UV sterilizer would also help as well, because the disease you have is transmitted through the water column--see if you can rent or borrow one; better yet, buy one. Salt supposedly helps, but I think salt is worthless unless used in a very highly concentrated dip (this is my opinion). I would not use it on your cories.

I'm not sure of an exact medication you should use, but I'm sure if you searched the net long and hard enough, you will find something. If you do cure whatever it is your fish have, it sounds like they would have some secondary bacterial or fungal infections as a result of the damaged tissue. Be prepared with medication to treat them--Kanacyn works well.

Now, quit laughing and cure your fish

 

[catfishmike]

what your missing is the lifecycle of ick. once you get how the ick is growing and multiplying then you can stop it,the warmer the water the shorter the lifespan of ich.at this point rasie your temp as high as you can without going over 90f and add some salt(2 teaspoons per gallon or is it 10 gallons i can't remember without my books)also try to do some big water changes.the ick spores(thats what i'll call them for now i once again don't remember without my books) will fall into the gravel and incubate and hatch,so by changing the water and vacuuming the gravel it will help to remove some of the spores before they hatch into the visible parasite.that should help but it won't be easy to recover your fish from such an advanced stage.also beware secondary infections in case the fish catch something else while their immune system recovers

 

[Avalon]

A UV filter is much more effective than burning your fish up. Drastically raising water temps not only speeds the life cycle of ich, but your fish as well. Preventative care...that's what I always say.

And how do you know his fish have ich catfishmike? I'd like to see some pics before you play doctor.

 

[pablo111]

I had ich once FOR SURE with a Betta, but one dose of clout cured it. This stuff, what I have now, I have never seen in concentrations as large as Ich which is odd. I have only seen at most, 5 or 6 little white thingys per fish. (we're talking like 2 inches per fish tops, i have little fishies).

So maybe it is that Costia Avalon mentioned? Makes sense. When I jack the temperature, or add malachite green or aquarisol, the whatever it is seems to get hurt, or slowed down, or something. But then when the negative stimulus is removed it just comes back full force again.


I wasn't able to find a good Costia photo. Anyone got one? I really do care and I would really love to actually cure my fish.

If it is costia, would the other medications have hurt it like I say? Visually removing it, but then only having it come back when the meds are gone?

THanks folks!

 

[catfishmike]

well i was reading what you said avalon and it made me think "it does seem like a paticularly strong case of ich".which would lead be to that it may not be ich at all,so good point. also when you posted the first time i was still typing so i didn't see your first post.your right,it would be better if we had pics.i'm just taking his word for it.if he says his fish have ich,i have to belive him without pics.as for going to 90f yea thats kinda high but without a uv it could be the only choice this late into the infection.imo at this point all cures could be hit or miss because the infection has gone on for so long now.do you think it could be cosita?i though that the signs of cosita were grey patches of film on the fish not white spots,but then again grey patches of film covers a few different infections.also aren't most parasite infections treated in about the same manner.additon of a propritary med,raise temp to 85f and water changes every 1 to 3 days untill symptoms no longer exsist?

 

[Avalon]

If, what you have, is an ectoparasite, meaning you have a parasite that infects the ectoderm (skin) or the fish, then the fishes' defenses must be enhanced in order to combat the infection. To do this, you must keep high oxygen levels, a stable enviornment (including temperature), good & high nutrient food, lots of water changes, and as little amount of stress as possible for the fish.

While I do not know the exact disease your fish have, it would be very helpful to know detailed behavioral information of you fish. This should include how they acted before the disease as well as their current behavior. Pics are extremely valuable. I've been doing a massive amounts of research lately on internal parasites, and I've run across a lot of disease info. I'm not claiming to be any expert, but I would be more than happy to pass along any info: a website or article that fits your description so you will be able to make the best diagnosis for your fish. Right now, your description is kind of vague. Be as detailed as you can possibly be, even if it takes 20 pages!

Fish disease makes me mad! The suppliers/exporters could care less about disease, along with everyone else, including your LFS. It's now up to the buyer to treat their fish and eliminate the diseases they carry--at OUR EXPENSE. The Feds are beginning to crack down on the meds that we enjoy using today without a license. Before long, you will be forking out $40 for an office visit to your local vet and $20 more for an ich prescription. Mark my words.

 

[pablo111]

Well I'm up ****s creek a few ways. Cant add more salt for fear of melting my mailed catifsh, cant use malachite again because even at half dose my keyholes lay on their sides and got cloudy eyes, clamped fins, and generally looked like they were screwed. the ONLY choice I have is to cook the parasite out.

I'm considering trashing the entire batch of fish, raising the tank to like 95 for a couple weeks, adding 2 bottles of malachite green, (obviously im exaggerating but anyways)

and I would've by now but the thing is I'm very attatched to a pleco I have in there that I've had since it was almost too small to see. He's my homie and I'd hate to loose him.

Also speaking of Costia, my female dwarf gourami got stuck under a rock about 3 weeks ago and slowly died until last night (R.I.P) but by then I had quarantined her so no biggie. However, on her last 4 or 5 days she DID seem kind of filmy and muccus ish. Could be costia. I'm pretty convinced its just super ich- as I have seen ich several times before. Its definitely not velvet. But again, the small number of visible trophonts (6 per fish, max) even during times of non treatment concerns me.

Im real close to just ditching all my fish.

 

[pablo111]

Incase anyone is wondering she was only under the rock for 2 hours before she got out. not 3 weeks, but i guess she was too damaged to heal...

 

[Avalon]

It appears that you could have a combination of diseases: Chilodonella, Argulus, Costia, and/or Ich. DO NOT KILL YOUR FISH. Do you very damn best to figure out what the hell is infecting your fish. Call up a vet and spend the money. Not only are you doing yourself a favor, you are doing your fellow fishkeepers a huge favor! If your fish have this disease, chance are it's going to spread. Gather every bit of info you can and post it on a website. If you can't, I can.

You will need to have your fish scraped. If you had ich, you would have cured it by now. The ONLY way to tell exactly what you have is by a tissue sample.

I've noticed very strange diseases lately with my fish. Imagine your Ram developing a bubble on it's skin with a "worm-like" thing in the bottom of it. It then 'pops' 2 days later only to leave an abrasion on your fish! Where is the 'worm'? I've not been able to discover a diagnosis for this; other people have reported the same thing with zero diagnostic results. If it happens again, I'm calling my vet.

 

[Managuense]

it should also be noted that some strains of ich have proven in lab testing to live at temperatures of 86F...... not many, but some.

i am always a bigger fan of using high-temp to kill ich as opposed to dumping carcinogenic and highly toxic chemicals into my tanks...but on occasion it is called for.
M

 

[pablo111]

Ok I woke up this morning at there is a bit of this white powdery stuff on my driftwood. I turned the light on and within half an hour of being exposed to light its dissappearing. I also have little white spots on my log, plants, etc. And I don't know what those are.

I cant afford a vet. Dog just broke her wrist. No money. I know its ****ty

Its not argulus. I'd see it- I have hawk eyes.

Chilodonella looks like a candidate. So does Costia. I am pretty sure its not ich too now that people say all this stuff. Will Costia and Chilodonella die at 90F?

Or do I need to buy MORE meds?

There are fish vets?

 

[Somonas]

I know from first hand experience that vets are very expensive, I dont know if there are fish vets

Have you tried Quick Cure. If it's ick Quick Cure will do it.
I guess it's not ich. DO you have a camera. Can you photograph it. Can you take it to one of the local big als. (dont bother with super pet or petsmart or the other places they are clueless)

 

[pablo111]

Ok. Its not ick. Ick would be dead. And there's too much wierd schitt going on like the wierd powdery crapp on my log.

TEMPERATURE IS NOW AT NINETY TWO!!! My fish arent dead- which is shocking, cuzz 92 is absolutely demended. However, any time temp is over 85, spots disappear, from substrate AND fish. I have a hunch this heat will kill it if left up long enough.

Big als thought it was ICK. I usually take those guys to school every time I'm in there.

I dont know what to do. PROS! HELP!

 

[Lotus]

If it is costia, according to this link http://www.corydorasworld.com/disease.htm a temp of over 32C / 90F will kill the disease.