What's the best temp for treating Ich?

[scruffy]

Is there a minimum and a maximum temp for treating Ich? I've had some success w/ temps in the low 80's, but I don't know how hot is too hot. I keep platys, guppies, mollies, harlequin rasporas, danios, cories and guppies.

S

[cocoa_pleco]

82F-84F is good

[gem]

agreed with Cocoa on that. I was very succesful in treating ich with no adverse effects on my fish in temps around 82 to 84 degrees.

[angelcakes]

82f-84f :19:

[shalafi04]

i treated a MAJOR ich outbreak with aquarium salt and a temp of 84. Nothing more, nothing less... just some salt and a temp up

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

I've always gone to 86 for my treatments but 84 is sufficient. In reality, you don't even need to turn up the temperature, the only purpose for that is to speed up the life cycle. Treatment can be done at 78, however the faster the parasite is gotten rid of, the less stressful it is for the fish.

[jbeining75]

Bout 84-85 and salt up the tank..... Should get rid of it....

[Billythefish]

Ive had my best results by this method/ temp 82/86 i add one tea spoon off seasalt (NOT TABLE SALT) And i make 20% water changes every 3 days with seasalt added with new water. Hope this helps

[Bald Eagle]

It is of value to understand the parasite. The Ich parasite has three phases to its life cycle Adult, Cyst, and Free swimming. It is only during the free swimming stage of its life cycle is the parasite susceptible to being killed.

Raising the temperature does adversely affect the free-swimming ich; it is my understanding that raising the temperature to 86 or higher will kill the Ich parasite. Though raising the temperature to above 80 decreases the population.

Raising the temperature (less than 86) though harmful to Ich - it also increases the rate at which the parasite goes through its life cycle. If I recall correctly it takes the parasite about a month (4 weeks) to go through its life cycle at 70, but at 80 degrees it takes only 5 days.

Raising the temperature too little without using another agent can have very detrimental takes to your aquarium as it enables the parasite to produce much quicker and spread faster.

This is why unless you are able to get your aquarium to 86 or higher; you should add something else to help kill the Ich parasite. Salt is effective at killing Ich, the higher the concentration the greater its effectiveness (6- 8 tsp/ gallon), but remember salt in high concentration has adverse affects on Tetras, loaches and many catfish. I would not recommend going over 3-4 tsp unless you are very confident your fish can tolerant the salt

A product called Quick cure has been very effective when I have had an outbreak - remember that no matter what the instruction on the bottle say about how long the treatment should last - the treatment will depend on the temperature - higher the temperature the shorter the treatment can be, because as stated previously that the parasite is susceptible during the free swimming stage. Remember that you may not seen an adult form on the fish itself, it is important to continue the treatment unit all the cyst of released the free swimming form.

Also keep in mind that as the temperature in the tank rise, O2 levels decrease.

Friends have also had success with Malachite green.

Another friend recommends copper sulfate - very important to note the copper sulfate is extremely toxic at low alkalinity - and copper sulfate also decreases O2, which combined with the O2 decrease by increased temperature may not be a good option.

One positive thing is in general a fish affected by Ich and cured is generally immune to further infections

I tend to keep a low salt concentration in my aquarium at all times, and rarely see any outbreaks.

It goes without saying that care should eb taken in changing the aquarium temperature.

I hope this helps – Ich is very frustrating….

[aquarius56]

Ive had my best results by this method/ temp 82/86 i add one tea spoon off seasalt (NOT TABLE SALT) And i make 20% water changes every 3 days with seasalt added with new water. Hope this helps

One teaspoon per gallon??? :)

[RainMan]

Yes... I've heard of people putting up to 5tsp per gallon of fw. 3tsp = 1tbsp.

However, 82-86 degrees and 1 tablespoon per 5 gallon is usually sufficient to treat the pest.

[Lady Hobbs]

One teaspoon per gallon??? :)

Follow directions on your salt. Some require 1 T per 10 gallons and others require 1 T per 5 gallons.

[Cichlid*Newbie]

I think my fish also have this, i have a catfish though...so have to use alternate methods...other than salt....is i possible to remove the catfish from the water to use the salt and return him after or once salt is in can he be put back in that water? I raised my temp up to 81.

[RainMan]

I think my fish also have this, i have a catfish though...so have to use alternate methods...other than salt....is i possible to remove the catfish from the water to use the salt and return him after or once salt is in can he be put back in that water? I raised my temp up to 81.

Read your other post.... but, do not remove your fish unless you have a good place to put him for a week. Because that's how long the treatment for ich should last. But, i don't think you have to worry anyway. I explained in your other post.

[Mvjnz]

If you are treating with medication, between 28 and 30 is good. If you are using heat treatment the temp *cannot* go below 32 under any circumstances at any time during treatment.

[RainMan]

If you are treating with medication, between 28 and 30 is good. If you are using heat treatment the temp *cannot* go below 32 under any circumstances at any time during treatment.

Just to convert that to Fahrenheit for some.

28 = 82.4F
30 = 86F
32 = 89.6F

I can agree with that. I wouldn't do the high heat treatment though. :)