The dreaded ich

[n9iz]

I somehow managed to get the dreaded ich in my newer tank (~2 months old). Don't know if it was from fish bought at LFS or otherwise, but I guess it doesn't matter. I've tried to do some studying up on how to cure it. So far I've dosed it three days in a row with some Rid Ich as I gradually brought up the temp (was around 78F). Over the course of several day I've gotten the temp up to 85F and that's about as high as I want to go, I think. I've only dosed them the first three days as that was what was left in my bottle. The rest of the time has been just the heat treatment. Other than some large water changes and gravel vac is there anything else I need to do? This Sunday will be one week. I figure by next Sunday I should be good to go back down to a more manageable temp in the tank. The fish are looking much better by the second day and have continued to look great every day. I guess I'm just wanting to know if I'm on the right track. Thanks.

Jeff

[imma24]

Normally it's recommended to do EITHER meds OR increased temp because both remove oxygen from the water - glad to hear your fish are doing better though. I'm assuming you have good water flow in your tank like via an airstone or something similar.

[n9iz]

Ya, Marineland 360 canister filter (with charcoal removed). Also a separate power head on the opposite side of the tank. Pretty good water turbulence on the surface.

Jeff

[escamosa]

86 degrees is the recommended temperature, as most ich strains can't reproduce over 85 degrees. But if everything is looking good, then that's great! Continue with the heat treatment for at least 3 days, after the last spot has dropped off the last fish. This will kill off any late free swimmers. But as andreahp has said, heaps of oxygen is needed with higher temps and meds.