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It's been a while since my fish got ick, but I noticed some of my cardinals with the infamous white spots. What's the best way to get rid of this in a planted tank.
I believe that got it during a water change.

Fish consists of
Angels
Cardinals
Rummynoses
Rams
Dwarf Plecos
Otos

Thanks!

My Scapes

Forget I said anything.

Last edited by Babelfish at 23-Mar-2005 17:25

Babel,

Doesn't rid-ich contain Malachite Green which is really bad for plants.

My Scapes

Yes, and possibly acriflavine (can't recall).

Look to Ick Guard-2. It is aimed at scaleless fish and I believe it touts to be plant safe. It may have some of the ingredients that can harm plants, but maybe in lesser amounts. Read the back.

Otherwise, your next bet is just plain formalin which is entirely plant safe, but it may be hard to find. I would not purchase over the net because if any tiny amount of the formalin should freeze, it will kill your fish. Read the labels on the backs of teh containers.

There is a product by Fish Vet called ECO-F/W, previously Ecolibrium F/W. It claims to be plant safe, but the company would not tell me what was in it.

http://www.fishvet.com/pages/disease2.tmpl?sku=09202001140509

I have an old bottle of ich guard-2 I bought a couple years ago. I'll see if it says what I thought about being plant safe. Give me a few minutes

Last edited by Cory_Di at 23-Mar-2005 17:33

Thanks for checking

My Scapes

Yes! Ich Guard-2, by Jungle has a claim on the back that it is safe for all freshwater fish and plants. Here's what you want to look for. It does not claim on the website to be safe for plants, but says so on the bottle in fine print towards the bottom.

[link=http://www.junglelabs.com/pages/details.asp?item=NL045]http://www.junglelabs.com/pages/details.asp?item=NL045" style="COLOR: #C000C0[/link]

If you can't find that, then you will need to look at the back of any package of ich meds you find and see if they claim to be plant safe.

If you have inverts you want to keep, then you may want to remove them before any treatment. Also, if you have lots of snails you don't want to keep, be prepared for die-off and related ammonia. So, remove them, if you can. Lure them to a piece of lettuce. Gravel vac out the dead as much as possible.

You could try copper, but I'm not sure how full strength coppersafe would affect the type of plants you have in your tank. Don't mix it with any other meds. Copper cannot be removed with activated carbon in large amounts. It is best removed through many water changes. You may have difficulty with snails after any treatment with copper so if you have mystery snails, for example or apple snails, you may need to run something continuously to remove the copper (purigen???). I should add that there is a thing called a poly filter which will filter out copper and it may be wise to get some if you choose to use a copper based product.

Look on the back of Aquarisol and see if it claims to be plant safe. That is copper based.

Keep in mind, any ich med must be in the tank when swarmers are out looking for a host. This happens in the hours/days following spots falling off the fish. Those cannot be treated with meds.

When in doubt, use a med at half strength if you have scaleless fish and watch them. Do water changes if you see heavy respiration, wild darting, etc.

I'm checking the Kordon Product Data Sheet on Rid Ich Plus to see what it says about plants.

I will edit this post with my reply.

EDIT: I cannot find anything on plants in their KPD sheet, but you may want to read up on ich at the very bottom where they have a link on the subject. They say to remove inverts you want to keep, but don't discuss its effects on plants.

http://www.kordon.com/kpds.htm

Choose Rid Ich Plus from the left side-bar if it doesn't come up to that page.

I'd still look for just plain formalin, if your fish store has it. Formalin is a gas (formaldehyde). You will need to increase oxygen so drop in an extra airstone or two. Never raise the heat with a product containing formalin, including Ick Guard-2.

I would advise against heat treatment - period. You need to get above 95F to kill the parasite and most fish cannot handle that. Increasing the temp will speed up the lifecycle, but it also brings the risk of creating a favorable condition for body fungus, which often follows the ich bites. Body fungus (columnaris) grows much faster at 77F and higher. With formalin in the water reducing oxygen, the added heat steals more.


Last edited by Cory_Di at 23-Mar-2005 17:59

Last edited by Cory_Di at 23-Mar-2005 18:00

i just got over ick in my tank i used watercare. ick away they sell it at tops supermarket it took it away and did not harm my plants

Here is the stuff, but it doesn't say plant safe. That doesn't mean it is not. Check the back.

http://www.pet-dog-cat-supply-store.com/shop/index.php?page=shop-flypage-6087

What kind of plants do you have in your tank, Tobiey?

Last edited by Cory_Di at 23-Mar-2005 19:31

Thanks for all the info Cory. From what I understand "Coppersafe" is O.K. with plants.

My Scapes