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Well, is there one?

I do not want to have my silicone stained by the meds. I dosed one of my tanks about 7 months ago, and the blue has not leeched (sp?) out yet. I also have a heavily planted tank and do not want the plants damaged.

Also, if there is a non-staining, plant-safe ich treatment, should I dose whatever it is at half strength (I have loaches).

BTW, it's a tank of barbs, couple loaches, plec, and sae.

I thought that Melafix treats for ich, and I know that it is plant safe, and doesn't contain dye.
Also, when treating for ich, you should raise your tank's temperature. That helps... with something.

EDIT: Melafix *claims* to treat ich, at least that's what the bottle says. I guess they're wrong.

Last edited by sirbooks at 28-Oct-2004 14:41

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

I haven't heard that Melafix treats ich. I would personally go with Rid-Ich. It uses Malachite Green instead of Methylene Blue, and when I used it, it did not stain. It will kill inverts, however, so any you wish to keep should be removed, as should the carbon from the filter.

Also, raising the temperature doesn't kill the parasites, or cause them to reproduce slower. It actually causes them to reproduce faster. This is beneficial because they can only be killed by the medication during the free swimming phase. Additionally, if you decide to raise the temperature to around 85 degrees (slowly, I should add), be sure to provide more surface agitation as warm water holds less dissolved oxygen. If the fish begin to breathe heavily, consider lowering the temperature back down.

Continue treatment of meds for 5 days after the last white spot disappears, and you should be golden.

Joe Potato

I am sorry, but I beg to differ with Sirbooks. Melafix and Pima fix do nothing for Ich – trust me, I began treating my fish with Pimafix and halfway trough the treatment I realized that Pime/Melafix treat fungus. Use Rid Ich+ - this is good stuff - but be aware that it will stain your tank’s silicone a bluish shade of green, and it will also kills your snails. On the other hand, it is quite effective on Ich, and it is plant safe! Honestly, I have not heard anything about an Ich medication that does not stain silicone. GOOD LUCK!

Look for a medication which solely uses formaldehyde as the acting agent. Check the back of the bottle after asking the LFS for the product.

x

One that I've had success with in the past for planted tanks is Ick Attack. It's a herbal based medication that doesn't seem to affect the plants. Might be worth a shot for you if you can find it. Here's a link to it online:

http://www.aquariumshoppe.com/thestore/prods/AKD39444.html

i just used Rid-Ich in a 10g hospital tank and it did stain the seams and some airtubing.. as well as a rock.. so id be carefull their.. why not go for the good old traditional saltbath.. do about 3 table spoons for every 10g.. gradually over a 48hour period.. then keep that level for about 2 weeks.. id also raise the temp to at leaste 82F because that speeds up the life cycle of ICH.. ofcourse this is a good thing only if you do a full treatment.. if you speed up life cycle and are not treating all you are doing is making it spread faster.. also i would use an airstone because fish seem to have alot of trouble breathing as it affects thier gills.. get as much Oxegen in the water as possible.. i found a good website on it a while ago on one of these postss.. ill look around for it..

kk here it is http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/ich.shtml
Good luck..
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Last edited by Wompa at 28-Oct-2004 18:42

Thanks for the advice everybody.