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It'll be ok tutu... Keep your chin up.

Whetu don't push yourself somewhere you aren't comfortable. Hold that temperature at 92F and sit tight.

The reports of '95F required' are only in light of stories that there are super-strains of Ich in a few areas (was Florida mentioned??) who survived 85F.

If you aren't happy pushing the temp that far don't do it.

In a couple of days you should find the spots falling off, where 92F (even 91) is going to severly affect its normal behaviour.

The target temp is 95 degrees, 35c, without meds...

If meds were dosed near that range anything could happen.

If the surface movement is not fast enough fish will be affected.

--garyroland.

Whetu, what about Formalin? (human chemist should stock it)

It can be pretty hefty stuff, but adding it to the green boosts effectiveness.

I lost my fave treatment recently, and the normal meds were not really that effective, so i added formalin (was cheaper than buying yet another med to try to replace the discontinued one) and it worked very well.

It just gives you a bit more to play with since you have such limited choice.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Gary has the best advice on this for loaches. As a "scaleless" fish they are extremely sensitive (in a bad way) to many meds particularly "ich" meds. The correct specific treatment for the clown loaches is high heat to interrupt the life cycle of ich as it is unable to reproduce above 90F.

Other fish may be treated by meds in a separate tank from the loaches.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

There was an article many months ago in Tropical Fish Hobbyist Magazine by Clown Loach keepers asking why their ich meds were killing all their Clowns...

The answer was the same as I've given in this Forum many times. All Clowns are wild caught and cannot tolerate many ich meds particularly if the Clowns are in an advanced stage of infection.

The remedy response by the editors was the same as I give concerning the high heat treatment. If other species are infected in the same tank they must undergo the same high heat treatment as the Clowns.

Weak and undernourished trops may not survive the increased heat but the Clowns will. In some cases something has to be sacrificed to save something else.

--garyroland

So poor little Tiki was sacrificed at the altar of the Clown Loach.

I have two heaters in the tank - 100W and 55W - and I just can't seem to get the temp up above 34 deg C (93 deg F). Both heaters are set to their maximum temp, and it's a 122 litre (32 US gallon) tank.

The tank has a glass sheet on top but no hood. The ambient room temperature is around 24 (75) degrees during the day, down to 20 (68) overnight. Any tricks I can use to get the temp up to that magical 35?

insulate the tank, cover it with a blanket or even just newspaper will help stop the heat escaping. Do be careful you don't get that whole wicking effect if you use blankets, not a nice thing to wake up to

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

I use styrofoam sheets that I found @home depot to insulate the tank I have 3 that were cut to size to cover back and sides. A blanket covers the top and front. Rather than running out and buying styro for just this a sleeping bag may work just as well. I suggest a sleeping bag especially since many of them are made to withstand heat and not catch on fire .

^_^
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Always remembering not to eliminate a top air space for gas/oxygen exchange...

--garyroland.

Well it seems that the problem isn't with keeping the heat in - it's just that the heaters refuse to heat any higher than 34 degrees. The thermostat kicks in and they switch off. Looks like 34 degrees is it.

Meanwhile I lost an otto this morning. This sure is a drastic treatment.

ok the temp has reached 33.5 Deg C (92 F?) and one of the platies has died (RIP Tiki). The gold barbs are in a tight group hiding under the plants. I don't like this game any more.

You need larger heaters...

A 200 watt and a 300 watt to fire up a storm.

Remember that increased heat promotes a faster metabolism in fish. They will require more feedings than normal and again, move that water surface rapidly.

--garyroland.

Thanks john. *props chin on edge of tank*

Gary, I expected the fish to be eating more with the higher temps but for some reason the barbs are eating less and the loaches seem to be eating the same amount as usual.

As for the oxygen saturation in the water, I lowered the water level when I first started raising the temp. The spray-bar is now blasting water in from above the surface. Bubbles everywhere and sounds like a toilet constantly flushing.

I really don't think it's the wattage of the heater that's the problem, I think it's the thermostat settings. I've got them set to max but the lights are hardly ever on so they're just not switching on above 34 degrees.

Thermostats can only control heat according to wattage...

In higher wattage heaters the thermostat allows for more heat output allowing the elements to get a lot hotter before turning off according to the chosen heat setting.

You don't need a hurricane in your tank at the surface, just good water movement.

--garyroland.

Lost another otto today and all the platies are looking incredibly stressed. I expect to lose all the ottos and platies in the next daty or two ... maybe the ottos are gone already... I can't find the other two.

If the trops were diseased with ich they would be candidates for extreme stress...

I find it odd that of all the other hobbyists who have gone the high-heat route, none suffered any losses.

I'm sorry this is happening. I know how sad it must be for you.

Tell us how the Clowns look.

--garyroland.

would it be possible to remove the standard trops and treat them with a proprietary medication while leaving the clowns for the high heat?

Do you have a spare tank and heater?

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

I don't have two tanks big enough to put five clowns in one and 8 barbs in another - my hospital/quarantine tank is too small. Also my main tank is heavily planted and full of driftwood. I'd virtually need to tear it down to catch everyone.

I think whoever's going to die has died already. Found the last little otto body today, but it looks like he died yesterday and his tank-mates have been feasting on him. I'm very sad to lose all my ottos, but I guess it's a lesson that others might learn from. These were plump, active guys, some of which I'd had for more than 18 months so I don't believe they were weak or under-nourished.

The clowns are still enjoying the high temps and there are no spots on them as far as I can see, and the gold barbs are stressed but still alive.

On advice from Gary and Tryst I've lowered the temp to 31C (88F) which should still be high enough to thwart the parasites without being so stressful on the fish. I'll maintain this temp for a week or so and see how we go.

Last edited by whetu at 10-Jan-2005 03:08

The meds you introduced early on may have affected the Otos...

High heat and meds don't go together.

--garyroland.