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my 10 inch oscar has ick what will be the fastest way to clear it?

HI

We need more info. There are many ich meds and suggesting which to use is dependent knowing your full stock, which would include pet snails, aquatic frogs, crabs, shrimp, etc.

An important question to ask is how the fish get ich?

How long have you had your oscar, or is he new?

What size tank is your Oscar in?

What else is with him?

What do you feed him and does it include live fish from a feeder bin at the lfs. If yes, have you taken a close look at what is in those tanks . It is a pathogen soup of bacteria, fungus and parasites. A good alternative if you like to feed your fish live food is to raise it yourself.

Water changes are also a common source if the temp drops too low during the process. Ideally, the change should not alter the overall temp more than 1-1.5F.

Toxins are another stressor that can bring it on. Ammonia and nitrite need to be zero and nitrate should be less than 40ppm. pH should also be in line. Have you measured any of these?

Rid Ich Plus is often a good choice, if there are no other fish but the oscar or other oscars. But, parameters must be good. The formalin reduces oxygen in the tank so a large water change ahead of dosing it is needed. If there is any nitrite it will further rob o2.

If there are scaleless fish in the tank, I would reach for Ick Guard 2. This can be dosed at full strength in such cases. It has the same components for the most part, but its makeup reflects levels that scaleless can tolerate.

There are other methods like salt treatments and once again, it depends on what else is in the tank. There is a heat treatment method used, but you must reach 95F in order to kill the parasite. Most fish cannot survive this temp. Also, it further robs the water of o2 as the temp rises. Kordon advises against raising temp with formalin in the water and it is in many ich meds.

Copper is another route like coppersafe and aquarisol, but never mix copper treatment with other treatments. Copper is poorly filtered out with carbon. YOu must make many water changes to fully dilute it from the tank.

There is a lifecycle involved that is important to understand. ICH MEDS DO NOT KILL ICH ON THE FISH!!! Those are embedded and are not affected by meds. They fall off with time and temp. When they drop to the tank bottom, they go through a process detailed in the link below. Only in the swarming stage is the ich med effective. This is the stage where they are swimming around looking for a host. Many people can't get rid of ich because they stop treating once the spots are gone. Wrong! It must remain in the water for time after spots are gone to catch new swarmers.

http://www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/profiles/disease/freshwater/ich.html

Now, with ich often comes columnaris infections. Its bacterial. Many ich meds like Rid Ich and Ick Guard-2 have meds that are antibacterial/anti-fungal.

Give your oscar as much o2 as you can with extra airstones. Ich can invade the gills. If you see him gasping, that is the case. You can add a therapeutic level of aquarium salt like Doc Wellfish. But, it must be predissolved and added slowly over time to not stress him. This level will not kill ich, but can help with the bite wounds. I would use the recommended amount on the carton in this case, which is 1 Tbsp per 5 gallons. It predissolves best in hot water, then you can cool it and add conditioner. Dribble some in over the course of the day.

YOu want it gone fast. I'm afraid you will just have to wait it out and give your oscar all the support he needs to deal with the embedded spots. The ich lifecycle is dependent on time and temp so there is some waiting involved.

Please answer my questions above.



Last edited by Cory_Di at 19-Mar-2005 21:56

go out to the lfs and get the jungle series. ich clear, or something. i use it all the time and works very well.

he is in a 75 gallon by him self and live feeder gold fish which i got two days ago. my water is perfect . ran all test this morning. and i have had him for 3 weeks . he looked the best he has ever has up until tonite. i feed him pellets, frozen blood worm , crickets, and feeders (not all at the sme time) temp is 78

plus there are two air stones 1 4inch 1 six inch

Hi Tobiey.

Ich is all about stress and when you can identify what the stressor was, it helps to prevent it in the future. If a goldfish, even a healthy one, has been swimming in the presence of a predator for two days, then the goldfish is highly stressed. I'm going to guess that the tank the goldfish came from had ich. It takes only a drop of that tank water to contain "swarmers" that will then attach to the fish.

I'd seriously consider giving up the live fish just because it is so risky to your oscar with all that they can carry - infection, internal and external parasites. Not only that, but goldfish are about the least nutritious thing you can feed him. I'd try to get him eating cichlid pellets because of how nutritious they are, in addition to the other foods you are giving. The most beautiful oscars I ever seen were raised exclusively on high quality cichlid pellets. That particular guy didn't believe in live foods, but I would have never guessed they ate cichlid pellets. They would eat them right out of his hand.

For the fish you have, Rid Ich Plus is probably the best choice. Some people like to use Copper Sulfate (Coppersafe; Aquarisol), but what I don't like is that it takes water changes to eliminate it. You can eliminate rid ich plus with activted carbon when you are done. Use as directed. The med should be in the water for so many days AFTER you see the last spot fall - like 7 to be safe. See what the directions say about redosing every so many days.

I would predissolve some freshwater aquarium salt and add it too. It helps with the bites. Any time there is an opening in the skin or gills the fish can suffer osmotic shock. A little salt won't kill the ich or really prevent infection, but it will help with osmotic pressure. Doc Wellfish recommends 1 Tbsp per 5 gallons. The best way to dose it is to predissolve in really hot water in conditoined water (could take an hour or more), then add a little at a time throughout the day. This allows the fish to gradually get acclimated.

Good luck and just be patient. Let's hope oscar is strong enough to deal with what is on him now. It is more hopeful, if he has only a few spots.

Last edited by Cory_Di at 20-Mar-2005 07:16

thank you very much i will update when he is all better