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I have had an outbreak of ich which i have treated for the last two weeks and now with no sign of spots i find that the majority of fish in my tank are still flicking and rubbing themselves into the sand or bogwood.The only signs of amything untoward are on some of the clown loaches who have developed small brown spots around the gills and on their bodies.
Does anybody have any ideas as to what could still be irritating the fish and how to stop it.
ammonia 0ppm
nitrite 0ppm
nitrate 40ppm
ph 7.8
Hard water

(all fish are used to water from my area)

Gibson SG you know you want one!!

My question would be what have you already done to stop the "flicking" and at what temp is your tank water kept??...

--garyroland.

Gary
So far i have tried using waterlife protozin at half its normal dose with temperature elavated to 86F to get rid of what i thought was ich (a few small white spots visible on some fish not all,but nearly all fish flashing)this has been going for about 2 weeks.There are now no visible spots except the brown ones on the sides of the smallest loach, but flashing is still prevalent yet nothing is visible.
I am intending to add carbon to my filter to remove any medication in the next day or two and i have been performing 25% water changes every few days.

Gibson SG you know you want one!!

You're on the right track but...

The main goal of all fishkeepers is to avoid the parasite attack in the first place.

Since the ich parasite, and there are more than one species, seems to dislike warmer temps, it would be a good idea to keep tank temps at 78-80 degrees, perhaps even higher, to discourage attacks.

Clowns have absolutely no immunity to ich and they prefer a tank temp of 86 degrees, a temp rarely found in hobbyist's aquariums.

The "spots" on the Clowns is probably chemical burns from an ich treatment and I can't predict the outcome of the damage.

Stressed fish produce an impaired immune system and ich is just waiting for such an opportunity to attack.

Make sure your fish are not being bounced around by overly aggressive filtering, a fine method to stress fish.

--garyroland.

from my limited understanding..its not actually that ich dislikes warmer tempratures, so much, as that it speeds up there life cycle. Ich can only infect fish in its free swimming stage, but it can also only be killed in its free swimming stage. By increasing the water temprature, you increase the rate at which dormant Ich parasites become free swimming parasites, thus making them succuptible to treatment. I am not entirely sure, but it would seem to make sense to me that by increasing the water temprature without proper medication, you could simply increase the reate at which yoyur fish are infected by the parasite..

Please note...I have lost some fish to ich infections, and if my information is flawed or lacking, please feel freeto correct my, as
It could be very usefull in the future

Yep, your information is flawed...

Keep in mind we're talking about Clown Loaches who can tolerate 95 degree temps if dissolved oxygen is increased.

There are several species of ich, some of which may be becoming resistant to our meds.

High temps, the temp I mentioned, not only speeds up the life cycle of the parasite but completely shuts down the cycle.

In other words no chance is provided to allow stages to even begin.

This high temp success with Clowns has been written up in a few fish mags and according to them and myself, is completely successful.

Many on this Site have reported complete success with the process if done correctly.

If the ich parasites become totally immune to our meds we may not have a choice of treatment except the high heat approach.

--garyroland.

Take your carbon out and put in some melifix.

I'll take you way back in time, Krige, when the problem you're encountering was interestingly called "itch"...

Fortunately it's not fatal, just annoying.

It's caused by numerous organisms which develop from too many settlings and uneaten food.

The only way to top the problem is with "permanganate of potash", 1/8th grain per gallon for 2 hours.

Syphon the bottom drawing off about half the water after two hours and replace with seasoned water.

The remaining permanganate will clear by itself.

See your friendly druggist for the permanganate and remove the Clowns before treatment.

--garyroland.

[span class="edited"][Edited by garyroland 2004-07-28 18:50][/span]

Just to bring you up to date, all is now well with the tank not a spot to be seen,all are eating like there is no tomorrow and activity has become normal again.Temp still at 84F but as the clowns like it hot and the others arent affected i am thinking of leaving it this way for the time being.Plus all the carbon i ussed in my eheim 2028( and it takes alot )has produced nice clear water instead of the murky driftwood stained colour i did have.
Thanks for all the advice hoppefully this new tank will now stay settled.

Gibson SG you know you want one!!

Awesome news, glad to here it.

:88)

brac