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My german ram has caught ich, S/he was fine until I treated my tank with melafix Then next day she refused to eat,

Before I had ICH I Treated with table salt on reccomendation of a member on another forum,
It worked,
But i'm worried as rams are very sentive, should I treat with salt again?

R_Boy

Rookie_Boy,

I don’t want to make you feel bad, but these things happen because you asked for advice on using Melafix and only after all were said and done you tag on “Oh, btw, I also have a German Ram in there”.

Rams, in particular Germans, are very sensitive to changes in the water conditions and require pristine water quality.

Unfortunately I never treated a German Ram for Ich so I cannot help you directly. Nevertheless, I advised you to post all the parameters required to clearly identify the best treatment possible for anyone who has experience with it. Read the sticky on top of this forum that explains what information is required to properly help with sick fish.

Hope this helps a little,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Just remember that your tank has ich, not your fish. The ich is free floating in the water, the actual ich on the fish are the eggs. Stop feeding, your fish can survive up to 2 weeks with no food. Take out any carbon in the filters and leave the filter running without carbon filter inserts if necessary. The fish can survive without the filters and carbon, if you don't feed. Raise your temperature one or two degrees, this will speed the eggs to hatch. The meds will only kill the ich when they hatch, not the eggs. Patiently wait and follow the directions on the meds, do water changes between the second and third medicine dose. Don't over medicate or you will kill the fish. You can overcome this, be patient!
Use ich away, or methelene blue.

Last edited by Hooben at 29-Dec-2005 08:46

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The calming qualities of a good aquarium are irrefutable

Hooben,

I think your treatment idea is nice, but might not be appropriate on German Rams. Did you treat a ram in the fashion you describe?

Raising water temperature is good but only after treatment has started (with whatever medicine), so is the water change in between, including deep gravel vacuuming.

Your ID of eggs on the fish is not quite proper, you might want to read up on the stages of the Ich cycle.

Anyone does have any experience with Rams and Ich?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I did't treat a ram that way, I treated 6 guppies 5 rummies, that way,
Have removed carbon, Raised temps,


R_Boy

I've always had good success with coppersafe in tanks with rams and tetras for ICH. I would keep temp up around 82f and dose 1/2 strength coppersafe. I've cured ich that way with minimal loses. It will need about 7 to 10 days to go away.



My Scapes

Rookie_Boy,

Raising the temperature without adding any kind of medication can have bad effects, IMHO, on the Ich outbreak. Higher temp means Ich goes through its stages faster and as such more and more will be available quicker to attach themselves to the fish.

I hope you add medicin as well then.

Ingo

Last edited by LITTLE_FISH at 29-Dec-2005 10:42

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Just checked on the ram, Well it has gone to the great lake in the sky, Also treated the tank,
Thanks

R_Boy

Sorry to hear that R_Boy,

Let's hope the others will be fine.

How exactly are you treating the tank?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I went to my lfs to get coppersafe, but did't find it So I Asked one of the staff there He said he has never heard of ICH!

and so had to go 11 miles away, to the next lfs and bought coppersafe As I am only 13 I asked dad to dose the tank for me as i don't wanna Kill all the fish!

If you raise the temp up, try to put an airstone in there if you have one on hand. Or if you can, turn up the output on your filter. With higher temps, you need more aeration. Kent Marine RX-P is another good med. It is safe for scaleless fish. It was hard to find though. Raising the temp really helps...it speeds up the lifecycle and usually makes the ich go away faster.
Remember to treat atleast a week after you see the last spot...even 2 weeks after is good. That makes sure the ich is gone.

*Kristin*