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Hi,

I am battling an outbreak of ick.
I am currently treating with Maracide at half strength due to having upside down cats which are scaless and was told to go half strength as they are sensitive to meds.
I have my water temp at 85 exactly to speed up the ick cycle.
Weird thing is that the ick spots have gone away on all fish except one of the cats. He is covered with the white spots. The other cat has no spots nor do the other fish.
All fish are eating properly and swimming etc. No signs of distress. I am also keeping the light off to help with the stress level of the fish.
I am on day day 5 of the maracide and have to dose again tonight. The instructions say to treat for the 7 days which I plan on but seeing as i am dosing at half strength should I go longer?
Any idea on why the one cat still has ick showing?
Water parameters are all good considering the meds. I have to have it checked again but wont be able to till Sat.
Any help is appreciated.

Its me again.
I am reading your posts on the UV steralizers and see that these units will kill ick and other bad stuff.
Is this accurate? If I install one while I currently have ick will the UV kill the ick already present?
Are these units easy to install? I am all for it if they really work. Please let me know as if so I will go buy one tomorrow!

It will kill all the stages of whitespot in the tank that swim free, thus stopping the whitespot from reinfesting the fish once its few days of life cycle is up. Theres nothing that can be done about the whitespot already on the fish, but the parasites will die in a few days.

Once the uv is installed youll probably never have a problem with whitespot again, as long as there are no eddies in the tank where water is trapped.

I use uv's on all my tanks and will always. I think in a closed water system you need to provide the best care. I think it one of the main reasons why my fish are in good health. they don't kill anything the sterilize the parasites so they can reproduce. the one thing you have to consider is bulb replacement, they have to be replaced every year.

Djrichie
"So Long, and Thanks For All The Fish" Douglas Adams

Thanks so much for those answers.
Much appreciated.

I still have the question with the treatment of the fish for the ick.
I am dosing at half strength due to the scaleless fish (cats) and the directions on the Maracide only give instructions for use for a week and thats to dose on the 1st, 3rd and 5th day and then nothing.
So, should what should I do after the 7th day?
So far I am not having luck with the one cat that seems to be the magnet for the ick. He is acting normal, not flashing and swimming etc but has the white spots and they arent going away. I am on day 5 so am waiting for the ick to cycle. I have the temp at 85.
So, what should I do after the 7th day?
Please give me some opinions.
Thanks

On the 7th day? A water change usually, to shift the meds out a bit, and reduce toxicity to the fish.Also in your case , run a little carbon to shift the last of the meds and install your UV sterilizer. Then everything should be tickety boo.

If theres is still active whitespot on the fish I would recommend waiting a couple of days and repeating the treatment, but if your getting the uv unit in the next week its probably safer not to do further treatment and just install the uv. Ick cures dont kill the parasites actually on the fish either, they just kill the other stages, and the uv will do that for you chemical free.

I am getting really frustrated with this ick.
Now the cat that had the ick is showing less spots and thats good but now he has 2 discolored areas on his skin and I have no clue as to what that is. I am thinking its from rubbing himself on the decorations in the tank. Not sure though.
Now the 2 Balas have some spots so I am still medicating.
Lost one Gourami today. Thats it so far.
I went yesterday and bought a bigger pump and a very large airstone for added airation. Bought more maracide etc.
I have now spent 10 times more on treating this than I paid for the fish in the tank.
Asked about the UV steralizer and was told to clear the ick first so I will install that whenever I get this ick outta my tank or when all my fish die which I am thinking may happen. I am about to give up.

There is no need to clear the ick before UV installation, ignore that advice. Install the uv and remove the meds with water changes. It will bring the problem to a close more quickly and safer than the meds.