This is a journal more of less of a recent bout I had of some stubborn Ich. This happened over new years.
Many people recommend using some of the medications at half strength when treating scaleless fish. There are 4 scaleless in this tank and they all made it through!
Here is a pick taken last week if the clown loach in question. He has fattened up again a but since then too.
Recent Battle With Ich
Tank Specs
Size : 29 gallons
Temp: 78 F
Unknown water parameters
The tank is normally salted to an unknown concentration.
The only fish originally showing symptoms was one clown loach.
Total days of treatment: 20
Total fish loss: 1
Day 1: I noticed a few Ich spots on one of my clown loaches. I immediately removed the carbon from the filter and treated the tank with 35 drops of quICK cure.
Day 2: There is no new Ich present, nor is their any significant change in the Ich on the clown loach. The tank is treated with 35 drops of quICK cure.
Day 3: There is no new Ich present and the clown loach shows slight improvement. I am happy to say that he is still eating and acting normal! The only abnormal behavior he is exhibiting is scraping against the drift wood. The tank has again been treated with 35 drops of quICK cure.
Day 4: Still there is no new Ich present. The clown loach continues to show improvement though still exhibiting a few white spots and the previously mentioned scraping. A 1/3 (33%) water change was performed including a thorough cleaning of the gravel. The tank was treated with 15 mL of Kordon's Rid-Ich Plus* and a greater amount than usual of salt was added to the tank after this water change.
Day 5: There is no new Ich present. The clown loach is showing great improvement as the Ich spots have all but disappeared. He is still eating fine and I have not noticed any scraping behavior. A 1/2 (50%) water change was performed**, taking water from the gravel bed. The tank was treated with a higher than normal amount of salt along with 15 mL of Kordon's Rid-Ich Plus.
Day 6: No new fish are exhibiting Ich. The clown loach appears to have more white spots that yesterday. He still seems to be eating and acting fairly normal albeit a tad sluggish. A 1/3 (33%) water change was performed taking water from the gravel bed. The tank was treated with a higher than normal amount of salt along with 15 mL of Kordon's Rid-Ich Plus.
Day 7: I see no new fish exhibiting Ich. I have not seen the clown loach out of the coconut hut today. He did not come out to eat. A 1/3 (33%) water changed was performed taking water from the gravel bed. The tank was treated with a higher than normal amount of salt along with 15 mL of Kordon's Rid-Ich Plus.
Day 8: The clown loach had still not emerged from the coconut cave. When I lifted the cave I noticed that the left side of his body was cloudy including his eye yet his right side seemed normal. The Ich spots are still present. He also appears skinnier than normal. He did not resist getting caught by the net. I have separated him into the marina HOB breeder trap. I added a little bit of beef heart to the trap but I didn't see him eat it at all. A 1/3 (33%) water change was performed taking water from the gravel bed. The tank was treated with a higher than normal amount of salt along with 15 mL of Kordon's Rid-Ich Plus. I also added 2 drops of quick cure directly to the Marina trap.
Day 9: The clown loach escaped from the breeder trap! He somehow made it back into the tank, thank goodness. There are no new fish exhibiting Ich, and there is no change in the Ich on the clown loach. No treatment was given this day.
Day 10: The clown loach is still the only showing signs of Ich. No other fish are exhibiting it. My female BN has red streaking on one of her fins. A 1/3 (33%) water change was performed taking water from the gravel bed. A larger amount if salt was added than usual and 35 drops of quICK cure was added along with 15 mL if Pima Fix a few hours later***.
Day 11: The clown loach appears the same. No other fish are showing any signs of Ich. The red streaking in the BN is still present. 35 drops of quICK cure was added along with 15 mL if Pima Fix a few hours later.
Day 12: The clown loach appears worse. There are more Ich spots and he is cloudy again. He ate some sinking flakes so I'm not giving up on him! The red streaking in the BN is gone. 35 drops of quICK cure was added along with 15 mL if Pima Fix a few hours later.
Day 13: The clown loach looks worse still. There are even more Ich spots and he is super cloudy, yet he continues to swim and eat. The BN continues to show NO red streaking. A 1/3 (33%) water changed was performed taking water from the gavel bed. A larger amount of salt was added than usual and the tank was treated with 6 tablets of Tetra Lifeguard****.
Day 14: The pineapple female swordtail is now showing signs of Ich on her fins, though she is still eating. The clown loach's Ich spots are slightly improved, and he is no longer cloudy. He continues to eat. The BN shows no streaking. 6 more tablets of Lifeguard were added to the filter of the tank.
Day 15: The swordtail's Ich seems the same. She is still eating and swimming normally, yet she is pale in color. The clown loach shows good improvement today with the Ich spots being much less. He is still eating. The BN shows no red streaking. 6 tablets of Lifeguard were added to the filter of the tank.
Day 16: The clown loach is showing marked improvement! His ich spots are almost gone. He is eating and swimming like normal. The swordtail's Ich seems to be improving but she is not eating and only sitting at the bottom of the tank. The BN shows no red streaking. 6 tablets of Lifeguard were added to the filter of the tank.
Day 17: The female swordtail showing Ich died. She is the first casualty of the aggressive bout of Ich. There are no Ich spots present on the clown loach and the BN still shows no red streaking. The final dose of lifeguard was added to the filter of the tank.
Day 18: All fish still appear to be healthy. A 1/2 (50%) water change was performed to remove medicine from the tank. The tank was then treated with 35 drops of quICK Cure*****.
Day 19: All fish are still healthy. The tank was again treated with 35 drops of quICK Cure.
Day 20: All fish are doing great! The last treatment of quICK Cure was added.
* I decided at this point to change medications. I was not satisfied with the amount of improvement from 3 treatments of quICK cure. Many years ago I had used Rid-Ich with success so I thought I'd try it again.
** Such a large water change was never intended. I meant only to change 1/4 (25%) of the water. Due to my multitasking error the tank kept draining!
*** I decided to use the quICK cure again. It was providing better results than the Rid-Ich. The Pima Fix is used to treat the red streaking in the fin of the BN. Many people are skeptical of Pima Fix and Mela Fix, but they have never failed me.
**** At this point I had to try something new. I was at the end of my patience with the before mentioned products not yielding acceptable results. Joe was happy to recommend Tetra Lifeguard saying it works every time! It is much easier to dose than the other stuff and does not stain the water either.
***** With all visible signs of Ich being gone, this treatment of quICK Cure is to combat any Ich remaining in the gravel bed.
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