Freshwater Ich : Causes & Treatment

[@QuebecCichlides]

Having problems with your water parameters? Check out my video, it should help you out : kzbin.info/www/bejne/mXTEeXuQab91g6M

[@passenger3]

Richell can you please help me on black ich???? My frontosa F1 blue Zaire are covered in it from my new altolamprologus 😭😭

[@mlersk8830]

My water parameters were perfect- I bought three new fish from petco within 24 hours of adding them to my tank only the new fish had ich. I have never had Ich before in 10 years of tank keeping!

[@LPH-11]

My fish caught ich and it was do to water temp change. My temp was too low from where I bought it. It stressed the fish. I was new to the hobby. I raised the temp and treated with ich attack for a week. No deaths. Great video and great info!

[@QuebecCichlides]

I'm glad it helped! Thanks for watching 😁

[@iliastsiphlidis4607]

Best, because of it’s simplicity, explanation on this matter. Thank you.

[@lonelywolf3209]

This is the very first time i have seen a proper n detailed video about ich. You have covered almost every details of ich from reasons 2 medication. Thnx 4 sharing

[@QuebecCichlides]

Thank you for your comment. A lot of research went onto this video. I'm glad it could help 😊

[@kinglyzard]

I treated with high heat alone (88°F) for 14 days, no salt and no meds. My plants and loaches made it through (my loaches were hardest hit) without a hitch. Two days post treatment and all ich is gone, all flashing has ceased and best of all my sickest Clown Loach turned a corner and made a full recovery. I used garlic for first four days.

[@hussainsaanim]

How should we use garlic?

[@kinglyzard]

@@hussainsaanim I'm not positive that's what worked, but the dose is one clove per 10g of water.

[@joenahay5922]

Thanks for clearing this up! I had just ordered the medication that turns your tank blue but thankfully found this video in time to cancel it and order the stuff you recommended.

[@catfishcave379]

Bon jour Richelle. Next time I come to Montreal I will visit you. (its been 20 years since I toured Quebec) With over 40 years experience in the hobby, my go to method the last 25 years is to raise the heat to no less than 86F (30) degrees for 10 days beyond the last sighting of white spots. Depending on species, add between 1 tsp - 2 tsp table salt per gallon. Vacuum all the gravel everyday for the first 3 days, everyother day thereafter. The trick is to never let temperature drop below 86F (30)... not even for a few minutes. Make sure there is good aeration in the tank. Oxygen saturation levels are still way above what any fish needs to survive. I've used this with cool water species such as White Clouds and Sewellia as well. My 12 year old clown loaches were heat treated 11 years ago. They have not had ick since. In the winter, their tank has sometimes gotten down to 67F (19.5) degrees. (and they've had a few summers where temps hit 92F (33.5)!) No fish gets added without a heat treatment.

[@QuebecCichlides]

Hi there. Thanks for your sharing your technique:D Temperature control is so important. At 19.5C I would be freaking out! The beneficial bacteria would technically die at that point, leaving you with huge ammonia spikes. I'm glad that nothing bad happened to you :) Salt helps for most freshwater species but you would have to do it in a QT tank.

[@TheMojaveDragon]

I just won the battle against ich for my mollies and my betta using the heat and salt method alone. In the future, I think I might try the heat and meds method. But here's hoping I never have to deal with ich again!

[@territownes3293]

I have mollies and betta also whats temp did you take your tank to and for how long

[@paulcox4369]

Thanks Richelle for the clearest information l have had on Ich to date. I had a nightmare with Ich in the past when the medication killed the bacterial filter and l lost many fish, whilst l am still wary of it, you have removed my total dread of it returning. Thanks again. Paul uk

[@QuebecCichlides]

Hi Paul, I'm sorry to hear that you've had such a traumatizing experience. What medication did you use?

[@paulcox4369]

QuebecCichlides Hi Richelle, l did exactly what you said not to, and used a blue methalyn based product. It cured the Ich but l had an ammonia then nitrite spike, which took a lot of daily water changes to overcome! Would also like to add that l loved your informative video on Frontosas, my pride and joy at the moment is a 2,400L just over 600g l think, Frontosa tank, although a few Malawi haps have somehow found their way in! Paul UK

[@martinwatson341]

When you bring down the temperature do you just do it or do you do it overtime?

[@JimHanleyfishing]

Great job with all the details Richelle.

[@QuebecCichlides]

Thank you Jim :)

[@zflyzone]

Greetings. Basic questions while treatment. What about the feeding and lighting. Is it best keeping lights off? Is it best feeding less, regular, or more? Cheers

[@PiTaReX]

Lighting low to off. It relaxes the fish. Feed less. But make sure u scoop out the excess food. It’s recommended to treat fish in a separate tank much easier to dose

[@chadpugh1490]

@@PiTaReX ick is in the water tho. Right? Do you treat the water and fish separately?

[@juliev123]

This is an excellent video, thank you.

[@jackjill521]

This is all the more reason to "QUARANTINE" anything new going into an already well established tank. The only way to get ich in a tank is to put ich into said tank. Ich can be 100 percent eliminated in a tank. Most people fail in the elimination because they refuse to follow through with the treatment. Keep up the great work!!!!

[@QuebecCichlides]

Hi Jack. I see you're still adamant about QTs ;) Ironically, most ich outbreaks I've seen are in established tanks that suffer huge temperature variations. Since the Ich parasite can be in your tank for years in a dormant state, fish can suddenly get ich if stressed or weakened in their aquarium, even if no other fish was added :O If the LFS near you only sells sick fish, get a new LFS 😂

[@jackjill521]

If someone has ich dormant in their tank for years, they should really learn how to quarantine their fish. LOL!!!! As stated before, I would not rely on a LFS to properly quarantine.

[@tonyalegg3794]

Seeing this on my fish. Thanks for your help this is a great video!

[@QuebecCichlides]

Glad I could help🐟🤓

[@mchaels17]

Thanks. Very clear. The blue chemical anti ich, iscitvsafe to use in a tank with stingray?? I have parron sharks and discus with ich... im afraid to use the blue anti ich.... it might kill the ray???

[@FishmanEricRussell]

Hi Richelle. Great video. Have you ever used UV for ich?

[@QuebecCichlides]

Hi Eric, technically a UV is perfect for ich but I've had so much success with the temperature/meds technique, I don't bother try a more expensive technique 😂 I completely forgot to mention it though...oops!

[@FishmanEricRussell]

There's no way to cover everything in one vid Richelle. Funny thing is I just posted a diy build for one this morning

[@QuebecCichlides]

I'll go check that out once I get a chance. You completed my video 😂

[@ultimatefishkeeping]

Hi Richelle. How are you? This is a great video, I gave it a like. Thank you for sharing.

[@QuebecCichlides]

Thank you :)

[@ultimatefishkeeping]

You are welcome.

[@MrBooBeE702]

Great video THANK YOU 🙏🏼. Gonna try all this tomorrow , just noticed tiny spots on my cichlids a few minutes ago :(

[@richardong9290]

Great video! Well explained

[@clausolvera7685]

Hi thanks for your información...can You please answer my question?...i had ich problem in my aquarium and many casualties...i'm trying to restart my aquarium after medication...My question is , do i have to do a special cleaning to my sump which has sponges and cerámic rings? I have a bare bottom aquarium...and all the bacteria is in the sump...i don't want to leave any traces of the ich ...thank you....greetings from México

[@QuebecCichlides]

I answered on your other post :) Don't clean them too much. You don't want to remove the bacteria. If you treated your tank, it should have gotten rid of the parasite. Clean your stuff like in the video "how to clean your filter". Good luck!

[@hcarandang34]

I got white spot and fin rod on my angelfish...what do i do

[@kerrytaylor671]

I change my water once a week. I always bring the temperature to 90 degrees. It kills ick. Within hours the temp returns to 85

[@guitarprophetyt7164]

So pleasant and beautiful lady, i had to watch second time to get off the trance iof your radiance. I hope my fish get well. I started just 6 hours ago. Will continue tilll i see improvement. Thankyou

[@seablue21]

Do you need to be doing water changes every time you add more nox-ich? Or do you add nox-ich consecutively for 3 days then do a water change after the 3rd day?

[@denislacasse5514]

great video. You say treat with nox-ich for 3 days, do you mean add day one and wait 3 days, or add nox-ich every day for 3 consecutive days. Thank you, Denis from montreal.

[@QuebecCichlides]

Hi Dennis We don’t have NoxIch available in Canada anymore. If you come by the store, we have supratect for that If you have noxich, it’s three consecutive days, as is written on the bottle . I would have said “every three days” if it was the other scenario.

[@denislacasse5514]

@@QuebecCichlides thank yoy

[@wu3705]

I know I am late in response to this video but my own method is somewhat different to treat ICH. I keep close watch on my fish as I consider myself maybe a bit more than their keepers but their friend as well...I did have an episode with an ICH outbreak in the past as I purchased from a local vendor that I knew I should have maybe not bought from...but I really wanted the fish in question...but that is neither here nor there...the end result being some time later I ended up with an ICH epidemic. I admit I absolutely abhor putting chemicals in my tank...but I had previously purchased a pond sized UV sterilizer and powerhead to drive it. I had gotten it for a different reason but decided to try it on the ICH outbreak. Knowing the cycle of the ICH, which is exactly as you describe in your video, I setup and ran the unit as prescribed to take care of waterborne parasites. Needless to say, after my fish shed their initial spots the secondary infection never came into play...ICH cured. So yes...when properly applied an UV Sterilizer will work wonders to correct this issue without using meds. I hope this information not only helps you but everyone in the fish hobby!

[@QuebecCichlides]

Thanks for your comment. A UV sterilizer works wonders!

[@sameexc]

M struggling to resolve ich in my tank.. only one fish in it.. don't know where it came from but my guess is fluctuations in temperature Cox summer has just started.. I added Fan for cooling and heater to maintain 30°C .. first few days tried to treat vt sea salt but to no avail .. then used methylene blue liquid Cox due to covid19 lockdown I couldn't get malachite green and other medicines.. need more guidance on using Mb.. I added 20drops for approx 50litres of water (tank filled 30-40% only).. it's been 2 days now.. should I replace some amount of water or leave it as is for few more days.. ? During treatment period can we feed d fish?

[@bornfree3963]

Good info， Thanks Richelle！

[@QuebecCichlides]

My pleasure 😁 Hope it helps.

[@DukesAquaristikexperimente]

Very well explained.

[@QuebecCichlides]

Thank you :)

[@rainbowfishtalk4573]

I have cooler-water species (e.g. zebra danios) - can I skip the heating the water part? Or at least not raise it all the way? I don't think my fish can take the heat!

[@chonchat]

My swordtails are behaving lethargic but small neons aren’t. I’ve seen white spots on the neons but they’ve fallen off. Now one of my swordtails has it. I’ve started the entire tank with Seachem ParaGuard yesterday and observing. Will be dosing everyday for at least 14 days according to the instructions. Not sure if this medication is effective but it’s a reputable brand so just gave it a try. If you have any experience in using ParaGuard please post here. Thanks.

[@QuebecCichlides]

Seachem is a good brand... But paraguard isn't effective against ich. Try anything called with "ich cure" in the name. They usually have malachite green, and that's the good stuff. Good luck with your fish ❤️

[@kaydogcreations]

Hi there. My guppies have ich and one had 20 babies. They are contained in a fry cage, but I was wondering, I bought the api.m super ich cure and its blue. I took out my filter qnd carbon. My heater is preset to 78 i can't go higher than that. Are they all going to die? Two days ago I added the medication, then today I did a 35% water change, and added the medication again, I also did a gravel clean while doing the water change. I'm worried they might die.

[@Alex_Edits85]

My tank just crashed I've lost almost all my fish .. I raised my temp and some salt but it was too late . I still have 4 juvinile and I don't know how long they will last ..

[@democratictotalitariansoci1462]

give them freshly grind GARLIC, fish love it

[@leoncolwell383]

Well explained 👍

[@QuebecCichlides]

Thank you 😁

[@susanmetz9892]

What does ich look like on your substrate or decor?

[@QuebecCichlides]

Nothing, you just see it on the fish

[@yhurietv9441]

Mine have the ich..thanks for the info maAm😊

[@marie501061]

Thanks for sharing this info.

[@BustaBreaks777]

I have a set temp heater. Now I know I should have opted for the adjustable.

[@garikkalantaryan9906]

Hello. My Kenyi cichlid has black spots like a fine pepper. How can I treat that?

[@monchersofficial124]

Hello maam? can I ask? I have a tank that is ick contaminated from a dead fish cause by whitespot... now I have changed the water 2 days when the fish died. now I bought a new fish to be place on the same tank. now I put the new fish on the tank and day after, it started to show symptoms like gliding his fin on the bottom glass. my plan is transfer the fish on the new tank with a conditioned water. Mety blue antin chroline rocksalt. 1 day water stock. is it okay to transfer it while treating it on the old tank? Thanks! (Heater was just provided as to control now the water temp.)

[@tonyhales-BigT]

Hi Richelle. Great video as usual. Would you recommend removing any carbon in the filter(s) before medication? ( I dont use carbon myself, but others may do.) Loved the fish fight and the random dude in the background with the stepladder :0D Keep the excellent videos coming.

[@QuebecCichlides]

Hi Tony, Thanks for your comment. I completely forgot to mention carbon in the video :P I'll create a sticky because YES, you have to take it out or else it will absorb all that nice Malachite Green lol. That random dude is my father in law, who helps out with feeding the fish and maintenance. My boyfriend and I took over the company from him in 2012. He apparently isn't camera shy 😂 This video was full of easter eggs!

[@tonyhales-BigT]

;0)

[@mvyorkie009]

@@QuebecCichlides removed my filter a few weeks ago after putting the meds in. During the night my red tailed shark jump into the filter and went into the impeller :/. That was a good fish too. Not aggressive and my algae eater would stick onto it while swimming around. Also nice video. I havnt had fish for 18ish years. Finally getting back into it and im having alot of issues with this new tank :/. yorkie

[@angeanyin5431]

i am kinda on dead end here, i have a 45 gallon planted tank with 30 neon tetras, 6 mollies, 2 guppies, 2 dwarf gouramis and 2 corydoras. recently i noticed an ich on my neon tetras, i cannot put a medication because all are either metylene blue or acriflavine based component, salt are also out of the list because of the corydoras, i tried to quarantine the infected fish on my 10 gallon hospital tank, but get stressed everytime and died, i use heat treatment, cranked it up to 31c it only get worse, i even use garlic cloves, everything that i can think of is not working at all, any solution?

[@fatalmeans2940]

my tank has ich. Its a 75 gallon tank. Its day 4 since the first white spot. Next day started treatment with herbatana from petco. Now day three i see no changes if anything fish is worse. Clearly see spot on my other fish also. idk how long im suppose to wait. My fish wont make it a whole ten days at this rate. just ordered ich x. Everyone says it works. Idk if i should drain my tank to treat it with ich x or wait and see if herbatana works. but day three no improvement. I took out my carbon filter so the meds would work. Still have ceramic rings bioballs and spong in my canister. Do bleach kill ich. Can i take my fish out and just bleach the whole tank filter everything. Need help. Its a cichlid tank

[@kosys5338]

The best treatment for ich is prevention. Causes for ich, stress stress stress, I go out of my way to control stress in my fish tanks and have never had a ich outbreak. One of the biggest stressors for fish is over feeding them . Over feeding puts your fish in poor health and pollutes the water both of which will stress your fish. I feed my fish once every other day, not twice a day or even once a day. I also never cheap out on food and only buy the very best foods I can find (Rapashy, Extreme krill flakes, bug bites). Yes these foods are pricey but are well worth the price. The way I see it you have two choices, dealing with fish disease or preventing it and I would much rather prevent it because prevention is just so much easier to deal with. Prevention is also so much cheaper.

[@jerome0929]

Ich claim one of my comet fish. Got 2 at the fair and one died the next day, after that I got a bigger 10 gallon fish tank, filter, air pump, fan, thermometer, decorations, food, instant fish, water conditioner to make sure the last one survive. Got it a friend and that’s the one it died yesterday 😢. I notice the white spots and after googling i found it is ich. My survivor has the white spots now i got a blue liquid medicine but he is just on the floor barely moving

[@nancydesigns6983]

Is the garlic good for snails too? My glofish got ich, and the petco guy tested my water and said there is no bacteria in it and gave me the little bottle of it and said i dont need a medice. But im unsure. I also got omega one food with garlic to hope it works

[@QuebecCichlides]

Not sure about the garlic. The treatment I talk about in the video might be extreme for snails. The information you got is valid. If you don't fix the problem at its source, your fish will keep on getting sick. No point in treating an ammonia filled tank

[@nancydesigns6983]

QuebecCichlides thank you for replying back!

[@robmormile3911]

I know this is an older vid, but i wanted to comment and see if you would respond. awesome if you do :):) I have 10 peacocks and an Ob zebra. The zeb seems to be rubbing itself from time to time on the substrate. Ive noticed some others are now doing the same thing. This has been going on now for about a month and Ive havent seen white spots yet. Any suggestions? 76deg, ph8.2, Kh 13, GH 18. dual sponge filters with bio media and a power head (I hate bubbles(noisy)), Oase biomaster250.

[@harysatria4004]

Malachite green is uncommon in our country, we use metheleyne blue what should we do?

[@QuebecCichlides]

Don't use methylene blue, it kills the bacteria in your filter. Go to your local fish/pet store and check out what ich medication they have. Maybe they have a natural alternative 🐟🤓

[@speakersubject554]

My fish all died from ich, I've never seen it before! All 24, the majority had been around for around four years but when I introduced more fishthis last past time they all died together! I guess it was caught too late. But now that they're gone anybody know how I restart? Do i need to do anything with the water itself? The snails are fine, but the Tetras, pleco, and Prolys are all gone. :(

[@rainsnowflake4664]

The treatment I used for ich is salt, no light, water change 25%, and some medications. In my planted tanks I don't have any fish the get ich easy

[@bernandoturner4840]

❤this video.😀

[@stellarlivingstoned]

Are you a biologist, Richelle?

[@QuebecCichlides]

I'm not. 10+ years experience running my fish store.

[@theanimaladdiction]

Ich is caused by being introduced through new fish

[@kinglyzard]

Or plants. Beware of aquarium plants that are kept in direct contact with fish or their water. Tophonts can stick to plants and furniture, and can live for days or weeks at lower temperatures.

[@theanimaladdiction]

@@kinglyzard personally I've never had a plant cause ich outbreaks but it is most common in petsmart and petco fish. Usually local fish stores wont give u ich infested fish but it's always a good idea to quarantine.

[@kinglyzard]

@@theanimaladdiction I'm thinking Tophonts on plants and furnishings as well as in gravel. Plus tomites can survive in water film around plant. That's all I can point to. Only tough plants like Java Ferns and Anubias can be dipped; all others should be quarantined.

[@kinglyzard]

@@theanimaladdiction Petsmart and Petco are nightmare places to buy anything alive or any food. Only hardware items like tanks, heaters, filters, hoods, etc should be purchased there.

[@theanimaladdiction]

@@kinglyzard yeah it's the only reasonably priced place in my area so used to buy my livebearers from there and they are cool looking fish but dang was it hard to erase the amount of ich I got from there. It made for a good video series of testing different products though so... yeah it's good to get past snails to feed the puffers its good for buying equipment and tanks and stands and stuff. However its fish are rarely good. I buy most my fish now from my local fish store but my brother just got a hippo tang from there and it had saltwater ich that wiped out most his fish. So... not many options.

[@peterdecicco9673]

Im a senior new to all this. Easy on eyes, keeps it simply as i have learning disabilities Very interesting person. Thank U. I saved u as well as others just can't seem to find anyone I save. Any hints please.

[@QuebecCichlides]

Hi Peter. Welcome to my channel. Usually when you go on the KZbin homepage, you can see who you subscribed to on the left hand side of the screen.

[@АнтонПреображенский-ю3и]

Is white slime considered ich disease? Or is it just white spots?

[@QuebecCichlides]

Maybe velvet disease? Ich is just white spots.

[@nicevacs]

I treat ich with heat,salt and garlic oh water changes help and put some beneficial bacteria from other tanks

[@TOMMIENOAKES]

Minched garlic?

[@danielmilsap2890]

The way I get rid of the ick in my Africa, Cichlids tank I just turn up the heat & put Aquarium Salt in tank

[@kazspa27]

Was the ick gone forever or does it come back again ?

[@1LifeAdvs]

Turn the temp up to what temp?

[@4Saken4ever]

My ich treatment is malachite blue and it clearly says it won't harm the beneficial bacteria, just saying

[@davidbogert984]

Just curious. Have you ever had a fish die of ich?

[@QuebecCichlides]

Its happened. Once, when I was new in the company and trying out a new supplier and the fish arrived so sick. I lost the whole tank ☹️ Maybe now, with what I know and understand, I would have been able to save those fish. Live and learn.

[@rickmartin9823]

I really like your videos but to in-depth half way through I had to go back to the start this could turn you off having fish x

[@veronicalindsey7741]

I’m currently treating my cichlids the ich is gone im on day 4 or 5 and no sign but I’m still medicating and have the temp to about 86 degrees and I have the lights off and have added salt they are a lot happier

[@adamcenteno3147]

How can you tell when Ich is gone for good?

[@QuebecCichlides]

I just wait a couple of days.

[@BorislavaAnastasova]

Hi , I have plants and shrimps in my aquarium, its still good to use a product with green malachite or am gonna kill them ?

[@kinglyzard]

Ich X is supposed to be invertebrate safe, but will still do in filter feeders like Vampire and Flower Shrimp. Stains like hell, too. I used high heat and garlic for two weeks. I kept the tank at 88F for 12 days then down to 86F for two, adding garlic for first 4 days until ich fell off fish. Then I jacked the heat and removed garlic, and did big water changes every two days. All fish are ich free now, esp my Clown Loaches, one of which I nearly lost. Complete recovery.

[@tombiga8254]

what is it when the fishes eyes have a white film?

[@Paul_Holman]

Bacterial Infection

[@dredinjeremiah7328]

I was told to put garlic, I'm so concerned about my malawis

[@QuebecCichlides]

Garlic helps with the immune system, but get an actual garlic auarium product. (Ex. Seachem garlic guard). These are safer. I don't use human food directly in the aquarium. As for ICH treatment, follow the steps in the video 😉

No meds folks. Raise temp. Feed garlic+Epsom salt, add sea salt, turn off lights, large water changes. Ich be gone.

[@QuebecCichlides]

Thanks for sharing your opinion. I'm glad that technique works for you and that you were able to get rid of ich.

[@theanimaladdiction]

Garlic does nothing but make them want to eat. Ich x is what you need to cure it

[@trojanhorse6432]

Hi rochelle, are you single?

[@АнтонПреображенский-ю3и]

Loser😅

[@WolverineXXX21]

I’m not sure if it’s ick but I have a fish that I’ve had for roughly a month now it was white fuzzy looking stuff on it just had a water check and that was fine

[@lonelywolf3209]

This is the very first time i have seen a proper n detailed video about ich. You have covered almost every details of ich from reasons 2 medication. Thnx 4 sharing

[@QuebecCichlides]

Thank you for your comment. A lot of research went onto this video. I'm glad it could help 😊