How Do I Treat Ich?

Oh no! Sick fish?! Come here and see if someone can help!
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Read this before posting!!

Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.

1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.

2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.

3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)

4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.

5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.

We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.

While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.

Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
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munchypuf
Puffer Fry
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Joined: Mon May 18, 2015 9:20 pm
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My Puffers: I have a young figure eight puffer named Munchy.
Location (country): I live on the West Coast of the United States of America.

How Do I Treat Ich?

Post by munchypuf »

My figure 8 puffer has Ich, and I do not know of any good Ich medicines or how to use them. My puffer isn't acting very sick, although he did seem to be breathing a bit heavily for a moment this morning. I have also noticed a bump on him, which has since gone away. If it is a nematode, the Ich medicine won't affect it, right? Thanks!
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Pufferpunk
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Re: How Do I Treat Ich?

Post by Pufferpunk »

Ich is a gill disease, that's why he's breathing hard: http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/vie ... =3&t=28113
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
munchypuf
Puffer Fry
Posts: 26
Joined: Mon May 18, 2015 9:20 pm
Gender: Female
My Puffers: I have a young figure eight puffer named Munchy.
Location (country): I live on the West Coast of the United States of America.

Re: How Do I Treat Ich?

Post by munchypuf »

Thanks PufferPunk. I will start the treatment as soon as possible. The salt and heat method works for brackish fish too, right?
User avatar
Pufferpunk
Queen Admin
Posts: 32764
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
Gender: Female
My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles
Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Re: How Do I Treat Ich?

Post by Pufferpunk »

Are you sure its ich and not just a tiny spines? Is it on the fins, too? What's the SG? Are you using marine salt?
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
munchypuf
Puffer Fry
Posts: 26
Joined: Mon May 18, 2015 9:20 pm
Gender: Female
My Puffers: I have a young figure eight puffer named Munchy.
Location (country): I live on the West Coast of the United States of America.

Re: How Do I Treat Ich?

Post by munchypuf »

I am pretty sure it is Ich, as I could see what looked like little spots on his tail fin. Also, I have noticed that Nibbles is getting a bit skinnier over the past couple of days, but I haven't been feeding him less. I know that this is a sign of internal parasites, but could this be a sign of nematode infection, too? I saw a weird bump on Nibble's back a few weeks ago, but it went away. I then noticed a bump on his chin, which also went away. There is also this weird scar-like ridge above one of his pectoral fins. Is this a nematode? I know that there are two types, the kind in the intestines and the kind beneath the skin. On the bright side, Nibbles isn't acting sick. Can the kind in the intestines cause bumps as well? Sorry for writing such a long post, by the way.
Last edited by munchypuf on Wed Mar 09, 2016 12:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Pufferpunk
Queen Admin
Posts: 32764
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
Gender: Female
My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles
Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Re: How Do I Treat Ich?

Post by Pufferpunk »

You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
munchypuf
Puffer Fry
Posts: 26
Joined: Mon May 18, 2015 9:20 pm
Gender: Female
My Puffers: I have a young figure eight puffer named Munchy.
Location (country): I live on the West Coast of the United States of America.

Re: How Do I Treat Ich?

Post by munchypuf »

Thanks, PufferPunk. I will see if I can get a picture this afternoon.
munchypuf
Puffer Fry
Posts: 26
Joined: Mon May 18, 2015 9:20 pm
Gender: Female
My Puffers: I have a young figure eight puffer named Munchy.
Location (country): I live on the West Coast of the United States of America.

Re: How Do I Treat Ich?

Post by munchypuf »

I've tried to get a picture, but Nibbles won't stay still and the camera on my iPad will not focus on him. He appears to have small white specks on his tail fin, I think that it's ich. Above one of his pectoral fins is a lump that looks like it has a tiny white mark coming off of it. Is this a sign of IPs? Nibbles is a bit skinny, but he is still active and pretty sociable. I also noticed him breathing heavily for a few seconds just a little bit earlier.
User avatar
Pufferpunk
Queen Admin
Posts: 32764
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
Gender: Female
My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles
Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Re: How Do I Treat Ich?

Post by Pufferpunk »

I've already told you to treat for both.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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