Method for curing Ich

[Agnate]

Ugh, looks like my cute little Ceylons have Ich, as there are little white spots on their fins (I just noticed them now). So what's the best way to get rid of this?

I believe it goes something along the lines of bringing the temperature up to 85 degrees and doing a daily water change of about 50% (while vacuuming the substrate), yes? Should I get some medications for it, or am I fine to avoid them?

PS - I did read the article, and it mentions medications, but doesn't really suggest whether they're mandatory or not...

[SpockthePuffer]

I think I remember pufferpunk saying that meds don't work/aren't necessary if you raise the temp and do that method. I really have no idea though cause I've never had to deal with ich, *crosses fingers/knocks on wood*

[Agnate]

Yeah, it is really screwing up my fish plans, which involves switching one of my brackish to freshwater for the Abei puffer, and such. It's also going to get expensive to do a 50% water change for the next 30 days on my 55 gallon (for me, anyways). I could set up a quarantine tank, but I was hoping to sell that tank to recover some of the money I spent (that I shouldn't have). It also puts a huge hiccup in a bunch of my other plans, especially because I'm packed for homework for the next week.

Would my 2 Ceylons and the Knight Goby even get along in a 20 gallon quarantine? I mean, I could probably put the Goby in a 10 gallon, but then I've got two extra tanks with no real place to put them...

[Pufferpunk]

Ich doesn't live 30 days. Just continue doing WC for 10 days after the spots disappear. Do they look like salt? It's not that meds don't work but they usually kil the ich & your fish right along with it. You could skip the WC that often & try the heat & salt. What SG are they at now?

[Agnate]

Yeah, the little spots just look like salt (round, pure-white dots on the fins, and they don't appear to have any depth to them). Right now they're at an SG of 1.007. I guess I'll just do the heat + water changes to make sure it goes away. Should I remove all the decor in order to vacuum every bit of sand, or should I leave it there (to avoid the hassle) and just vacuum the accessible parts?

[mikeosoft]

Make sure you have a lot of surface agitation to keep the tank very well oxygenated when you raise the temperature. Temperature and oxygen content have an inverse relationship, so as you raise the temp the oxygen levels will go down.

[-Russ=]

I've always had luck with the salt + WC. Granted I've only had Ich a few times, but there are survivors. When I do WC's I always clean the gravel really good. If I remember how ich works the eggs hatch on in the gravel then swim up and attach to the fish, so the more you vacuum the more you suck away before they hatch. i've also heard that keeping your tank in the dark, like pitch black blankets over the tank dark, helps because if the Ich don't attach within a certain period of time they die, and if it's dark they can't see your fish.