Dwarf puffer has ich. :(

[Lil' Swimz$]

I got 3 dwarf puffers last Friday. I got 1 male, Bullet, and 2 females, Bug and DJ. They are in a 5 gallon. My tank is at 80 degrees F but sometimes gets up to 82. I noticed today that Bullet had a piece of ich on his tailfin. I put a small pinch of aquarium salt in the tank. I am also going to do very frequent water changes. How long is this going to last? Please help me!

[lilgirlkat]

There's an article for treatment of Ich in the library.

How I treated my ich was 1 tbs aquarium salt per 5 gallons.. temps up to 86 (to speed the Ich life cycle) and 50% water changes every other day -- adding more salt to compensate for the salt removed. This lasts for a month. It's a pain, but it works.

[LilGreenPuffer]

When the ich disappears, DO NOT stop treatment. Carry out the full month. Otherwise, it will come back. It's like a ghost, or, as I once heard, a ninja - it lies in wait, and then BAM!

Are you sure, though, that it's ich? It could just be a scratch of some sort, or maybe a fungus. Can you get us a close-up? Ich usually shows up as multiple white spots, rather than just one. When my betta got it, I woke up one morning, and he was crusted. He had been fine the night before.

[Lil' Swimz$]

It started as one but now it's turned into 2/3 pieces.

[seventy]

I lost a spiny box to ICH last year, and the sad part was that I could have prevented it if I had followed through, so pleeeeaaasssee follow through the full 2-4 wk treatment. It will appear to go away periodically and then come back, OR it will release from the fish at different intervals. The first time might be easy, but the second time is really hard on the fish. One of the techniques is to have the fish in quarantine with no rocks, sand, or decoration. This way the parasite is easily removed by the frequent water changes since it has nowhere to go once it leaves the fish.

[Lil' Swimz$]

Thanks. What medication do you prefer? I'm in the US. $$$

[seventy]

I think theres already a thread on this. There are alot of options, but i deal mostly with sw and id think treating a 5 gal fw tank would be easy to over-medicate. Just do some research, theres alot of stuff out there.

[LilGreenPuffer]

For puffers, the best medication is the add aquarium salt, like the kind made by API. (For saltwater puffers, that's a different story.) Any other medication will be too harsh on your puffer, due to the fact that it has no scales and its skin is so delicate. For a 5g tank, dose 1/2tbsp., but mix it with the water before you put it in the tank, when you're doing a water change. Also, doing a water change every other day is important, and replace the salt each time (if you do a 50% change, add another 1/4tbsp.). Raising the temp helps, too.

[Lil' Swimz$]

I've already got the recommended dose of salt, but the problem is my heater does not adjust. Its at 76 now.

[LilGreenPuffer]

Try a desk lamp. If it has a flourescent bulb, try to get an incandescent. Put it near, but not too near, and move it a bit closer if you need to. Just be very careful that you don't overheat, especially in such a small tank.

[Lil' Swimz$]

You mean flourescent? The light in my tank is that, but it gets too hot if I leave it for too long. I can try it, but I'll have to move it farther away. I'm going to do that right now. I just got done doing a 50% water change too.

[LilGreenPuffer]

Incandesent bulbs burn hotter. I managed to get a 1/2g from 76 to 82 while treating ich using an incandescent bulb. 86 is ideal, though.

[Lil' Swimz$]

We'll see what happens, so far is only at 77.

[Lil' Swimz$]

LilGreen, temps up to 80!

[LilGreenPuffer]

Keep an eye on it. Don't let it overheat.