MBU HAS 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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BryanG
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MBU HAS ICH!!

Post by BryanG »

Hey guys. My Mbu has a pretty bad case of Ich and the only thing I have been brave enough to treat with, due to puffers delicate nature, is Aquari Sol which has had no effect. Does anyone have any remedies they have used that work?

Water parameters:
PH 7.2
Ammonia 0
Nitrate less than 20
Nitrite 0
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Re: MBU HAS ICH!!

Post by Lil' Swimz$ »

Tempatures above 86F kill ich. Make sure to keep lots of flow and add some airstones to keep it oxygenated.

EDIT: nope. :) I was wrong. 89F kills. I was close!
Last edited by Lil' Swimz$ on Fri Jul 01, 2011 8:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: MBU HAS ICH!!

Post by bertie 83 »

Salt and heat works well failing that I have heard ridich is fine also Esha exit anti whitespot is puffer safe
It's amazing how easy maintenance is. If done regularly and thoroughly
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Re: MBU HAS ICH!!

Post by BryanG »

Is 86° puffer safe? Buying salt this evening so hopefully that and heat will do the trick.
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Re: MBU HAS ICH!!

Post by Lil' Swimz$ »

It has been found that Ich does not infect new fish at 29.4°C/85°F (Johnson, 1976), stops reproducing at 30°C/86°F (Dr. Nick St. Erne, DVM, pers. comm.), and dies at 32°C/89.5°F (Meyer, 1984)
[/quote]

http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_ich2.php


I'd say its puffer safe just make sure to keep the water plenty aerated.
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Re: MBU HAS ICH!!

Post by chuckfriedrice »

I was with the understanding that the high temperature speeds up the ichs life cycle not kill it ! Just what I was told !
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Re: MBU HAS ICH!!

Post by Pufferpunk »

Chuck is correct. You also must do 80% WC, while vacuuming the substrate every other day, to remove the free-swimming cysts.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

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Re: MBU HAS ICH!!

Post by BryanG »

So should I not worry about the water temp at all?
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Re: MBU HAS ICH!!

Post by Pufferpunk »

Please follow the article in our Library on this.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

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Re: MBU HAS ICH!!

Post by Nuclear_Glitter »

Also, do you have any idea what caused his ich? After you get rid of it you're going to want to prevent it from happening again.

What's his tank size? Your water changing schedule? Do you test your water often?

ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Freshwater/T_Mbu/

library/puffers-in-focus/mbuforyou/

and this is the article Pufferpunk was talking about: library/hospital/fwich/

Read all three.
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Re: MBU HAS ICH!!

Post by BryanG »

Yes I do have some idea what caused it. I recently introduced a couple good size needle nose gars and I believe the rosey reds, or the gars themselves, brought the ich in the tank. Up until that point my Mbu was the only fish in the tank, 75 gallon overflow w/ 20 gallon sump. The gars have since been taken out as I care too much about my puffer to mess with this stuff again.

I have read all the articles and I know what I am getting into. I do weekly water changes of 15% and syphon the gravel every time. I test the water 3 times a week as well.
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Re: MBU HAS ICH!!

Post by BryanG »

Also is there anything special I should do with my driftwood and plants? Do I need to toss them and buy new?
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Re: MBU HAS ICH!!

Post by Pufferpunk »

You can keep his decor. What are you plans for upgrading? He won't last long in a 75g.
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Re: MBU HAS ICH!!

Post by Dadof4 »

I don't think the Needle Nose Gar brought ich to the tank. Ich is a disease of opportunity and stressful conditions cause the fish to weaken and become more susceptible to it, usually first in scaleless fish. Being in the tank he is currently in, even though your water quality is very good, your MBU was on the edge of becoming immune compromised due to stress anyway. Adding the Needle Nose Gar (that can reach close to 2 feet each) more than likely pushed him over the edge. Get the Gar out, follow the article on treating Fresh Water Ich, and plan on moving to a larger tank.
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Re: MBU HAS ICH!!

Post by BryanG »

Yeah I am aware he won't last long in the tank he is currently in. I am purchasing a 180g in a couple months and that will be followed by a 300g. After the 300 I will be looking for a permanent home for him of around 500-700g.
Fairy tales do not tell children that dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed. - G. K. Chesterton
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