Ichthyophthirius multifilis (Ich)/ White Spot treatment advice?

Well, this is quite a bummer.. seems another glowlight in my main tank is also showing a few small white dots, so looks like taking the only ones with signs of Ich out didn't do much good, I didn't have time to go to anywhere today to buy white spot medication, and I'm super busy at work at the moment, so the only chance I'll get will be on the weekend.

I did add a hand full of aquarium salt this morning to both tanks though, I'll keep doing 20% water changes and slowly raise the temperature of my main tank (QT is all ready sitting on 28 degrees).

Feeling really crap about this though.. any advice on what I can do in the meantime before I get the White spot medicine, also, which brand/type of medicine should I look for??

Thanks,

M

 

Raising the temp to 30'c is recommended to speed up the life cycle of the Ich, but if you can get to get some meds, the waterlife one is very effective. Just make sure you work the dosage out correctly!

Regards
G!

 

Thanks G!

I didn't want to push up the temp too high, wanted to get some info first.. but both tanks are sitting on 28 degrees, will push it up to 30 tonight and get the meds the weekend, will keep on doing 20% waterchanges.

Timing really sucks for this as I usually am on the road quite a bit and have time to stop off at LFS and LPS to get supplies, but this week I'm really busy at Head Office.

Anyhow, thanks once again, really hope I get it sorted.

Regards,

M

 

Hi all, so far so good, I bought Ich treatment and the fish seem to have lost all white-spots and are much more lively and so on, BUT I have yet another issue:

I bought "Rid-All - Anti-Ich" which countains the following active ingredients:

Methylene Blue B.P.C. with Acid Oxalate of ANHYDRODI (p-Dimenthylamino)
Triphenylmethanol ratio 13:1

I used the correct dosage of about 5ml to 50L, left for 24hrs and did a water change now, to find that EVERYTHING in my tank is stained BLUE.. the silicone of the tank, the silicone sucker of my thermometer, my red Jasper rocks, my iron rock pebbles, EVERYTHING is now a different colour (Due to the blue colour of the Medicine).

Will this go away over time or am I stuck with this off colour rubbish now? If this is the case, I will be sending my bill to the LFS I bought this from, as NO ONE said this product will stain my tank, nor is there ANY warning on the bottle, as this is the first time I ever treated for Ich and if they knew about this, they should definitely warn me about this as they know my history regarding what fish I keep and what drama I've been going through with the crappy livestock I bought from them.

To be quite frank, I'm fed up with this tank and the LFS's lack of advice and knowledge and have a good mind to pack up and give all the equipment back and ask for a refund, including what I spent on their disease ridden livestock as I've only got 4x Serpae left, 2x Danios & 1x Cherry Barb, the rest all died in under a week, and I know my water is fine as I tested the parimiters before I bought the fish as well as during the week and it's all stable.

Anyhow, please let me know if this will go away or not so that I can take this up with the LFS.

Thanks,

M

 

Um... I think the blue stays there hay... It's one of the things to look for when you buy a tank setup / fish, because that'll give you an idea of what medicine was used in the tank. The silicone will stay blue.

Sorry bud! Mine also has a blue tint after I treated with Tetra ContraSpot.

 

I'm really not happy about this, it messed up all my stones, pebbles, silicone and thermometer sucker. I'm going to go speak to the owner of the LFS I buy my stuff from.

The owner of the LFS that gave me the medicine should've warned me that it stains stuff, then I would've moved all my fish to my QT tank and treated in there, but I thought that seeing that all my fish and plants are in my nice tank, I'll just treat in there, coz there was no warning or anything about this.

Does anyone perhaps know if adding white vinegar would help clean this stuff off (read somehwere that one can use white vinegar or a baking soda and water paste).

**Sigh**

Really tired of this mess now, thankfully my Malawi setup is still running 100%.

 

I'm surprised the rocks and gravel were also stained? I know it can stain the silicone, and althought the silicone will not go back to normal, it may fade over time, so won't look as bad as it does now?

Vinegar can help remove some of the colouration, but is more used for removing salt build up, particularly when someone has had a Marine tank, and wants to change it to freshwater. Obviously, you would not add vinegar to the tank, but would have to strip down the tank and wash it empty. If you added vinegar to a full tank, it would most likely kill the fish, and would not even slightly effect any stains!

Still, unless you had taken all livestock out for over a month, you would have had to treat the tank anyhow, as the parasite is in the tank, and not just on the fish, so in a sense, its not a bad thing to have treated the actual tank, other than the blue aftermath.

Sorry this tank is bumming you out so much! Just goes to show once again that LFS's cannot be trusted, and generally their livestock are poor quality. There are very few that are any good. It is accepted that certain fish like neons, Otocinclus, Kuhli loaches and other such fish are dificult to acclimatise, so mortality rates are high, and so that doesn't matter so much as to where you buy from, but the majority of LFS's don't care, and just sell fish that are poor quality and in terrible shape. Thats why now, I generally only buy from other Forumites or the sponsors.

Regards
G!

 

Hi Guys,

All of this treatment with antiquated medications for Ich is actually ridiculous.

I have written on other occasions that medications such as methylene blue, Malachite Green and acriflavin should be put in the museum of fishkeeping and not used at all any more. Why they are still used in medications is because all the older literature indicates that they should be used, whilst in actual fact these medications are carcinogenic and therefore actually damage fishes, and secondly, due to the excessive use of these medications in the East, Malaysia and Singapore, all the disease forming organisms including ich are resistant to them. So not only are they totally useless but they are harmful as well.

Now, instead of using these medications for Ich, velvet and other protozoal diseases there is a much more effective and better alternative, and this is Metranidazole, which is the active ingredient of human medication for such diseases, and this is sold as Flagyl in various dosages or there are many generics which work just as well. Use it at 7 mg/l. Take the tablets, crush them between two teaspoons and put the white powder in your aquarium. It will form milky cloud but will dissolve after about an hour. This does nothing to plants or filtration and is also completely safe with the fishes. After three days do a 50% water change and repeat the dosage (it is important to do the repeat), and again after three days do another 50% waterchange and then all should be ok. You need no elevated temperatures, no salt, nothing additionally and it works like a shot.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Thanks Professor.

Pity I didn't have this information handy last week when I messed up my entire tank and it's rocks with this horrible blue concoction.


So if I have understood the above correctly, I just have to ask/look for Flagyl at a pharmacy? Or where would I get this product?

Thanks once again.

P.S. On a side note, I went to the LFS today, unfortunately the owner wasn't there, but I will go back on Saturday and tell them I want a new tank, and they can take the old one apart and re-silicone it.

 

You should be able to removed the colour with house bleach. I think the petshop owner is going to refuse your request because you medicated on your own risk.......

Flagyl or a generic can be obtained from a pharmacy. The pharmacist needs to know what you want to use the medication for as it is a prescription drug, but if you explain they will normally give you the drug and it is actually not expensive either.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Should have checked on back of box first. Mine says, and I quote, "This product will permanently stain silicone in the aquarium and some types of rocks and decor (so these should be removed)." It's in a little box that has CAUTION in it.

 

Hmmm.. the LFS doesn't sell it in any box.. just a bunch of bottles on the shelves..

Thanks for the info (though a bit "snotty"), but thanks none the less.

 

Thanks again Professor.

Worst case, I'll buy a new one, thankfully it isn't my 1.5m tank. I'll then keep this one, maybe redo it myself and then I have ANOTHER tank. Hahaha.. MTS kicking in!

 

No problem.

 

Advise

Hi there guys.

Would the Flagyl treatment be safe for a Elephant Nose / Ancistrus and Whiptail ?

We seem to be having a Ich breakout in our 4 foot tank and I would like to know before we start treatment.

 

I am dosing for 2 days now and my Elephant nose is fine.

 

Thanks Tom.

Will give it a try and keep you posted.

Regards

Dunerat

 

@Dirk Bellstedt
Prof, I had a case of something similar to white spot, on one phantom tetra. As you explained to Jane as well, it can not be ich, as there was nothing new introduced to the tank for weeks.

I used your advice and dosed Flagyl. The two white patches is now gone after 3 days. I am now in two minds if should I repeat the dose. I think I should, as with any antibiotic, if you do not finish the job, you just create resistance.

 

Tom,

Your conclusion does not make sense. It cannot be ich as you have described, so how can not dosing a second time cause resistance. Such white patches can be caused by many things including sliminess of the skin caused by Chilodinella, but again this would have to be introduced and you did not introduce anything (Chilodinella is also a protozoal disease and would respond to metranidozole treatment). But how can this cause resistance to the medication if there is nothing?

Which types of phantoms are these? If they are red phantoms you need to keep them at lower temps or else they are super prone to disease.....

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

No Prof, they are black phantoms. I am scared of resistance, as it looks like a fungus. If a fungus can build resistance, I do not know. It was present for days before I eventually decided to try Flagyl and disappeared within three days when I did. As Flagyl is an antibiotic, I suspected resistance if the course is not completed, as we are always warned. I said I am in two minds, hence my question to you.

It is this sentence that made me try Flagyl. How those diseases is introduced and even what they are, I do not have a clue. As you said it can not be harmful to fish or bacteria, I decided to try it, as it sounded similar to what I saw, and it worked.

All I wanted to know is, do I repeat the dose or not?