can't get rid of ICH

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I have a friend that has 2 black mollies and they have ich. Shes had
them 2 months now and shes been treating them off and on for 1.5
months. Shes taken everything out of the tank and clean it, and the
ich keeps coming back. Any ideas?

[humBill]

Of course the most obvious question is are we sure its ich. Remember when
treating ich the most important time to treat the tank is AFTER the specs
have fallen off (in addition to during). There is a brief window then when
the 'critters' are susceptible to the poison. HTH
Bill

> wrote in message
oups.com...
>I have a friend that has 2 black mollies and they have ich. Shes had
> them 2 months now and shes been treating them off and on for 1.5
> months. Shes taken everything out of the tank and clean it, and the
> ich keeps coming back. Any ideas?
>

[dc]

" > wrote in
oups.com:

> I have a friend that has 2 black mollies and they have ich. Shes had
> them 2 months now and shes been treating them off and on for 1.5
> months. Shes taken everything out of the tank and clean it, and the
> ich keeps coming back. Any ideas?

Tearing down a tank like that is a bad idea. A healthy tank needs
equilibrium, and taking everything out of a tank to clean it interrupts
that severely.

Ich is a very weak parasite. Healthy fish can usually fight it off
without much trouble unless the parasite population explodes (a
breakout) or poor water conditions hamper the fish's immune system,
leading to a breakout. Wild fish and some aquariums are afflicted by
Ich all the time, but if the fish and the environment remains healthy
the parasite population never reaches detectable levels.

Once Ich is incrusted in the substrate or on the surface of an object it
is almost impossible to kill by physical or chemical means until it
ruptures and become free swimming again. Tearing down the tank to clean
it probably won't kill the parasite, but it can damage a vital and
developing nitrifying bacteria culture.

Each Ich incrustation on the fish can produce as many as 1024 new
swarmer cells once the mother cell leaves the fish and begins to divide
in the substrate. Trying to sterilize the tank while leaving the fish
infected is pointless.

The solution for your friend is twofold.

First, she must treat the infection by using an anti-Ich medication.
Malachite green based medications like QuickCure work extremely quickly
and all other factors being equal can eliminate an Ich infestation in
two days.

Secondly, she must find out what caused the fish to become susceptible
to a breakout in the first place. The most common causes are a build-up
of nitrogenous wastes (ammonium, nitrite, and nitrate) or improper pH.
Her ammonia and nitrite levels should undetectable and her nitrate
levels should be below 40 ppm. Mollies prefer a slightly alkaline pH
around 7.4 or so. If her pH is very low, excessive acids and CO2 may be
stressing the fish and contributing to immune system failure. A small
amount of calcium carbonate or other carbonates plus proper surface
aeration will help maintain proper pH in her aquarium.

If your friend addresses both of these issues and maintains her water
quality through monitoring and regular water changes, the Ich parasite
should be completely eliminated within a week.

[dc]

"humBill" > wrote in
om:

> Of course the most obvious question is are we sure its ich. Remember
> when treating ich the most important time to treat the tank is AFTER
> the specs have fallen off (in addition to during). There is a brief
> window then when the 'critters' are susceptible to the poison. HTH

Ich cells don't adhere to a timetable (outside that of the limited 24 hour
lifespan of a free swimming swarmer cell). Ich incrustations are
constantly rupturing, reproducing, and re-assaulting the fish. There is
never a time when an infected fish is completely devoid of Ich pustules.

If you manage to kill ALL of the free swimming parasites it will still take
at least 48 hours for all of the other mother cells in the substrate to
rupture and all of the infested pustules on the fish to pop.

[Koi-Lo]

yea yea yea, just flush the darn fish, mollies are dirt cheap
anyhow.....

On Wed, 07 Jun 2006 17:21:06 -0500, dc > wrote:
>><>"humBill" > wrote in
om:
>><>
>><>> Of course the most obvious question is are we sure its ich. Remember
>><>> when treating ich the most important time to treat the tank is AFTER
>><>> the specs have fallen off (in addition to during). There is a brief
>><>> window then when the 'critters' are susceptible to the poison. HTH
>><>
>><>Ich cells don't adhere to a timetable (outside that of the limited 24 hour
>><>lifespan of a free swimming swarmer cell). Ich incrustations are
>><>constantly rupturing, reproducing, and re-assaulting the fish. There is
>><>never a time when an infected fish is completely devoid of Ich pustules.
>><>
>><>If you manage to kill ALL of the free swimming parasites it will still take
>><>at least 48 hours for all of the other mother cells in the substrate to
>><>rupture and all of the infested pustules on the fish to pop.

[Glassman]

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> I have a friend that has 2 black mollies and they have ich. Shes had
> them 2 months now and shes been treating them off and on for 1.5
> months. Shes taken everything out of the tank and clean it, and the
> ich keeps coming back. Any ideas?
>


Cleaning the tank is like taking a bath to cure yourself of a virus.
Here's what I've found to be the only thing short of putting store bought
chemicals into your tank. Raise the temp to 85 degrees, and double up the
salt in your mollie tank. In a matter of days your ich will be gone. Then
you can lower the temp and do some water changes to reduce the salt content.


--

JK Sinrod
www.sinrodstudios.com
www.MyConeyIslandMemories.com

[Roy]

"~Roy" aka Koi-Lo > wrote in message
...
>
>
> Its b****ing asholes like you that keep the noise level going. Your
> the first ****ing moron to snap today......you poor pityful
> looser......

"Koi-Lo" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> yea yea yea, just flush the darn fish, mollies are dirt cheap
> anyhow.....
>
> On Wed, 07 Jun 2006 17:21:06 -0500, dc > wrote:
> >><>"humBill" > wrote in
> om:
> >><>
> >><>> Of course the most obvious question is are we sure its ich.
Remember
> >><>> when treating ich the most important time to treat the tank is AFTER
> >><>> the specs have fallen off (in addition to during). There is a brief
> >><>> window then when the 'critters' are susceptible to the poison. HTH
> >><>
> >><>Ich cells don't adhere to a timetable (outside that of the limited 24
hour
> >><>lifespan of a free swimming swarmer cell). Ich incrustations are
> >><>constantly rupturing, reproducing, and re-assaulting the fish. There
is
> >><>never a time when an infected fish is completely devoid of Ich
pustules.
> >><>
> >><>If you manage to kill ALL of the free swimming parasites it will still
take
> >><>at least 48 hours for all of the other mother cells in the substrate
to
> >><>rupture and all of the infested pustules on the fish to pop.
>

[Roy]

"~Roy" aka Koi-Lo > wrote in message
...
>
>
> Its b****ing asholes like you that keep the noise level going. Your
> the first ****ing moron to snap today......you poor pityful
> looser......

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> I have a friend that has 2 black mollies and they have ich. Shes had
> them 2 months now and shes been treating them off and on for 1.5
> months. Shes taken everything out of the tank and clean it, and the
> ich keeps coming back. Any ideas?
>

[Roy]

"~Roy" aka Koi-Lo > wrote in message
...
>
>
> Its b****ing asholes like you that keep the noise level going. Your
> the first ****ing moron to snap today......you poor pityful
> looser......

"humBill" > wrote in message
om...
> Of course the most obvious question is are we sure its ich. Remember when
> treating ich the most important time to treat the tank is AFTER the specs
> have fallen off (in addition to during). There is a brief window then
when
> the 'critters' are susceptible to the poison. HTH
> Bill
>
> > wrote in message
> oups.com...
> >I have a friend that has 2 black mollies and they have ich. Shes had
> > them 2 months now and shes been treating them off and on for 1.5
> > months. Shes taken everything out of the tank and clean it, and the
> > ich keeps coming back. Any ideas?
> >
>
>

[~Roy]

"~Roy" aka Koi-Lo > wrote in message
...

Its b****ing asholes like you that keep the noise level going. Your
the first ****ing moron to snap today......you poor pityful
looser......

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> I have a friend that has 2 black mollies and they have ich. Shes had
> them 2 months now and shes been treating them off and on for 1.5
> months. Shes taken everything out of the tank and clean it, and the
> ich keeps coming back. Any ideas?
>

[~Roy]

"~Roy" aka Koi-Lo > wrote in message
...
Its b****ing asholes like you that keep the noise level going. Your
the first ****ing moron to snap today......you poor pityful
looser......

"humBill" > wrote in message
om...
> Of course the most obvious question is are we sure its ich. Remember when
> treating ich the most important time to treat the tank is AFTER the specs
> have fallen off (in addition to during). There is a brief window then
when
> the 'critters' are susceptible to the poison. HTH
> Bill
>
> > wrote in message
> oups.com...
> >I have a friend that has 2 black mollies and they have ich. Shes had
> > them 2 months now and shes been treating them off and on for 1.5
> > months. Shes taken everything out of the tank and clean it, and the
> > ich keeps coming back. Any ideas?
> >
>
>