"Elaine T" wrote in message
. ..
Ross Vandegrift wrote:
Hello everyone. One of my clown loaches is ill, and it appears to be
Ich, since the other loaches in the tank all have a dot or two. The
infirmary tank is already setup and the temperature is stabilizing.

A while back, there was a suggestion that Aquarisol + MelaFix helps with
clown loaches' Ich [1]. I'm definitely dosing this in my 5gal infirmary
tank, and will try some of the other suggestions (though I don't have a
UV filter). Sick dude will be moved tonite.

The question - what to do about the main tank? In particular, I have a
few shrimp in there, so the Aquarisol would be a bad idea. MelaFix
doesn't have a similar warning on it, and it doesn't appear to contain
copper - is it safe for everyone?

Of course water changes and temperature (though see my next post about
the Marineland Dual-temp heater...)


[1]
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/...a66bd311de89ef
specifically, though the thread is interesting before the flamewar.

I've gotten lucky and successfully treated clowns with Quick Cure. If I
had a loach with ich again, that's what I'd personally try first.
However, your reference mentions clowns dying with formalin/malachite
preparations. It probably depends on how sick the fish are before you
hit them with the somewhat toxic medicine. I tend to treat ich fast and
early before it weakens the fish.

Did you find this reference? http://www.loaches.com/copper.html It
talks about Coppersafe, Jungle Ich Guard II (straight formalin) and high
temps/salt to treat ich on loaches.

For the main tank, I just cleared ich out of my tank last month with 85
degrees and 1 tsp/gallon salt. I didn't want to add the usual
tbsp/gallon because the tank is planted. My crypts "melted" a bit
anyway but they've grown back nicely.

As for MelaFix, I don't know much about it since it's new since I was
last keeping tanks.

--
__ Elaine T __
__' http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__

I had Ich when I first put in my big clowns. My understanding is that it is
the tank that needs treating rather than individual fish. Ich spreads when
the cysts/spores drop from the fish - without treating the main tank they
will always be present in the water. Fish become more likely to get this if
they are stressed or otherwise unhealthy - none of my existing fish
succumbed - just the newly introduced Clowns who were probably stressed out
by the move. Raising the temperature of the tank speeds up the cycle of the
Ich which means that you can treat it more effectively/quickly. The
treatment, as I understand it, generally works when the cysts drop from the
fish prior to reinfection - so they are in the water. This is also one of
the reasons why you treat more than once.

When I had the problem I used Interpet Anti White Spot plus which seemed to
be very effective....I've only had one instance of a single spot on one of
the Clowns at which point I re-treated the tank (twice). It claims to be
safe with all fish/plants apart from Mormyrids. If you are worried about
your shrimps it might be better to quarentine them rather than the Clown as
it is really the water that you need to treat rather than the fish.

With respect to MelaFix - this is not an Ich treatment. It apparently treats
Fin & Tail rot; Open Red Sores, Open Body Wounds; Eye cloud; Pop Eye; Body
Slime and Mouth Fungus - this is straight off a bottle of the stuff.....

Gill