Am I treating Ich correctly?

I'm reviving a long neglected planted aquarium that was overgrown with ugly
plants and algae, and had a few guppies in it. I started cleaning it up
and doing water changes, and when if wasn't all that nasty anymore I bought
a few feeder goldfish. That was a week or 2 ago, and it's looking *much*
better. But I noticed yesterday that one of the fish was not very active,
and the others were scratching themselves in the sand and against the rocks.

I examined the fish and saw that one of them was covered with white dots.
Ick. I dipped out a quart of the tank water and added 2 Tbsp. pickling
salt and stirred until it was dissolved. I took all the fish out one at a
time and dropped them in the salt water for about a minute or until they
fainted, whichever was first. Then put them back in the tank. I added 2
tsp. malachite green (it's a 20 gallon aquarium.) The fish look better
already, and it's only been an hour.

How often do I need to retreat with malachite green? The tank is rather
brightly lit, if that makes a difference. I don't want to add salt to the
tank because of the plants.

BTW, I have a Vortex diatom filter around here somewhere if that would be
useful.

Thanks, and best regards,
Bob

http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/disease/disease.htm
in parasites.

zxcvbob wrote:

I'm reviving a long neglected planted aquarium that was overgrown with ugly
plants and algae, and had a few guppies in it. I started cleaning it up
and doing water changes, and when if wasn't all that nasty anymore I bought
a few feeder goldfish. That was a week or 2 ago, and it's looking *much*
better. But I noticed yesterday that one of the fish was not very active,
and the others were scratching themselves in the sand and against the rocks.

I examined the fish and saw that one of them was covered with white dots.
Ick. I dipped out a quart of the tank water and added 2 Tbsp. pickling
salt and stirred until it was dissolved. I took all the fish out one at a
time and dropped them in the salt water for about a minute or until they
fainted, whichever was first. Then put them back in the tank. I added 2
tsp. malachite green (it's a 20 gallon aquarium.) The fish look better
already, and it's only been an hour.

How often do I need to retreat with malachite green? The tank is rather
brightly lit, if that makes a difference. I don't want to add salt to the
tank because of the plants.

BTW, I have a Vortex diatom filter around here somewhere if that would be
useful.

Thanks, and best regards,
Bob



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

Thanks Ingrid,
Looks like I should treat at nights just before I turn the lights off so
the high light levels won't deactivate the malachite green. Does the 3
days treatment assume warm water? My tank is probably in the high 60's. I
think I'll treat for 3 nights, and hook up the Vortex filter next weekend
to clean up any protozoas still swimming around.

The fish look much happier (and definitely hungrier!) just from their salt dip.

Best regards,
Bob


wrote:
http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/disease/disease.htm
in parasites.

zxcvbob wrote:


I'm reviving a long neglected planted aquarium that was overgrown with ugly
plants and algae, and had a few guppies in it. I started cleaning it up
and doing water changes, and when if wasn't all that nasty anymore I bought
a few feeder goldfish. That was a week or 2 ago, and it's looking *much*
better. But I noticed yesterday that one of the fish was not very active,
and the others were scratching themselves in the sand and against the rocks.

I examined the fish and saw that one of them was covered with white dots.
Ick. I dipped out a quart of the tank water and added 2 Tbsp. pickling
salt and stirred until it was dissolved. I took all the fish out one at a
time and dropped them in the salt water for about a minute or until they
fainted, whichever was first. Then put them back in the tank. I added 2
tsp. malachite green (it's a 20 gallon aquarium.) The fish look better
already, and it's only been an hour.

How often do I need to retreat with malachite green? The tank is rather
brightly lit, if that makes a difference. I don't want to add salt to the
tank because of the plants.

BTW, I have a Vortex diatom filter around here somewhere if that would be
useful.

Thanks, and best regards,
Bob




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

dont worry about the temp. their immune system will take care of the rest. just keep
the temp steady, dont let it drop suddenly that is what brings on ich. Ingrid

zxcvbob wrote:

Thanks Ingrid,
Looks like I should treat at nights just before I turn the lights off so
the high light levels won't deactivate the malachite green. Does the 3
days treatment assume warm water? My tank is probably in the high 60's. I
think I'll treat for 3 nights, and hook up the Vortex filter next weekend
to clean up any protozoas still swimming around.

The fish look much happier (and definitely hungrier!) just from their salt dip.

Best regards,
Bob


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.