Has anyone used Wardley's Ickaway with success for ich?

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ey
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Has anyone used Wardley's Ickaway with success for ich?

Post by ey » Sun May 21, 2006 11:00 am

I have ich in my tank (clown and yoyo loaches) and put in the 1st dosage of Wardley's Ickaway tonight at half dose. The instructions say not to use more than once a week, so does this mean the next dosage should be at the earliest, in 7 days?

I've never used Wardley's Ickaway to treat ich in the past, so I am not sure about its success rate on clown and yoyo loaches, though I am trusting the LFS as they recommended it highly.

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TammyLiz
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Post by TammyLiz » Sun May 21, 2006 11:44 pm

I looked up Wardley's and see the active ingredient is malachite green. I have used a med that included malachite green and formalin successfully on ich with yoyo loaches. A half dose is reccommended for loaches since it can be harsh. I see that is what you have done. However, I doubt that adding it only once would do much. It seems to dissapate and after a short amount of time the water no longer looks blue. The bottle I have instructs to add it every day, and I believe ich must be treated for two weeks in order to insure it does not immediately return. So a half dose, once a day, every day for two weeks, and you should be rid of it. I heard that keeping the lights low helps as well. I don't know why, exactly, so it may be just a rumor but it seemed to help with mine. I kept seeing spots until I turned the lights off, then they were gone after two days. I'm not sure if it was a coincidence.

EDIT: Also make sure you don't have any carbon in your filter. Its easy to forget and leave it in there if you usually use it.

libingboy
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Post by libingboy » Mon May 22, 2006 4:28 am

http://www.fishdoc.co.uk/treatments/malachite.htm

malachite green is deactivated by light...
and a med with both malachite green and formalin is supposed to work better.
http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/ich.shtml

ey
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Post by ey » Mon May 22, 2006 6:56 am

libingboy wrote:http://www.fishdoc.co.uk/treatments/malachite.htm

malachite green is deactivated by light...
and a med with both malachite green and formalin is supposed to work better.
http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/ich.shtml
Hi libingboy, thanks forthe links. On the first link, I read it and it says "Malachite green is reported to be toxic to tetras, catfish and loaches", unfortunately, I have all these fish in my community tank that I am treating whitespot, so does this imply the Malachite green can kill the loaches?

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Emma Turner
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Post by Emma Turner » Mon May 22, 2006 10:12 am

Treatments based on Malachite Green + Formalin tend to be the most effective against external protozoans such as whitespot. Both are fairly nasty chemicals in their own right, and they have to be used carefully. Many catfish, loaches, and characins (tetras) are particularly sensitive to Malachite Green, hence why treatments containing this product say to use at half the normal dosage rates. Malachite Green can sometimes affect the nitrogen cycle after a few days, so monitor your water conditions carefully. Formalin can remove oxygen from the water (as can higher temperatures) so make sure you aerate the tank adequately.

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ey
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Post by ey » Mon May 22, 2006 11:06 am

Thanks Emma. Now I know where the "half dosage" comes into the dosage amount, for loaches, catfish and tetras.

I'll definitely keep testing the water twice a day to ensure the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels aren't spiking and aeration has been increased.

ey
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Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2006 9:22 am

Post by ey » Mon May 22, 2006 11:09 am

TammyLiz wrote:I looked up Wardley's and see the active ingredient is malachite green. I have used a med that included malachite green and formalin successfully on ich with yoyo loaches. A half dose is reccommended for loaches since it can be harsh. I see that is what you have done. However, I doubt that adding it only once would do much. It seems to dissapate and after a short amount of time the water no longer looks blue. The bottle I have instructs to add it every day, and I believe ich must be treated for two weeks in order to insure it does not immediately return. So a half dose, once a day, every day for two weeks, and you should be rid of it. I heard that keeping the lights low helps as well. I don't know why, exactly, so it may be just a rumor but it seemed to help with mine. I kept seeing spots until I turned the lights off, then they were gone after two days. I'm not sure if it was a coincidence.

EDIT: Also make sure you don't have any carbon in your filter. Its easy to forget and leave it in there if you usually use it.
Thanks for the reply TammyLiz. The bottle I have instructs to use no more than once a week, so I might wait at least another few days to see if there are any results.

I've also heard that keeping the lights off works during treatment, something to do with the cysts (parasites) being more dangerous and more likely to be able to find a fish to attach itself to when the tank lights are on.

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