Loaches Online Forum

I need some advice from weather loach keepers or enthusiasts. I am sad to say that the Denison barbs in our tank have ich. They have been with us for almost a month, and I am now kicking myself for not using a qt. I, however, cannot turn back the hands of time. In this tank, we have 11 Denison barbs (we lost the smallest one in the beginning stages of ich), 13 gold barbs, and seven weather loaches. The gold barbs and weather loaches show no signs of ich on their bodies. The denisons have had spots for three days, and we started treating with Ich-X a few hours after noticing the spots (half a dose, for the weather loaches sake). We did try to catch the Denison barbs out of the 220g prior to treatment to put them in a 20g hospital tank, which I regret now, as the first guy we caught died soon after. So, we decided to leave them in and treat the whole tank.

Things are looking better for some of the denisons, but others still seem to be struggling and showing spots. I am concerned about the weather loaches. We have slowly raised the temperature from 70 to 80, I actually just turned it down a little (about 78), as I am so worried about the weather loaches.

Two questions:

1)Has anyone used Ich-X with weather loaches in the tank (keep in mind we are doing half a dose, not sure if we should up this, or switch to a different med)? If so, what were the results?

2) At what temperature would you recommend we keep the tank while this horrible ordeal continues (again, keeping the weathers in mind)?

Any suggestions, comments, or advice welcome - I'm feeling helpless here.

Here is a way to dose that might help:

Continue with the half dose, but dose that twice a day.
Here is why:
When you dose a full dose it gradually breaks down through the day, so that when it is at its weakest (right before you dose again) it is still active against Ich. But the fish are exposed to the highest dose once a day. If they are sensitive to it, this could be too much.
When you dose just half too much of it breaks down over 24 hours, and Ich can survive.
If you dose half the rate, but twice a day then you are adding the second dose when the first is well on its way to breaking down. So the fish are not exposed to the highest level, but the active ingredient is in the water at an effective dose.

Such is the theory, anyway.

When you keep the temperature higher increase the aeration in the tank. Warmer water holds less oxygen. Add a power head, raise the outlet of the filter, add a bubbler... whatever it takes to get more oxygen in the water.

Do not use a UV sterilizer while you are using a medication, the medication might get broken down.

Thanks for the reply. We did a double half dose today (that makes sense, thanks), and we lowered the water level so that the spray bars act as waterfalls. We also have two sponge filters running, so hopefully there is enough movement (we do not have a power head, but if anyone starts to show any signs of stress, we'll get an extra bubbler - so far so good). Tonight, only two of the 11 Denison barbs have white spots (and not much, just a couple on their heads), everyone else in the tank looks great. So, hopefully this is running its course and will be done soon.

Again, thank you...this has been an awful experience...I'm so worried about my finned babies...