Ich outbreak in fry tank.

[lf11casey]

Like the subject says, I have ich in my fry tank.
Currently in the tank are some guppy, platy and cherry barb fry. I have been slowly raising the temp. in the tank, currently at 83 degrees. Is this to high for the cherry barbs or can I go higher?
I have been dosing the tank with Aquari-sol but so far it's not doing any good. I ordered some Rid-Ich+ to try and it should be here today according to Fed-Ex. Should I use a full dose or half it, since it's a fry tank?
Thanks.

[starsplitter7]

I can't answer the dosage question, although I would treat at half. But I would increase aeration as you increase the temperature.

[lf11casey]

Thanks starsplitter7. I'll try just a half dose and see how that goes. I have increased aeration, put in 2 airstones, I think that is enough but will keep and eye on fish.

[chefkeith]

Where did the ich come from? Was it from cross contamination? Or maybe I'm just not understanding something.

[lf11casey]

The fry have been growing out in that tank for about 3 months. I have not added any new fish or any plants to the tank. I have no idea really where it came from. I'm thinking it may be stress related, I was sick and the tank went a couple days longer between water changes then usual.
I just noticed that one of the guppy fry had spots on it. I moved that guppy to the QT but I didn't catch it in time. Now more fry have developed it. So I figured I would just treat the whole tank.

[Diana]

Guppies and Platies are quite tolerant of salt, too. You might look into the salt and heat method for these fish.
High temperature is not required. What it does is to speed up the Ich life cycle. If you can get it over 86*F then the common strain of Ich will die. The problem is getting it that warm all over the tank. The additional problem of aeration, in a fry tank suggests that higher temps are not a good idea.

Water changes that emphasize gravel vacs will help, too. This will remove the fallen Ich before it reproduces.

When changing medicines do a couple of very large water changes and run some activated carbon for a day in between so that the 2 meds are not mixed in the water.

[lf11casey]

Thanks Diana.
I had thought about using salt but I don't know how the cherry barb fry will do with it. The tank is bare bottomed so it's easy to vac. I'm also using 2 sponge filters in the tank, so how should I do the activated carbon. Hang it where the bubbles come out? Beside it?
Thanks

[chefkeith]

The fry have been growing out in that tank for about 3 months. I have not added any new fish or any plants to the tank. I have no idea really where it came from. I'm thinking it may be stress related, I was sick and the tank went a couple days longer between water changes then usual.

Ich does not come from stress. Ich is a parasite and cannot survive it's short life cycle without a host. You probably have ich in other tanks also, but it is at very low levels. Ich can hide in the gills and go unseen for many months.

Keep an eye out for cross contamination.
If you have been using the same gravel vac on every tank these last 3 months, then most likely ich is present in all of the tanks even if you don't see it.

[mistergreen]

just follow the advice above for about 2-3 weeks. It is one of the easiest disease to get rid of with little to no casualties.

[lf11casey]

I haven't noticed any ich in my other tanks yet, but will keep an eye out for it. I use three different gravel vacs and a python, I rotate them. I also run a week bleach solution through them, soak in Stress Coat+ then hang to dry. Hopefully ich doesn't end up in all my tanks, that would suck.

[lf11casey]

I took a closer look at the fry today and it looks like only my guppies have spots. The platy and cherry barbs have no spots at all. I'm starting to wonder if what I have is guppy disease, can't remember what causes it. But not totally sure since not all symptoms of this are present. But from what I understand the treatment is still the same as ich. Does anyone know if this is correct?

[starsplitter7]

My female guppies in several tanks all came down with something. The males in another tank are fine. The females are all related, but live spread out in my tanks, and they started getting filmy and spotty at the same time. If I didn't treat them, they died. I caught most of them and put them in a Q-tank with antibiotics (Maracyn 1 and 2) and salt. I acclimated them super slowly. The water is about 78 degree. I used aquarium salt -- about 1 tsp per gallon.

In about two days all of them cleaned up and looked much better. in a week, they were back to normal. They are feeding like pigs and look generally healthy now. The fry they are having in their Q tank eat well and appear healthy.

[lf11casey]

I still have not gotten rid of the ich or whatever the heck it is. It's driving me nuts. It's still only the guppies that have it, the platy and cherry fry still have no spots at all.
I'm thinking maybe I should move cherry fry to a spare 10gl, to many guppies for a 10gl, and then maybe trying salt on the guppies. Or should I just leave cherries in fry tank and see how they do with the salt?
I'm also wondering if my Rid-Ich is possibly deffective or something. When I add it to the water it turns it blue, which I know is supposed to happen since it is blue, but after like an hour the water is perfectly clear again. There is no activated carbon in the tank it's just 2 sponge filters. Wouldn't the water stay blue longer or is it supposed to dissipate that fast?
Blah I'm clueless on what to do now.

[Diana]

Rid Ich: Are you using Amquel or Amquel Plus?
Right on the Amquel label it says not to use it with the dye based Ich meds.
Check your dechlor, no matter which you are using to be sure. Check at the manufacturers web site. (Kordon makes Amquel)

This late, I would separate the fry. If only the Gups have whatever this is after this long it may well be the Guppy specific problem mentioned above. If it really was Ich I would think the first fish to catch it would be dead by now, and most or all the fish in the tank would have it.

Separate the fry into their own species tank and treat according to which med they can handle. Salt for livebearers is fine. Probably no salt for the Barbs.
If you are going to use Maracyn and Maracyn II for the Guppies: Turn off the tank light. No UV. Increase aeration. These products are fine with salt in the tank, specifically says so on the label. With a low dose of salt you will still use the fresh water variety of these two meds.

[lf11casey]

I'm using Stress Coat+ as my water conditioner. Just checked website and it didn't say anything, I'll recheck bottle.
I'll move the cherries to a different tank since it is only the guppies that have it. Now that I think of it, I have not even lost one fish to this mysterious ailment.
I'll move the cherries like I said, do a water change and hang a HOB filter packed with some carbon on the tank. Give it 24hrs and then try the salt. Do you think adding some Melafix would be a good idea? Have to wait till payday to get the Maracyns.
Thanks.