why do they keep getting ick?

[krissy]

i love loaches.... right now i have 6 kuhli's in a small 10 g tank. my question isn't about that though, over the last few months i've bought a dojo, a clown and a yo-yo loach and all of them have died from either ick or from a furry infection on their skin.... i am looking forward to getting more loaches but worried too.
How do i keep them from getting ick as soon as i put them in my tank? none of my other fish have ick, and my tank has gone through 3 weeks of salt and darkness treatment after my last loach passed away. why do they always get ick?

[LoachOrgy]

krissy be patient. i had to go through a few weeks of ich with new introductions. its probably stress related but at times i find almost 70% of the fish from the lfs tend to get ich within the first week in the tank. this is why it is advised to isolate them before introducing them into the tank.

also you should read the species index for growth parameters and such. loaches are a bit more vulnerable to ich. i don't know but i think you should tend to keep clowns and dojos separate. i am not sure of this but it should tell you in the species index. i think they have different temps and water parameters. they don't have scales. make sure you read the ich treatment post.

if you are getting bacterial contamination as well you probably have a bit of decaying matter sitting in your tank under the gravel. how often do you do water change? do you have any other source of oxygen in the water. i would suggest getting a jethead. i know 10 gallons is a small tank. you should think about upgrading tanks as well to fit the particular species you want to keep. i had big problems with bacteria and ich when i didn't have full water circulation in the tank. once i added a jethead to my tank. it cleared up most of my problems. the other problem i had was water changes. i would only change once a week or two weeks. its advisable with clowns at least to change the water fortnightly. i do a 25% water change once a week and a 50% water change twice a week. so i get two good water changes a week. it could also be that you are overfeeding as well. does your water get cloudy at times? im no pro but i bet some others will be able to answer your problems in more detail. hope this helps.

i used antibacterial additives and melafix for fin rot. i am not sure what the symptoms are of your fish but you may want to post some pictures or discriptions of some of the problems you have.

[krissy]

I have a 29 gal tank, which is where i put my other loaches, the 10 g is just my species tank for coolies. right now i clean about 30% a week in the big tank and 40 or so in the small tank. perhaps i should have a better water movement in the tank.... and i did a real good cleaning in the big tank since my last ick breakout. i'm not sure about water perimeters because i don't have a test kit right now, but the water seems to be clear and i add a bit of cycle when i change the water. i have enough filtration on the 29 g for a 50g so i think it stays clean well. i did not know loaches needed so many water changes, but i like doing it so that's okay....

[mistergreen]

Bump up the temperature to 85-86F.. And add a tablespoon of aquarium salt.

And do frequent water change.
I'm going through the same thing in my quarentine tank. If ich doesn't go away, I'll have to go buy meds.


I think I'll have to wait a week or 2 to see if it clears up.

[ckk125]

hello,

I've gone through the torture of losing my clowns due to white spot...lost around 15 5-6 inches clown loaches...tried methylene blue,copper safe, and most of the ich meds...but nothing rivals heat and rich levels of oxygen..it works almost instantaneously. push the temp up to 91F...i may sound stupid here..but the loaches CAN survive up to that temperature....just dont do it too fast..gradual increase of temperature and add airstones...they just cleared off in 3 days..no fuss of getting med and water changes...

[newshound]

man if the standard rid ick meds do not work I'd say your doing something wrong...research it on the web.

[ckk125]

alright...dont trust me then.i got nothing to lose.

why bother to medicate your tank when u can do it with just heat?

[ckk125]

The speed of transformation between stages of the Ich life cycle is affected by the temperature of the water. The organism goes through all three phases of its cycle more rapidly in warmer conditions, so we recommend that the temperature of a treated tank be gradually increased to around 86 F (30 C). This has to happen gradually to avoid further stress on the fish. Some sources have said that temperatures above 86 degrees Fahrenheit alone will kill off the parasite. However, many fish and aquarium plants cannot tolerate these elevated temperatures long enough to complete a full life cycle of the parasite and effectively eradicate it from the aquarium completely.

i tried...and worked in 3 days..my tank consists of 1 fei feng,30 clown loaches,4 yoyos,1 small datnoid and a bala shark.i raised it to 32...within 1 day, the clowns start to eat and by the end of the 3rd, everything is cleared.[/quote]

[loachmom]

If I had a tank full of clown loaches with ich, I would use the heat only method to kill the ich.

I once used this method....I turned the temp up to 87-88 degrees (sometimes it got up to 90), and I kept it that way for over 2 weeks.

This cured all the ich, and I didn't lose a single fish during or after that time. I also had gouramis and swordtails and a pleco in the tank with the clown loaches.

I don't know how the kuhlis would handle it, though.
I've never had to treat them for ich, and I hope I never do.

[ckk125]

im not too sure about kuhlis...but clowns and yoyos surely will be able to tolerate up to 31 celcius...

im not the only one doing this, most of the LFS near my area uses this as it is the fastest and safest way to cure it. Plus, i doesnt stain your tank.

[loachmom]

im not too sure about kuhlis...but clowns and yoyos surely will be able to tolerate up to 31 celcius...

im not the only one doing this, most of the LFS near my area uses this as it is the fastest and safest way to cure it. Plus, i doesnt stain your tank.

It is a good method.


I wonder if possibly you need more filtration on your tank, krissy.

I have a 55 gallon tank, and I have two filters on it (both hang on back types.)
One filter moves 350 gallons per hour, and the other moves 60 gallons per hour. Thankfully, my tank has been healthy for 5 months now. No disease since the big ich outbreak that I treated with heat. Prior to the ich outbreak I only had the 60 gph filter on the tank. Not Enough!!

Just an idea.


Also, check out the species index

http://www.loaches.com/species-index

Since loaches are social creatures and are less stressed when in the company of their own species, you might want to look into purchasing three or more of just one species. They will be healthier when they are not stressed.

Hope all goes well for you, krissy.

[LUVaLOACH]

Krissy,

Can't speak for the yoyo's as I have never had them but your dojo that died really needed cooler water. Just FYI if you ever decide to get any more. I don't even have a heater in my dojo tank.

Good luck to ya and sorry for your losses.

Krista