AboutChris Robbins Expertise I have 25+ years of personal experience as a pet
store employee and manager in the family pet store
business. The main part of our business was
Freshwater Fish. I can answer questions on; Fish care, diseases,
parasites and fish identification, feeding your
fish, breeding and sexing your fish, setting up
your aquarium, cleaning your aquarium, and
"what`s this weird stuff in my tank/on my
fish" questions. I am not an African Cichlid expert, Plant expert or Brackish Expert. No Pond or Saltwater Questions Please.
Experience I worked in and managed my family's fish and pet and fish store for 26 years and maintained the 35 aquariums. My experience also has included occasional in-home consultation and aquarium maintenance for my clients.
Question I just found Ich on my fish, but there are so many different types of treatments out there. What should I use? Could I also treat fry for Ich?
Answer Hi Brittany;
I like to use an ich remedy called "Quick Cure". It has malachite green and formalin. I've used it on all types and ages of fish. Use it every day for 10 days to be sure all the ich parasites are gone, no matter what the label says. The fry should be treated too and most ich remedies are okay to use for them. Just use a half-dose with fry for medicines that say to use a half-dose for sensitive and scaleless fish. You may see new spots for a couple of days after you start treating but don't be discouraged. It's only because the parasites are not killed while still on the fish. The white spots have to progress to the next stage and burst into the water where they are killed by the medicine. The new spots you see after you medicate were already embedded in the skin, they just weren't white spots yet.
You can also use aquarium salt with the medicine to help kill the parasites. Add only one dose, 1/2 teaspoon per gallon. Ich hates salt. Salt also helps strengthen the fish and increases the slime coat so the parasites have a more difficult time latching on to the fish. Raise the temperature in the tank to 82f too so that the parasite goes through it's life cycle quicker. It causes the parasite to be even weaker. It's good to provide air bubbles from an air stone and air pump when you raise the temperature because the higher temperature causes a lower oxygen saturation.
Good luck and I hope your fish feel better soon...
