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How to use ICH-X on otocinclus


MollyMomma
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I have a 5g QT set up. It's been running since November. I sometimes use it to house fry, treat a fish, but mostly it just grows out plants for me. So I purchased some ottos 48 hours ago. They looked okay, got home settled them in & the next morning at least 2 have spots on them. I have 4 ottos in my 29g & was just purchasing a few more to enlarge their school... My 29g looks pretty empty.

I purchased Aquarium coops med TRIO so I have ICH-X on hand. The spots are white and mostly on fins, a few on body. I've had ICH before on mollies when I first started & did not know what it was or how to treat it, & it killed all my mollies years ago. I remember exhausting myself with WC, Salt, and herbal remedies petco gave me that didn't do anything.

-How do I dose ICH-X in a 5g with scaleless fish? Should I use half doses?

- I started by slowly increasing my salinity, right now it is at 1/2 teaspoon per 1 gallon.

- My water conditioner is Prime, is it safe to use Prime, salt & ICH-X together? The only other additives are Easy Green liquid fertz & two Seachem root tabs.

- lots of anubis & RRF plants Live in here. 

-No, my heater is not adjustable. Its a 100W aqueon 78° preset

Parameters are: Nitrate: under 20ppm. Nitrite: 0.   Ammonia 0ppm.   Chlorine 0.   PH: 7.4.   GH: between100-150ppm (not degree) KH: 60ppm. Parameters have been the same & stable for a long while now.

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Hi, both times I've had Ich in 2 different tanks there were Otos present and they all made it through. Sadly I cannot advise with Ich-X but I treated with full dose instructions the first time with heat and API Super Ick Cure and the second time NO heat and Seachem Paraguard (that time it was all Otos in my Q tank). I did see a thread within the last few days that said IchX cannot be used with Fritz water conditioner (due to some sulfur base) and that's what I use- but I have not seen any conflict with Prime. You may be able to find the answer on SeaChem's website or shoot them an email. They're usually pretty responsive. 

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4 hours ago, MollyMomma said:

I have a 5g QT set up. It's been running since November. I sometimes use it to house fry, treat a fish, but mostly it just grows out plants for me. So I purchased some ottos 48 hours ago. They looked okay, got home settled them in & the next morning at least 2 have spots on them. I have 4 ottos in my 29g & was just purchasing a few more to enlarge their school... My 29g looks pretty empty.

I purchased Aquarium coops med TRIO so I have ICH-X on hand. The spots are white and mostly on fins, a few on body. I've had ICH before on mollies when I first started & did not know what it was or how to treat it, & it killed all my mollies years ago. I remember exhausting myself with WC, Salt, and herbal remedies petco gave me that didn't do anything.

-How do I dose ICH-X in a 5g with scaleless fish? Should I use half doses?

- I started by slowly increasing my salinity, right now it is at 1/2 teaspoon per 1 gallon.

- My water conditioner is Prime, is it safe to use Prime, salt & ICH-X together? The only other additives are Easy Green liquid fertz & two Seachem root tabs.

- lots of anubis & RRF plants Live in here. 

-No, my heater is not adjustable. Its a 100W aqueon 78° preset

Parameters are: Nitrate: under 20ppm. Nitrite: 0.   Ammonia 0ppm.   Chlorine 0.   PH: 7.4.   GH: between100-150ppm (not degree) KH: 60ppm. Parameters have been the same & stable for a long while now.

20210505_111230.jpg

Prime is sulfonate based and can effect some meds API stress coat is safe to use with ich x

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I’ve used ich-X at full strength with Otos. Not all survived the ich, but the ones that survived ich also survived ich-X.

I followed the instructions on the bottle and dosed 12 days in a row, and it took care of ich really well. I didn’t use salt or any other meds with it. My tank was at 80 degrees, so I’d recommend dosing for 14 days to be extra safe (ich takes longer to complete its life cycle at lower temperatures and it’s only vulnerable to the meds at one stage).

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4 hours ago, BIG GREEN said:

I used Prime  with Ich-X and had no issues, maybe I got lucky...

I  emailed seachem  and they recommend not using prime with meds

Edited by Colu
I ment to put I emailed then
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THANK YOU ALL FOR RESPONDING!!!  🙂

The only other water conditioner I have on hand is a tiny trial size of API Stress coat with Aloe Vera, should I do a 100% 5g water change, swap water conditioners out & then try the ICH-X

Right now I think it's only effecting 2 ottos, but I've seen how it can spread & take down the whole tank. So I know I need to just treat the entire tank.

I have other meds on hand too, but I'm not sure if any will treat ICH. I have; Maracyn, kanaplex (not much left) , Jungle Fungus clear fizz tabs, fritz paraclense, Tetra lifeguard all in one treatment(but says NOT safe for scaleless fish) and I have the ICH-X. So out of my options I figured using ich-x was my best option.

It labels Formalin as an ingredient, that's the water version of formaldehyde, right? The tank is in my living room, will the ich-x stink real bad or anything? There's no lid on this tank because it has a clip on LED for the RRF.

 

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I have used Prime with Ich-X with no issues. I spent days researching because of the ingredients. Online I found people saying they wouldn’t use them together because of the ingredients, but more people saying they use them together with no problems. 
 

I did a lot of looking into what is in Prime. People say it is sultanate based, but Seachem doesn’t say that. It includes “complexed hydrosulfite salts”. As far as I can tell it is not the same thing. I think most people smell the sulfur and assume it is sulfate based  Anyway, Seachem is never going to tell you it is ok to mix their product with any other treatment. I’m pretty sure most meds say not to mix them either, but many of us use the Co-Op med trio because it has been found to be safe together.

I had one guy tell me that he asked someone who works at a prominent fish store and they said they have always used Prime and Ich-X together with no issues. This store uses the trio to quarantine fish and they use Prime to treat water. I won’t say who it was because the info was second hand. Ultimately, I couldn’t change my water conditioner to something that wasn’t approved by Ich-X and enough people told me it was fine that I tried it. No problems. I won’t tell you that it’s safe for everyone, but I haven’t seen anyone who said they had a problem. 
 

Ich-X says it can be used with Ultimate which they can say because the same company makes it and they have formulated them to work together. 

Edited by Mitch Norton
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8 hours ago, Hobbit said:

In terms of Ich-X smelling: I don’t remember any sort of smell. My tank also had no lid when I used it. 👍

Thanks! For a 5g I don't think I have yo use very much of the medication. I have tomorrow off from work & think I'll do some research & give it a try. I've been using salt so far for 2 days that's it.

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Prime and Fritz dechlorinators are both fine with Ich-X. Cory has addressed it on here (there is a search function) and on more than one YouTube video.  I have used both with Ich-X and the whole med trio with good results.

Wouldn't it be neat if people only offered advice on stuff they have actually done? 

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Could you guys please help me & tell me If I predicted the dosing correct?

It says 5ml treats 10g, 1ml- treats 2 gallons? Every 24 hours to change 1/3 tank & re-dose.

For a 5 gallon, would that be 2-2.5ml of ICH-X? And to remove 1/3 water would be around 1.5 - 1.6 gallons per day??

It says to continue treatment until 3 days have past symptomatic free-- do I treat for a certain amount of days? When I searched it up- a reviewer said 10-14 days +3 extra days. 

I've also raised salinity to 7tsp for 5gal. I did it slowly over the course of 3 days, adding 2.5 tsp per day. Do I need to keep readjusting the salt with water changes- or since starting the meds is it okay to leave the salt alone?

Sorry, I have no idea what im doing, im trying my best to save these juvenile ottos. ICH is yucky to deal with 😞

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I would reduce the amount of salt I would treat till you no longer see visible white spots on  your fish then do three more days of treatment after that

Edited by Colu
Miss spelling stupid auto correct
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I agree with @Colu. Don’t add any more salt at this point, and every time you do a partial water change, the concentration of salt will go down.

Your dosing plan and amounts look good!

Edited by Hobbit
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1 hour ago, Hobbit said:

I agree with @Colu. Don’t add any more salt at this point, and every time you do a partial water change, the concentration of salt will go down.

Your dosing plan and amounts look good!

Awesome Thanks so much! Hopefully I can nip this in the bum quickly and be able to add these ottos (who survive) with my older ones in the 29g in a month or so. Whenever im sure the ICH is gone!!

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Just wanted to do a Quick update, been dosing the ICH-X for 4-5 days now and the spots have already drastically lessened. I had to move my light to inspect the ottos better because I can no longer tell the two ottos who had spots apart from the ones who did not. The heavily effected one now only has a couple spots on fins. That's incredible!!

Thank YOU guys!

Last time I had ICH was on 2 mollies whom I had for 3 years, it came from 1 new black molly my hubby brought home from petco, years ago, but I had no clue what It was. They were covered & also soon had secondary fungal infections. I took a photo, showed the girl at petco what was going on, she rudely prompted me to buy a huge box of salt, and 3 different bottles of medicine. They were expensive & later on I realized they were "herbal" all natural tea tree oil or something. I remember exhausting myself with 50% WC & re-adding salt & calculating meds..after 3 weeks of that all my fish died 1 by 1... So when I saw white spots this time I was not messing around... And it has already paid off by reaching for the ICH-X and not asking petco. I love this forum!

Edited by MollyMomma
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Glad to hear that it is going well! Ich can be scary, but after you beat it once you will never fear it again. Haha. I had it once when I forgot to plug in my heater after a water change. It was the first time I had it and all of the info I was reading was making me more nervous. Thankfully, I found Aquarium Co-Op and the Facebook group. 
 

The second time I had it was in QT on new fish that I bought. It was wiped out quick using Ich-X because I caught it so quickly. 
 

This forum is an amazing resource. 

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What have you & or others done with the waste water after WC the meds? Im removing 1.5-2 gallons per day (I try to keep it under the 2g mark when siphoning into my bucket) and I have a lean-to out back, with dirt/rocks so I've been spreading the waste water onto the dirt. I have a septic tank & I don't think i'm supposed to put anything down the toilet OR drains... So i thought the dirt was a better alternative. UNTIL I just read a huge FAQ sheet that said to pour waste into a container + seal with lid & take it to appropriate disposal company. Are they talking about like old expired bottles of ICH-X or the waste water?

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I think you are ok spreading on your dirt. On a typical water change I use the water to feed our landscaping. The plants love the nitrogen rich water.

When I dose meds I typically just spread that water in a particular spot of my yard and I have not seen any problems. It is an excellent question though. I try to treat with aquarium salt when possible, but Ich really requires something more aggressive like Ich-X
 

 

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Just now, Mitch Norton said:

I think you are ok spreading on your dirt. On a typical water change I use the water to feed our landscaping. The plants love the nitrogen rich water.

When I dose meds I typically just spread that water in a particular spot of my yard and I have not seen any problems. It is an excellent question though. I try to treat with aquarium salt when possible, but Ich really requires something more aggressive like Ich-X. 
 

 

Okay & yes a typical water change I use the dirty water to water my 30 houseplants and then my flower beds & gardens. But medication waste water I was worried about, I Emailed Hikari solutions Also, ill see what they say.

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7 hours ago, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

@MollyMomma personally I've used my waste water no matter what was in it (and I've treated Ich) on my container garden to no ill effects. 

Okay, good to know, Thanks! I was just curious to what other people do. 

I did indeed hear back from the manufacturer & they said to wash it down the drain. I explained we have a septic tank. But some of our water goes through a system & outside- like the shower & Washer, they said it should be okay.

On a side note after 3-4 days of using ICH-X ALL spots were no longer visible. All the new ottos look fat & happy except the one who had ICH the worst, he is still very pale so I'm not sure if he'll make it, hopefully he'll pull through, time will tell. Thanks to all who helped!

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