MDBuckeye Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 (edited) A little background, I recently got back in the hobby a little over a year ago after watching nearly ever single one of Cory's videos. One tank turned into two, and then eventually merged those 2 into one big one. When I as a kid and in the hobby I just do not remember ick being such a problem, but ever since I introduced neons and cardinal tetra's into the aquarium, ick has been a continuous headache, even after I quarantined the fish for 3 weeks. For the last month and a half, my 75 gallon heavily planted community tank has been fighting a horrible ick outbreak. I have followed the directions to Ick-X of 5ml per 10 gallons, do a 1/3 water change every five days, and repeat. I also raised the temp to speed up the process. Even after this, I can't seem to get the ick to stop. I thought I may be under dosing, but when I tried a little more than the recommended amount, and I experienced a massive die off losing12 fish. After the die off, I almost wanted to get out of the hobby. The only thing that kept me going was the fact the panda cory fry lived which gave me hope that I could restore balance to the aquarium. A couple things to note: When I do water changes it is hard to gravel vac everywhere due to all the plants. I do NOT use carbon in the filter. It appears that the cardinal tetras are the fish that are most effected by the out break. The spots do appear on some of my other fish making it hard to separate the infected fish in a quarantine tank being that it is most likely the whole tank is infected. No new fish were added to the tank in over three months. I am afraid to use salt due to the plants, but truly don't know what to do anymore. I am also afraid that prolonged use of Ick-X is going to cause more fish to die. Any recommendations? Is my only option to stay the course with Ick-X until it finally clears up? Should I just use salt and replace the plants that die? I know I am still new to the hobby, but any help would be greatly appreciated. Edited January 12, 2022 by MDBuckeye Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Native Keeper Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 If it were me, I would take the cardinals out of the tank completely and set up their own tank. I don't know where you got the fish, but I know that neons and cardinals are often inbred, lowering their chance to fight diseases. So, get the cardinals their own tank, and see how it goes. I would recommend preparing yourself for the fact that they may not survive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Struggle Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 What temperature did you raise the tank to? I’m not recommending you do this but I’ve dosed for a few days as directed without performing a water change before and had decent results. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 if it is in fact ich, if one fish is infected, the whole tank has it, no point in even considering separating when its ich. i myself would probably use some salt. salt in moderate doses wont harm most plants. heavy doses will likely melt all but the hardiest plants. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 If you have treated for ich properly, and it's hasn't been eradicated, it's probably not ich. I would look into treating for Epistylis. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HH Morant Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 I agree that salt for a little while is not going to significantly affect the plants. I also agree that it could be epistylis. I like the article on epistylis at aquariumscience.org, which has some pictures to help distinguish between ich and epistylis. Whether it is ich or epistylis, a UV unit might help. You might want to consider more or better biological filtration. Over-filtration reduces the bacteria count in the water, allowing the immune systems of the fish to fight off infections more easily (and it makes the water clearer). That would help with ich and epistylis. 30 ppi foam is the best biological filter media (see aquariumscience.org articles regarding filtration). Good luck! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 When I dealt with ich, I had to do several treatments (for neons). I felt like it was never going to get cured but Ich-X finally did the trick after three repeated dosings (15 days). @Mmiller2001 might be right about it being Epistylis. Sorry for your troubles, it will get better but I know how deflating it can be too. Hang in there! @HH Morant You're just parroting aquariumscience.org! I'm only kidding. I've been following his advice too and I think there's a ton of great information there. A great share, you just beat me to it is all 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDBuckeye Posted January 12, 2022 Author Share Posted January 12, 2022 I have never heard of Epistylis. Being that it has lasted so long, I am wondering if it is not ick at all. Is epistylis treated with maracyn or an Anti-bacterial medications? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 https://aquariumscience.org/index.php/10-2-4-epistylis/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDBuckeye Posted January 12, 2022 Author Share Posted January 12, 2022 Thank you everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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