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View Full Version : My QT blue rams have ich/medicine/snails?



traco
03-17-2006, 05:55 PM
After posting here, should this whole post be moved to the Simply Cichlids forum? Sorry, if so, I can delete here and copy it all to that forum.

I have my 4 blue rams QT'd in a 20 gallon for 5 days now. They came down with ich due stress/shipping. I had the temp at 82. I added 2 Tablespoons of kosher salt to the tank. I raised the temp to 86 yesterday so have one full day at high temp.

Going with salt and high temp was the general consensus but today I am noticing they have clamped tail fins so am wondering if this is enough?

The first pic is the next day after purchasing them

traco
03-17-2006, 05:55 PM
a group shot

traco
03-17-2006, 06:00 PM
Now today with clamped tail fins.

I have Quick Cure and Aquarisol on hand but can get liquid Ick Guard by Jungle. Snails would have to be pulled if dosing medicine. They should not re-introduce ich when put back in the tank?

Going the least intrusive route is what I was hoping for but today with the clamped tail fins, I'm wondering if it will be enough before they worsen?

traco
03-17-2006, 06:01 PM
last one

AmberC
03-17-2006, 06:41 PM
Barb, Personally I do not like Jungle products. I would use that quick cure and as soon as you can. Like before tho.. I have no idea about the snails as I've never kept them... but I would dose those rams. They dont look too great at all.
I have to go but I'll be back later.
Amber

traco
03-17-2006, 06:52 PM
I pulled the snails and put in a 5 gallon. I knew the rams were starting to go downhill what with their clamped fins.

I still have salt in the tank and no aged water made up yet. Can I dose Quick Cure with salt still in there? I'll go and get some water in my storage barrel and do a water change in a few hours. If it's agitated heavily and kept the right temp, it should be okay to use with that short a period of aging?

traco
03-17-2006, 09:08 PM
Update:

I did a big water change with aged tank water from my angel tank, added 20 drops of the Quick Cure, have an airstone running and the temp is 86.

Quick Cure says you can do a repeat dose after 24 hours. Do I:

- do a water change tomorrow and re-dose full strength?

or

- not do a water change and just let things continue on not adding anymore Quick Cure?

ItsGeoff
03-18-2006, 01:50 AM
with quick cure do the dose today. wait 24 hours then do another dose. after this do your water change. if its still there then you can do a repeat dose of it. i have had EXCELLENT results with quick cure and temps in the 80's to kill ich.

candyl70
03-18-2006, 03:09 AM
Good luck getting rid of it Barb. Keep us updated on how the meds work out. :)

wheeler
03-18-2006, 04:06 AM
be careful with your meds!!! rams are sensitive to meds. best to treat them like clown loaches or other scaleless fish, half doses!!!!! they can take the higher temp relatively well so you could go a bit higher to speed up the life cycle of the ich. IMO salt and heat to cure ICH!

Sharn
03-18-2006, 07:15 AM
yip, thats all i used for mine, i found the blues shrugged it in a few days while the golds took a week or so. i had my temp at 28C and did the 1tbsp per 10gal salting. good luck!

AmberC
03-18-2006, 10:27 AM
Barb.. I've always just followed what the directions on the bottle said and didn't do the w/c's between, but if you feel more comfortable doing a w/c and then redosing I'm sure that would be fine. The salt probably wont hurt anything.. I was just worried about your snails.

IMO using the quick cure now and killing the ich fast and efficiently is your best option. Your rams are young and extremely stressed from shipping and trying to acclimate to a new tank. Its a vicious cycle.. they got the ich from stress of shipping and accimating to a new tank, but having the ich is just going to stress them out even more and let the ich take over.. hence their starting to clamp up. Right now their immune system is really weak from all of this and I dont think high temps and salt will really help(alone). I think using the quick cure will get rid of it and let them settle down.
BTW.. I like to go the no meds route as much as possible too.. but I think you just need to get it taken care of quick for these guys.

Keep me posted ok.
Amber

traco
03-18-2006, 11:56 AM
They are eating the bloodworms this morning so that's a good sign. Not much blue tinge in the water. Can it be absorbed that quickly? Their fins are not clamped as bad as before dosing. A couple of the rams still have a bit of clamped tail fins but all in all, they are all looking a bit better.

I wanted to say that I had added salt to the tank when I got these guys to be on the safe side but they got worse. I'm also one for natural remedies and I will try that route before resorting to meds. And I know the salt/high heat method does take time (as in weeks) but they were declining.

They still have the ich spots on their fins so I'll redose after doing a water change tonight.

So, so far, so good.:)

AmberC
03-18-2006, 12:05 PM
They are eating the bloodworms this morning so that's a good sign. Not much blue tinge in the water. Can it be absorbed that quickly? Their fins are not clamped as bad as before dosing. A couple of the rams still have a bit of clamped tail fins but all in all, they are all looking a bit better.

I wanted to say that I had added salt to the tank when I got these guys to be on the safe side but they got worse. I'm also one for natural remedies and I will try that route before resorting to meds. And I know the salt/high heat method does take time (as in weeks) but they were declining.

They still have the ich spots on their fins so I'll redose after doing a water change tonight.

So, so far, so good.:)

That sounds good Barb! Yes I've had the quick cure absorb that quickly too. I'm glad they are eating now. Always a good sign. Just do the full dosage and they should be feeling better real soon! I've always had great results with quick cure.
Amber

traco
03-20-2006, 06:12 PM
Today is the third dose of meds. They are better, eating and now come to the front of the tank when I walk in the the room. Even the smallest one of them all is bossing everyone around so things are looking up. I have been doing 50% water changes before dosing and checking my ammonia levels which are still at 0.

I am wondering if I had been putting enough meds in as the tank really did not color blue very much. I was putting 20 eyedropper full of meds, today I found a 1 ml. syringe and dosed that way. More blue this time. There are still a few spots on the fish but they are fading away. Before they were really standing out as white, now hardly at all.

With the spots still there but not as bad, and doing a water change before dosing again, I'm thinking I should do a dose tomorrow without doing a water change.

But all and all, things are looking up!:)

AmberC
03-20-2006, 09:27 PM
Barb,
Thats great that they are feeling so much better!

When I use quick cure.. (and I only have the little bottle) it says add a drop per gallon daily until fish are cured. I did exactly that without doing a w/c in between for about 3 days because the bottle never said anything about w/c's.. but I dont think doing the w/c is hurting anything. I think maybe just continuing what you are doing, but adding more if you think you weren't adding the proper dosage will be fine because they are improving.

So glad they are doing better!
Amber

traco
03-23-2006, 07:44 PM
So, some may shoot me ... I got 4 more rams, total 8 now. Pics they look yucky. I've posted on two other forums and no replies. I've emailed also, will have to go check that.

I have been testing for ammonia, still is zero.

I've dosed on:

17th - full dose - 4 fish
18th - water change then redose full dose
20th - water change then redose full dose
21st - full dose, no water change - added 4 more, total 8 fish now
22nd - water change then redose full dose

Got the 4 new ones on the 21st. I knew they had ich, the pet store said they had it but said if I was treating with Quick Cure, they should be fine.

How long can I dose with Quick Cure?

Fuzzy first pic. The two spots of the top fin are raised on the other side, grains of salt size.

traco
03-23-2006, 07:49 PM
Also some of them have fins tattered from shipping.

They are all eating fine and swimming around.

hexed
03-23-2006, 08:17 PM
What is your temp at?

traco
03-23-2006, 08:32 PM
It is at 86 degrees.

wheeler
03-24-2006, 05:12 AM
don't be affraid of increasing the tank temp to 90. this will speed up the life cycle of the ick. the rams can handle the heat, after all, they are tankmates of discus. good luck

AmberC
03-25-2006, 06:01 PM
Barb,
I forgot to ask in my email if they are all still eating or not.
Amber