Originally Posted by
Discluv
I have switched from using heat method ( about 10 years now) to using Paraguard exclusively in cases of Ich due to increasing cases of heat-resistant Ich. More importantly, however, I no longer use heat because of the secondary bacteria that can be just as deadly to fish as the parasite itself. The higher the heat, the quicker the bacteria spreads through the tissues where parasite has burrowed in.
Paraguard, in addition to malachite green and methelyene blue,has acriflavine that works as an anti-bacterial to make these areas inhospitable to bacterial growth.
I would never risk adding heat on top of medication because of the sites the Ich parasite prefer: on and under the gill cover. The fish are already oxygen compromised from the parasite itself and the mucus that works to rid the parasite from gills, add high heat and you further diminish oxygen uptake.