# Ich Med that is safe for plants and work like a charm



## C2C

Recently i tried an expierement on my tank that had an ich out break
tried 85F the first time
that failed
i lost 10 of my LONG finned albino bushy nose plecos, that left me with 3, lost a couple gouramis, and the plants started showing stress from high heat

second time around i increased the temp from 75 to 80 and dosed with RidIch at the recomended dosage of 5ml per 10 gallons every day
fish ate like normal and ich dots started appearing more because of the sped up life cycle from the heat but went away in a couple days
and havent come back
the plants are not pearling as much as they were at the lower temps but are still growing like crazy
also RidIch did not kill any of my snails to my disappointment
and i also tested it on baby RCS and they have not showed any stress from it

so in conclusion
RidIch is safe for plants, fish, and inverts
and is especially effective at 80F where it will not cause stress to fish or plants. this is most likly because of the ingredients. Malachite green and formalin
not copper

so if you have ich raise the temp to 80 if its not already there and dose with RidIch

Oh just so you know in my tank i have tetras, plecos, corydoras, gouramis, snails. plants i have aponageton, moss, rotala, crypts, bacopa, ricca, glosso, HC, ludwigia, and others ranging from low to high light


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## cjp999

Yes, safe for plants, but I'm not so sure about invertz. From the Rid•Ich+ label:
Rid·Ich+ is not recommended for use in aquariums containing invertebrates and may cause severe stress or death to some of these animals. If Rid·Ich+ must be used in aquariums containing invertebrates, tests should be performed to determine a particular animal's tolerance to this medication.​Rid•Ich+ contains Formalin and Malachite Green, as does Quick Cure (which has a similar warning about invertz). I used Quick Cure in my planted tank and didn't have any issues. I forget if I had inverts in the tank at the time. I had just recently setup the tank, and I know I had some ghost shrimp and mystery snails, but I believe I removed them during treatment. I used 1/2 dose, because the instructions recommended this for tetras, which I had.

BTW, malachite green can stain your silicon and ornaments. Since I have black silicon I didn't worry about it. My white filter pad did turn green and stayed that way for about 6 months.


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## C2C

cjp999 said:


> BTW, malichite green can stain your silicon and ornaments. Since I have black silicon I didn't worry about it. My white filter pad did turn green and stayed that way for about 6 months.



oh yea thats why i didnt use it in the first place...lol...oh well the silicone job on my tank is super clean anyways. thank god i work with the guy who works at Advanced Aqua


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## Strick

AFAIK, neither formalin nor malachite green should affect your inverts if you dose according to the instructions. The danger is when you're using copper-based meds (like CopperSafe).


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## cjp999

Strick said:


> AFAIK, neither formalin nor malachite green should affect your inverts if you dose according to the instructions. The danger is when you're using copper-based meds (like CopperSafe).


Why then do both Rid•Ich+ and Quick Cure give specific warnings about treating with invertz in the tank? And yes, I know they do not contain copper. This is another common Ich urban legend, probably because malachite green is...green!


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## C2C

when applied onto inverts they dont like it
but when malachite green comes out of the bottle it looks blue


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## JennaH

i used malachite green at half the dose (label said tetras can be sensitive to it) every few days x 3-4 doses with water changes between each, upped the temp to 83 and added 1 tbsp per 10 gallons of aquarium salt. lost one fish but it went away in about 10 days


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## C2C

JennaH said:


> i used malachite green at half the dose (label said tetras can be sensitive to it) every few days x 3-4 doses with water changes between each, upped the temp to 83 and added 1 tbsp per 10 gallons of aquarium salt. lost one fish but it went away in about 10 days


i do a full dose with my tetras and ottos and they do not show any stress from it...i also havent done a partial water change since starting the medication

and some how i started dosing during the day instead of late at night...i must have dosed twice in one day...didnt notice anything differnt


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## speedie408

Kordon Organic Ick Attack - Works wonders. Very plant and fish safe.


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## snafu

i like Ich-Attack too, except it seems like the treatment time is fairly prolonged. i also use the increased dosage (i.e., double) that they recommend. maybe that's the trade-off between effectiveness and being safe for aquarium inhabitants.


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## Minsc

Ich Attack worked very well for me in a fish only tank, but not in a high tech planted.
In the fish only, it did take a prolonged treatment, but was so mild the fish (clown killies) actually successfully bred during treatment!

In my high tech tank, Ich Attack didn't work at all, no matter how much I poured in. Maybe the plants were consuming the meds? Rid Ich+ finally did the job with no damage to fish and extremely minor to plants, though I had to go with full dose, full duration.
I do think I was dealing with a particularly med resistant strain of the bug.


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## kid creole

You don't mention how you raised the temperature, or how you ensured adequate oxygen in the warmer water. You also don't mention how you know the bnp's died from the temperature and not the ich or lack of oxygen. 

I don't have first hand experience with this fish, but based on what I know, they should have been able to withstand elevated temperatures.


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## C2C

kid creole said:


> You don't mention how you raised the temperature, or how you ensured adequate oxygen in the warmer water. You also don't mention how you know the bnp's died from the temperature and not the ich or lack of oxygen.
> 
> I don't have first hand experience with this fish, but based on what I know, they should have been able to withstand elevated temperatures.


i raised the temp 1 degree every day
they started showing stress at 83-84
i had a bubble wand for O2
their case of ich was very mild maybe 5 spots total
i had a separate batch in a different tank with ich their condition was worse maybe 15 spots they survived at 75-78 with no airstone


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## kid creole

C2C said:


> i raised the temp 1 degree every day
> they started showing stress at 83-84
> i had a bubble wand for O2
> their case of ich was very mild maybe 5 spots total
> i had a separate batch in a different tank with ich their condition was worse maybe 15 spots they survived at 75-78 with no airstone


What temperature did you start from? 1° is very slow. 2 or 3 or more is fine, done slowly over the course of a day. If you are starting from a temperature of 76 or 78, you're talking about letting the ich have it's way on already sick fish fish for over a week. 

I've had numerous cases of ich with new fish and I've always been able to treat it with temperature. Whether or not you can treat it with temperature has all to do with the fish, but most fish out of the amazon can handle 86°.


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## C2C

ich isnt really that bad IMO its just a pain to look at
ive seen all kinds of fish with severe to minor infections left for weeks eating healthy and theyve healed on their own
my ich out break wasnt that bad in the begining but ast the temps got up around 80 it got a little worse, understandably.


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## Kojack

Ive used rid ich in the past and it worked like a charm on my Clown Loach, it DID stain my silicon a little bit(light green) but that does not really bother me... Ill just put some background plants in the back corners :thumbsup:


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## Buster67

I'm using Rid Ich right now with additional heat (to 83 from 77) but no salt since Monday evening. Fish are showing fewer white spots, acting normally and no damage to plants. Also no staining of the silicon. Only the Emperor tetras as looking a little peaky, maybe because of the heat? I have a long airstone on full blast for additional aeration. Hopefully all will be well soon <knocks on head>.


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## Nate McFin

My Cardinal Tetras didnt appreciate Rid Ich at all. I ended up using Coppersafe and lost some HM but that was it. (didnt have inverts then)


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## C2C

did you use the dosage stated in the directions...i think its 1/2 normal dose


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## Nate McFin

Yup, I did dose 1/2. When I put it in they all went to the corner instantly and started flashing and breathing heavily. I did a water change ASAP.Maybe the Ich had caused problems to the gills so it affected them more????Just a stab in the dark.
I read alot of good stuff about it though or I wouldnt have used it.


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## C2C

did you aerate


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