# Maracide help!!!!!!!!



## 9am53 (Jan 23, 2008)

I am starting to get worried about my ick problem. 2 of my fish have what I have diagnosed as ick, so I got a thing of Maracide cause it has no copper in it, and treated like htey said on days 1, 3, and 5. The fish seem in better spirits, especially the one who has more ick on him, but the dots are still there, and actually a few more of them! I have started another 5 day treatment cycle in hopes that it will just take time, has anyone used Maracide before? how long does it take? it says it kills the ick on the fish "Spot on treatment" "Biospheres transport medication directly to skin where it is needed" I thought ick was only kill-able when it ws in the phase of its life when its NOT on the fish...any suggestions?


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## efish (Apr 23, 2006)

i've been lucky enough to only have ich once. All i did was up the temp to mid-70's and put in some salt from big al's. It was gone in 2 days. 

http://www.bigalsonline.com/StoreCa...oz?&query=freshwater+salt&queryType=0&offset=

good luck.


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## isu712 (Jan 11, 2008)

I though if you wanted to kill ich with temperature that it needed to be higher than mid-70s, like low- to mid-80s


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## 9am53 (Jan 23, 2008)

My cousin killed ich with salt and heat, and recommends it, and his plants were fine....shouldnt the Maracide be having more of an efect though?


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## Divine Winds (Feb 16, 2008)

I've had the most success at 80, with a malachite green treatment per instructions, followed by a partial water change.


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## 9am53 (Jan 23, 2008)

yeah, my water is at 80 allready...i gonna go up to 86, see what happens, and add salt if needed....is there anything that looks just like the way ick is described that is a fungus in stead? I hav tried medicating with Mardel anti fungal stuff a few months ago, and my fish died...so maybe I just have bad luck with that company...Maracide was sold to me as the best solution in the store, so I thought it would have some effect other than making my fish more active...the white spots are still there...


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## Divine Winds (Feb 16, 2008)

Personally, I would be nervous about upping the temp that high. I think at that point your fish might have trouble breathing. Remember, higher water temps hold less dissolved gases. It might be okay but I dunno. Plus, I don't know what your heater is capable of--you don't want that to go out on you.

As far as medications go, usually Formalin has good reviews. There's a couple different meds by that company so check those out.

But as far as what pathogen you have, I'm lacking experience in that field, save for ick. I'd wait for someone else to comment.


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## isu712 (Jan 11, 2008)

If you're going to up the temp to 86 and an airstone or something else to add more O2 into the water. You have to leave it there for a while as well, so the ich runs through it's life cycle and dies. I think a week or two is the recommended time.


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## Convict Mark (Jan 3, 2004)

What I've always done with ich outbreaks is first up the tank temp to around 85 (I usually keep my tanks 78-80). Then treat with malachite green (the stuff that is 1 drop per gallon) on the first day. Then treat again 24 hours later. Then 24 hours after that do a 75% water change. I havent looked it up recently, but from my memory when you up the temp that much the lifecycle that goes from cyst to free floating is only 72 hours, possibly less. And yes you can only kill the parasite in its free floating form. So I guess the bottom line is to up the temp to speed up the lifecycle to get it all into free floating form, and then the malachite green kills off the free floaters. Then the big water change will get just about all if any remaining parasites plus get that malachite green out of your water. And with any parasite/fungus problem, if it seems to be a recurring thing you better check your water parameters since a stressed fish is far more likely to get any kind of disease.


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## 9am53 (Jan 23, 2008)

Hey thank COnvict Mark, I went and got the stuff you are talking about (IM pretty sure its AP quick cure) my temp is now at 86 and I added my first dose...I added 25 drops for my 29 gallon cause I have some cardinals in there, but well see how it goes, I figure with the upped temp, which some suggest will kill the parasite alone plus the meds it will go away...


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Here's one of the best articles I've run across on ich so far:

http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/ich.shtml

Just temp alone probably won't do it.

I personally prefer salt.


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## jlamb30 (Mar 13, 2008)

What has always worked for me is temp 78-80, AP Quick Cure (half dose - 1 drop per 2 gallons for tetras), for 3 days. You may still see some residual spots, but they should disappear in a couple days.

Edit: Salt is not recommended as a treatment if you have catfish.


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## 9am53 (Jan 23, 2008)

cool, yeah, I ahd 2 otos die on me unfortunately, maybe Ill turn the temp down a touch to like 82, and dose a touch less of the quick cure to keep my cardianls alive....I really hate my fish dying..but it does lkook like some of the smaller spots are gone...


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## plaakapong (Feb 28, 2008)

You really need to raise and lower your temp slowly, maybe a degree or two a day. I've used salt and heat to 86 to successfully treat ich in my tanks with cories, loaches, neons, a betta, and pleco with no losses. I used a method posted on fishforum.com, can be found in the members submitted articles. "West Texas Style" ich cure. Good luck!


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## 9am53 (Jan 23, 2008)

ok, I have had my temp at 83 for a couple days now, and have added my third days treatment of quick cure now...the sick tetra has had no effect by the meds, and the angel has have little to no effect as well. I will do a 75 % WC tomorow and start treatment again...is there any reasons that anyone can think of why this is taking so long? its now been 2 weeks of treatment with no results, this cant be good for my fish!

Ok, I am going to get a hospital tank....I gave on old 10 gallon to a friend who isnt using it, and I am gonna get it back tonight and set it up for the 2 sick fish....I have 3 filters running on my 2 tanks, so Ill have a nice cycled filter...should I just fill the tank up with fresh water and throw the filter on and add the fish? of should I add water from the other (healthy) tank for bacteria...thx...


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Perhaps it's not ich- any chance you can take and post some photos?


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## 9am53 (Jan 23, 2008)

ive tried to post before, but I dont know how to crop the files so they are small enough to upload..not all that computer savvy..


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

I use a photobucket account and copy and paste the links from there- it's very easy and an account at www.photobucket.com is free...


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## 9am53 (Jan 23, 2008)

http://s289.photobucket.com/albums/ll231/9am53/?action=view&current=100_1232.jpg

ok, try this, its the dots on the tail, not on the body, thats just reflection...


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

It's hard to be 100% certain from the pics, but that does look like ich to me... those same dots have been on that same fish for 2 weeks?

I personally prefer salt treatment; I dose 1/2 tsp per gallon with sensitive fish, up to 1 tbsp/gal for less sensitive fish. With tetras, rasboras, loaches, etc I stick with the low doses and treat longer...


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Also, to post your pic directly on the forum, copy the "direct link" under the picture in Photobucket, then come back to the text screen and click the Insert Image box up there ^^ (with the mountain) and just paste the link inside the img code. If you have a popup blocker, you may have to allow popups from this site.


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## 9am53 (Jan 23, 2008)

well, not the same dots...some of the ones that were on the body of that fish have gone, but the ones on the tail have kind of disappeared, and others appeared...I took my cardinal out who's one lone dot was big and lasted on there for the whole 2 weeks (since I noticed it) he was the original with this problem and I wanted a closeup of the dot, I managed to touch it and tried to get it off, it was hard like salt, but I accidentally killed him...:/


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

I went back and re-read the thread. I suspect that the problem is that you didn't have the temp high enough at first, so the ich were still going very slowly through their life cycle, and many probably escaped treatment by being in a stage that was immune while you were treating... You've only had the temp up now for a few days- just keep treating and give it a week or two. You migh throw in a little salt (not too much- don't want to overly stress the fish by too many changes at once) to help ward off any 2ndary infections...


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## 9am53 (Jan 23, 2008)

ok...sounds good...thanks for the advice. I am going to put the angel into the quarantine tank regardless...and medicate that one...what should I do with the other tank? I am going to do a 75 % change on it and add some carbon to the filter...none of the other fish seem to have any ill effects, but I dont want them to get sick too...should I maybe put the angel into quarantine and medicate that, and medicate the main tank at half dose for 3 days to keep it clean?


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