# Treating ICH with heat



## jahmic (Jan 30, 2011)

Raising the temps up to that range typically speeds up the cycle of the parasite. 86 is right on the border of preventing the parasite from dividing once it falls off the host and forms a capsule. 

When using heat to treat Ich, it's pretty typical to see a sudden increase in visible symptoms as you are speeding the life cycle up. For example...if you gradually raised the temp, the parasite could have fallen off the host, divided ALOT, then reinfected your fish before the temps ever got up to 86. At this point, what you should expect (hope) to see is those spots disappear, and then the lack of a rebound. Suffice to say, it will take more than 3 days to kill the Ich with heat. I'd keep your temps up for at least 2 weeks.

If you don't have any heat-sensitive fish, try raising the temps up just a little higher. IIRC, anything above 88 degrees will actually kill the parasite in the free-swimming stage.

If you don't have any sensitive fish, you could also try adding aquarium salt to the tank at a lower dose (1/2 tsp per gallon is what I've used in the past). It will encourage the fish to develop their slime coat, which assists them in healing and makes them less susceptible to the parasite attaching.

To be honest, I wouldn't be hesitant in using Rid Ich+...you may risk staining some things in the tank, but I only noticed staining on suction cups and the line for my airstone when I treated my tank. I used a 1/2 dose in my planted tank in combination with heat (86 degrees) and salt for 2 weeks and wiped out Ich...as far as I can tell. I have RCS and amano shrimp in that tank...and even had RCS fry do just fine during treatment. I didn't notice any loss of fauna...although a couple of my plants didn't appreciate the salt treatment too much.


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## latnem (Apr 10, 2011)

Cool thanks for the info. Wow your RCS survived those temps I thought pretty much all shrimps would die at those temps. I think I will perhaps start dosing a half dose of the rid ich.


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## jahmic (Jan 30, 2011)

One thing I forgot to mention:

I ran an airstone in the tank 24/7 during treatment, and also cut back on dosing and CO2 into the tank. Probably another reason my plants took a hit, but the fish and shrimp did just fine.

It took just about 4wks for most plants to recover, some took 2 months...others didn't make it. Overall, I was definitely happy with the results I saw though


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## gordonrichards (Jun 20, 2009)

Double jahmic. Run an airline!

-Gordon


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## gray_fox (May 9, 2011)

I just had an issue with ich a week or two ago due to some guppies i got at my LFS that were infected with ich.....took over a good majority of the tank and i was also concerned if i added a checmical to get rid of ich, that it might kill my plants. I raised the temp to 88 degrees. No fish died, some plants suffered a little bit, but are already kicking back. Ich appears to be gone


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## wendyjo (Feb 20, 2009)

^ This is why fish should always be quarantined before being added to an established tank!


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