New Blue Rams With Ich

[bayoucichlids]

Hi...I bought two new blue rams last weekend and was keeping them at about 78 F and they got "ich". I raised the temperature since yesterday and added uniodized salt. I do not like chemicals. It is now at 84.5 F and the water has about 3.5 tbsp of salt in my daughters 10G tank. In the tank there are the 2 rams, 2 emerald cories, 1 very small pleco, and 3 adult guppies (leftover) that I have no other place for.

The other water conditions are PH 6.5. Hardness 100 ppm. No nitrites or nitrates. I have tried to get the temp higher but the heater is, I guess, at its max. Water changed today and I will change next weekend.

Any thoughts about the situation and what else I might do?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
I'd forget about the salt, and do a large water change with r.o. water, Rams are softwater fish, so they are likely to become more stressed with all that salt.

Quarantine would have been a good idea, although I realise it's difficult if you only have one tank.

Once the water is less salty I'd treat the Ich with a suitable chemical*, the temperature doesn't need to be any higher.

*I'm not sure what you have in the US, but "Ich guard" or something similar by jungle labs etc.

cheers Darrel

 

[electric eel]

unfortunately i've found that once rams get sick its hard to turn them around thats why its very important to be proactive with them(ie keep the water clean,keep temp. fairly high and stable and feed a good quality diverse diet)i've found that fish recieving a really nutricious diet fair much better in poor water and less then ideal conditions.try feeding them some small cut up pieces of earthworm if they will eat it.it won't cure ich but might make them a little more able to fight it off on their own.

 

[bayoucichlids]

Okay, for an update, No signs of ich this morning after many specs of it on Sunday and fewer Monday. I was finally able to get the temp to stabilize at 86.5F. They are looking good while the emerald cories are less active. No signs of ich tho. I will keep the temps up for another 5 days and then bring it down to 82F this weekend and do 50 % water change. I will also try the earthworms. Thanks all for the advice.