Of course it was you who introduced me to upping the heat in my tank to treat and even cure ich. Also to understand that it's basically lurking all the time ... Waiting to jump on another host or to take over a weak host, just waiting for a fish's immune system to go down and take over. Weakening the fish and rendering it hard to fight It off with their own strength. One of the reasons it makes so much sense to me is because of dogs..believe it or not..... take mange for instance, there are two different types, there's red mange called sarcoptic mange.. and in people it's called The "scabies"... Red mange is typically a little microscopic bug that attacks a dog, it's literally a parasite that travels from host to host,.. Then you have demodectic mange which is a naturally occurring parasite that dogs have living on their bodies from birth and when their immune system goes down it takes over much the same way as ich.. I hope that made sense because I have a hard time getting out of my brain what I'm trying to say 🤣🤣🤣 Before you I would have bought medicines and done all that jazz, I'm not saying that that's the wrong approach I'm just saying that temperature can make a huge and successful impact on treating ich without ruining your tank. You know I watch a lot of channels but there's just something about how you explain things that clicks with me, it's scientific and common Sense mixed together!! Being vigilant and aware of your fish and their behaviors and the way they interact with our tanks is the key! Thanks for another great video Father Fish much love my friend 🙏🌿🐟🌿💚
To be honest nothing made sense with the cleaning process to me , father fish opened my eyes , I used to clean every 2 weeks 10% and 30% water changes , cleaned my substrate my glass and even took ornaments out and steam cleaned them , I lost so many fish over the 10 years I had my tank and when I lost my mbu puffer I gave up , I lost heart in it , now I have a small set up 70 liters , its not even a year old , I had fish in it within 48hrs from new , its doing amazing and I lose no fish thanks to this guy , I do no water changes or cleaning (shrimp are thriving) just water top ups , I have more fish than recommended in this size tank but it don't matter because the tank looks after itself thanks to father fish , I wish I had found this guy when I had my 500 liter as the shops have no idea , bad advice nearly killed my mbu twice , I now do my own research on individual species
Just added 10 dwarf neon rainbows to my community tank and noticed 3 of the new fish have 1-3 spot on them. I instantly pulled up this video and brushed up on my treatment tactics. My 55 gallon tank is full of plant and fish, prolly 50+ nano fish(if you consider dwarf neon rainbows nano fish). Thank you Father fish for all your help, I really appreciate you taking time out of your day to help us all!!!
It is the algorythm. 6 months ago my vids were getting 3'4 thousand views first day. Now if I hit 500 it is above average. YT has figured out how to pay out 90% less to creators. This platform is an immense ripoff.
@@Jordanhann02 Hi , i am not sure , cause i didn't had those species (i had : platy , white cloud minnows ,guppy , corydoras and molly ) but i think if you have ick you really must do something about before it's to late .
I just want to stay I really enjoy your videos. They are full of helpful info. Anytime I run into something new that I don't know or understand I look up your videos. Thank you very much for all you do
Absolutely true!Although had only keeping 3 gold fish but had them for about 10 years now. Im blessed to learn about power of plants from my grandma and every sickness with my fish I I was able to combat with garlic juice and alder cones. I have NEVER used any shop bought treatments!
Saw 2 spots on my rainbow fish and started to freak out , found your vid, raised the temp and increased the surface agitation for better o2 , will update soon , thank you 😊
Wow I’m really impressed by this no-nonsense solution that defaults to a natural remedy. God has an amazing ability to provide the solution to any natural problem. Very cool. I’m new to this hobby and I’m surprised how much more ‘involved’ it is versus my initial preconceived notions. Enjoying the heck out of your videos. I don’t see anyone explaining things like you do. Great job. I wonder if the younger generations have enough patience to actually listen to your wisdom and aren’t already skipping ahead or to the next video. I pray they do! Regards to you 😊
@@AnglerCalendar on round two of it. The first time worked, the spots went away, but came back after about 5 days. Keeping the temp a little high for a few more days to see how that works
Exactly what I was looking for. I have live plants I'm attempting not to kill 😂 Just upped the heat a tad more and going to get fresh garlic this evening. Here's to happier fish a few days. 🤞🏼 As always, great information and explanation.
Thank you Bob. And thank you for all your efforts to provide documentation of all the wonderful assistance so many continue to provide on our DISCORD channel. discord.gg/aZdhPasp
This is a great video thank you! More than a decade ago I had discus that came with a couple ich spots. The tank was heavily planted with clown loaches, a bristle nose pleco, oto cats and 2 siamenses. Non of the available medications or salt was safe for this set up and remembered doing heat treatment for a week which worked perfectly, lost no fish or plants and I never saw it again. I finally set up a new planted tank this summer after a decade of renovations and moving, and got a batch of congo tetras which I noticed ich on the next morning. I was in a panic as this tank was also already fully cycled, heavily planted and has bamboo shrimp, snails and twig catfish. My house is tiny so no room for quarentine tanks. I couldn't seem to find the old article on heat treatment for ich I'd used originally, and that was before TH-cam became such a big DIY site. So greatful to find your videos with specifications for degree changes, duration of heat and feeding a bit of garlic. It's a 75 gl tank so I had to get an additional heater to get the temp up. It has a slightly undersized eheim canister filter but 2 agitators to help move water around. I also added 2 air stones just to really keep the oxygen levels up. I'm on day 4 of 31 C and everything in the tank is alive and well although very hungry and active with such a warm temperature. I got frozen blood worms and baby brine shrimp just to feed them extra well and do a small slow water change before bed just too keep things a bit cleaner. The tank never showed any ammonia, nitrite or nitrate even while cycling. It has 3 to 6 inches of substrate starting with soil, then 1 inch flourite and gravel to cap. I packed it with plants right away and used generous amounts of fish food for a month plus liquid plant fertilizer made from composted seaweed and the plants took off! I had found my best tanks were set up this way, so have also enjoyed watching your planted tank videos for details and explanations as to why this system works so well. In any case, there's been no signs of ich for a day and a half so I'm thinking of starting to lower the temperature tonight a degree and then again in the morning. It's a bit hard changing tank parameters as I'm at work all day and don't want to do anything major to get home 9 hours later to chaos. But I also don't want to keep the temperature this high for 6 days which is the next day off I have.
Your fish are in o danger from temps. Gradually lower naturally. I recommend an inch of sand on the gravel. It will prevent water from flowing to the florite level and provide more area for microfauna and beneficial bacteria. Thank you for the note. Please join us on DISCORD for more opportunity to share and chat. discord.gg/9dcKdGnG
@@FatherFish thank you for your reply! In the end the temperature stayed at 31 all week as everything seemed fine. I thought better to adjust things when I can check every few hours. No signs of ich or poor health and all inhabitants seem vigorous. The mystery snails seem to have doubled in size. The only negative is these congo tetras are so rowdy and hungry they've been poking into everything and eating some of the pearl weed and combomba the bamboo shrimp liked to sit on. Now all the bamboo shrimp are hiding up in the back corner where the tetras can't go. I'm a little worried I've made a mistake with the congo tetras. I'd read they were shy peaceful fish, but they're more like mini piranhas lol. If they even see me come into the room they start swarming the front surface of the tank hoping for food! I'm hoping once the temperature goes back down they'll chill out a bit.
Thank you for this video. My albino Oscar had ich and we thought she was a goner, after 5 days with this temperature & salt treatment she's back to a normal, spot free, hungry, healthy fish. ❤
How did your plants hold up? I’ve used this treatment after I added some un quarantined fish and saw ich spots in my planted 29 gallon, and so far (about three days in) all my plants are fine and the ich spots have disappeared.
Great video, and easy to follow. My tank has a case of ick and I have lost over half my fish. I’m hoping I can save the few I have left. I bumped the temp to 83 initially but I’m going to gradually bump it up to 86 today.
Ive been having an ick bloom on my tetras. Seems this fish is really prone to it. As before they arrived, my tank never had any issues such as this. Ive been keeping at the heat treatment for the past 5 days. Its improving. Not as quickly as id like but improving. Save for 1 tetra with 2-4 spots left and the otto cats that caught it right after the heat treatment began.
I confirm, garlic helps, fish like it, especially guppies and mollys. I have other question, how to treet other parasites like nematodes, flagellates, flukes ?
Methylene blue has brought back fish from the brink of death for me that works super well As father fish said dosing it directly to your tank will mess up the life support systems of an aquarium, so it’s best to remove the fish and treat it in a separate tank
what medication or natural cure do you use for parasites in betta fish ? My male placket betta fish has clamped fins and I suspect internal parasites .. would love to help him. His tank is father fish approved.
I've got my first outbreak of ich. Been fish keeping for 3 years. Im glad it's only in my 70 litre betta tank than my 350 litre community tank. I have put in salt (but only half the recommendation because it's a planted tank) and raised the temperature to at least 30 degrees. I also added some garlic that the fish loved. I'll let you guys know the outcome.
I wish my dad would have had access to this information in the early 90s. Sadly, he lost his big established Oscars to Ick (he thinks it's from feeding feeder goldfish). If those Oscars would've lived, I might have seen them in my life lol. Thanks for this info; it makes me dread Ick a lot less! ☺
My 2 prettiest fish look like that Oscar 😢 I'm trying to treat with Seachem Paraguard but I'm fighting a losing battle. 😢 I raised the heater to 83 degrees Farenheit and I put the Paraguard in every 24 hours. I came home from a 4 day vacation and my fish were covered in ich. My tank has what appears to be a bacteria bloom as well. I have a 2 ottos and a large tetra and a 2 year old yoyo loach. I added an airstone last night. I also have 2 cherry barbs and it is a 20 gallon high freshwater tank.
My green neon tetra’s currently have random white spots on them. Not a ton and mostly on the fins. I’ve had the temp up for about 50 hours now and they are still there. No more but no less either. Temp is at 87.
May be another parasite or a fungus or even virus. If it does not increase you should be ok. Keep me posted. Join us in the Shoal and let some folks follow this. discord.gg/father-fish-shoal
Always value your knowledge. My first battle happening now after seeing white spots on my rummy nose tetras. I have live plants, otos, cory doras, Brusselnose, otos, mollies and shrimp. The tank has reached 83 slowly climbing. My concern is my Brusselnose, I've heard they will not live past 82, he is my oldest and favorite boy in this tank. Do you think he will be okay that high of temperature?
I removed my Fluval 407 filter and used it on a bucket on its own to save the beneficial bacteria. I put my spare Fluval 107 on community aquarium then increased temp to 29c. Then nuked the tank with API white spot. I lost 3 cardinal tetras and all the ick was gone in 24 hours. I redosed after 48 hours. Then I did a 70% water change twice whilst vacuuming the substrate over next 48 hours. I think it is a tank problem as much as a fish problem and not treating the tank will probably mean a recurrent problem. None of my guppy’s or ottocinclus showed any symptoms at any time and none were lost.
I tried to up the temperature, my heater thermostat says 32C but temperature is actually 27C. I have a 180l aquarium. How do I reach 30C? Put another heater in?
It's been many years (knock on wood) since I have had to deal with ick and I knew about the temp trick but I had no idea it needed to be raised THAT high. Other than the depletion of Oxygen, are there any other potential negatives to watch out for when jacking the temp up over 86.4°? Can cold water fish even survive in water that warm for a week?
@@FatherFish I didn’t have any, so did use Seachem, and it worked.. but if the ich comes back, I will definitely buy fresh garlic.. thank you for all your great advice Father fish, you are truly a treasure to us hobbyists❣️
Why is there information online saying 86 degrees stops replication, but doesn’t actually kill the Ich. 89.7 degrees is what I am hearing is the needed temp to actually kill the Ich. I am also hearing others say 88 degrees kills the Ich. So many people tossing around different numbers. Father fish, what are your thoughts?
I’ve been at 86 degrees for 3 days. Lost one fish yesterday :( and see more spots on another today. I bought a 10 gallon medical tank. I’m thinking about setting it up with sponge filter, heater, and transferring fish. Then treating with chemicals or salt. The hard part will be keeping water parameters right. I could do a water change in my main tank and use that water in the hospital tank, but then the salt would just kill the beneficial bacteria. Should I put a light on the hospital tank, or keep it dark? Thank you FF
@@FatherFish Sadly my heater won’t go higher than 86. I’m wondering now if it could be something other than ich. I was led to believe ich spread very quickly, but this isn’t. These fish were just added to the aquarium a week ago, I took a visit back to the store to purchase an adjustable heater and took a closer look at the tank I got my fish from, some of the fish had 1 or 2 white spots on them.
@@FatherFish okay, got a new heater that goes up to higher temp. Also got the hospital tank ready to go. Gonna try the higher heat before stressing them out even more by moving them. I’ll give it 2 or 3 days at 87
@@FatherFish Day 3 at 88 degrees, no visible white spots. Now I have a perfectly set up hospital tank already up and running that I didn’t have to use. Should I use it to quarantine new fish before adding them to the community tank? If so, for how long? Thank you for your replies
Always use an air stone. Increase heat to 87 degrees F. 1/8 cup of salt per gallon in a hospital tank after 2 days increase salt by another 1/8 or 1/16. If this does not work light your house on fire. Ps. Dont burn your house down. Probably just treat the fish in a hospital tank with an air stone. DO NOT FEED YOUR FISH IN THE HOSPITAL TANK
How much of the clove do you suggest for a 20 gallon. I have a tank of endlers that has got ich. I just got them from someone on kijiji and they were already infested.
First, be sure to get the temp up to 86/87. Then crush the clove and add a small portion. If it is all eaten you may add more. Good luck with curing the ick.
Thank you so much! My fish would all be dead without you! Are you saying to never feed fish while in a hospital tank or never to feed them in their regular tank while temps are raised? My poor fish have this nasty parasite, so im raising temps now and have garlic ready. I have guppies, mollies and lepord danios. Unfortunately, they came from STUPID petsmart, as that is all we have here. I will be ordering online for now on. I really appreciate your videos!
@Father Fish I ended up having to get a new heater, as it wouldn't go above 84, I'm having a really hard time finding one that will reach anything above 86. I went and bought a 200 watt, and it says it will go up to 93, but it just shuts off at 84. Do you have any recommendations? I am fearful they will die before I can get this figured out.
@Father Fish also, I have the heater towards the bottom. Tried putting a long air stone under it to circulate the heat. I have an underwater fluval filter that pushes water pretty good as well.
How much of a qater change should i do after the 3 day treatment of 87 degree water? How long should i continue to do the water changes to make sure the ick is totally remoced from tank?
Father fish, I have goldfish with white spots and red spots . I’m doing the 87 degree heater now. They had a partial response to doxycycline and metronidazole. But both failed. Any thoughts?
Greetings FF, I have an ich problem that just came from nowhere, I added fish about 9 days ago and just now the ich started to show. I think they must be dormant for more that 4 days. My temp was set at 79 the entire time
I’ve been following your recommendations on the dirted tank idea. I have a 20 gallon tank with plants covering the bottom and some Pothos growing into the water column. Idk took out my whole fish colony as I didn’t catch it quick enough. I did a water change and noticed one lone fish still alive appeared during the water change. He has since passed. I added a water heater and it has been running officially 3 days at 86 degrees. Today I have small almost microscopic white worms in the water column and on the glass. These worms are moving around. Besides continuing heat treatment can I do anything else since the tank is planted?
Your comment leaves out some important information. Why did you take the fish out and why did you change the water? I am guessing ick but that is no r eason to remove the fish and water. If you will join me on the Father Fish Shoal we can more easily help you. discord.gg/G4fkAE6qNw
My black tetras have white dots. I suspect it’s ick. Upped the temperature to 30 degrees celcius juz now. Juz praying my fish can take it. I have raw garlic. Shall do a mince. I hope my green neon tetras, white cloud minnows, and black tetras will be fine pls.. if they recover I’m gonna add ember tetras.
Im interested to try this and avoid chemicals, but worried about confusing it with epistylis which high temps will increase? Ive looked at so many pictures but cant tell which my fish have
I just have one question, what if a fish still has left some white spots on the fins, after 3 days of heat treatment, do i still keep my water temperature untill it is completely gone, or i can lower it down to normal, because i can see that ich is not progresing any more and i can see that spots are weaker day by day. Thank you
Hi Father Fish! I have a question. I had a very severe case of ich in my aquarium. I do have a soil tank with sand above. My first trial actually. Black dirt from the ground and the sand straight out of a lake. Anyhow, I treated the ich with a quick cure medicine before I watched this video. The tank has gone horribly wrong with excess algae. Obviously the entire ecosystem has crashed. Anything I can do to save it?
FIRST, raise the temp to 87f. Second turn the lights off for 2-3 days. Leave the temp up for 5 days. lov=wer it when the fish have been clean for 4 days to 82f. Turn the lights back on normally.
@ thank you. You’ve really inspired me to get back into fish keeping in a whole new way. Having an absolute blast with it. Looking forward to building my first 55g with your soil and approach!
Thanks for the video. I find that my glofish tetra fishes can't stand salt water. I had 1 died after 2 days in salt water. Another lied flat side way at bottom of hosp tank as soon as I put it in. I haven't tried the heat to 86F yet. Will this high temp be ok for my Cardinals, ember , rummy nose tetras and gupies, platties, rasboras? Thank you sir. When you said garlic, is it minced raw garlic? Is Seachem garlic guard be the same? Thank you.
I failed to save my neon tetra, they are having ich for 5 days, i increased the water temperature to 33c and add in 1 crush garlic clove for treatment, now i only have 4 neon tetra left in my 14 liter small tank, before that i have 8 neon tetra , but my red cheery shrimp are doing fine
I have a question please. I believe my fish was harmed by other tank mates that have been removed. I placed my pacu in a rubbermate container w airstone and salt. Its been 5 days, i fear its getting sick. 3 wounds on body and its upper lip is like gone. If it was a trauma pt, Id say its healing but infection is upon us. I cant find help anywhere. Can you or your community pls help me save this fish. Silly i know, but my grandson is counting on me. I found your church message tonight and have been watching your videos and its already 2:20 am. I know your not a vet.. im asking for guidance. I can send pictures if u provide an address.
Thank you for the answers of Ich it was most helpful. On a different topic I tried to get info on injuries on fishes or accidental injuries. What I mean is one day as I was cutting my plants in the aquarium I snipped the tail fin of my tetra. I didn’t see him and I felt bad and I said sorry to him. I separated him and placed him in a small bowl .5 gallon with air stone and heater. I tried treating him from the cut and I was hoping he would get better. Unfortunately he died😞. Could you advise me on the next time I accidentally do this again (which I learned my lesson) on what to do?. What kind of treatment is good? Please and thank you
Might 86 degrees kill some aquatic plants in the tank? So should they be removed before raising the temperature. Like bucephelandra and some other aquatic plants?
I just rescued a betta that was covered in ich at Petco in Glendale,CA. She was covered in ice like the Oscar you showed and said probably didn’t survive. I got lucky I guess, because after medicinal treatment, the ich was gone in a few days. I also raised the temp and did 25% water changes every other day (and replaced the amount of medicine each time proportionate to what was lost with the 25% change). I’m just disgusted that Petco doesn’t take care of their bettas. She was sitting in a small cup with feces and food and surrounded by dead bettas. I took pics, emailed corporate Petco, and they gave me some generic response. Something needs to be done already. I am sick of Petco and Petsmart abusing bettas
Years ago when I was into salt water tanks I was told that I ick is in every salt water tank laying dormant waiting for a weaker fish with a low ammune system to attach to. Not sure if there is any truth to this.
A lot is not known. Probably that is not true, however, the parasite continues by virtue of hosting and reproducing. You can stop it in your aquarium. In the wild probably not.
Of course it was you who introduced me to upping the heat in my tank to treat and even cure ich. Also to understand that it's basically lurking all the time ... Waiting to jump on another host or to take over a weak host, just waiting for a fish's immune system to go down and take over. Weakening the fish and rendering it hard to fight It off with their own strength.
One of the reasons it makes so much sense to me is because of dogs..believe it or not.....
take mange for instance, there are two different types,
there's red mange called sarcoptic mange.. and in people it's called The "scabies"... Red mange is typically a little microscopic bug that attacks a dog, it's literally a parasite that travels from host to host,..
Then you have demodectic mange which is a naturally occurring parasite that dogs have living on their bodies from birth and when their immune system goes down it takes over much the same way as ich.. I hope that made sense because I have a hard time getting out of my brain what I'm trying to say 🤣🤣🤣
Before you I would have bought medicines and done all that jazz, I'm not saying that that's the wrong approach I'm just saying that temperature can make a huge and successful impact on treating ich without ruining your tank.
You know I watch a lot of channels but there's just something about how you explain things that clicks with me, it's scientific and common Sense mixed together!! Being vigilant and aware of your fish and their behaviors and the way they interact with our tanks is the key!
Thanks for another great video Father Fish much love my friend 🙏🌿🐟🌿💚
Thank you Mary. A very inciteful comment. Much appreciated.
To be honest nothing made sense with the cleaning process to me , father fish opened my eyes , I used to clean every 2 weeks 10% and 30% water changes , cleaned my substrate my glass and even took ornaments out and steam cleaned them , I lost so many fish over the 10 years I had my tank and when I lost my mbu puffer I gave up , I lost heart in it , now I have a small set up 70 liters , its not even a year old , I had fish in it within 48hrs from new , its doing amazing and I lose no fish thanks to this guy , I do no water changes or cleaning (shrimp are thriving) just water top ups , I have more fish than recommended in this size tank but it don't matter because the tank looks after itself thanks to father fish , I wish I had found this guy when I had my 500 liter as the shops have no idea , bad advice nearly killed my mbu twice , I now do my own research on individual species
The heat works great!!! My fish lost his white spots OVER NIGHT!!! Thx you father fish!!!!
The spots are the injury, not the animal
Just added 10 dwarf neon rainbows to my community tank and noticed 3 of the new fish have 1-3 spot on them. I instantly pulled up this video and brushed up on my treatment tactics. My 55 gallon tank is full of plant and fish, prolly 50+ nano fish(if you consider dwarf neon rainbows nano fish). Thank you Father fish for all your help, I really appreciate you taking time out of your day to help us all!!!
How in the world does this video not have more views already?
It is the algorythm. 6 months ago my vids were getting 3'4 thousand views first day. Now if I hit 500 it is above average.
YT has figured out how to pay out 90% less to creators. This platform is an immense ripoff.
@@FatherFish and all those annoying commercials - I hate them 🙄🤐
Thank you Father Fish , i got rid of ick in 4 days , i raised temperature at 30C and it worked ,i am so glad i didn't used any chemicals :)
Hey do you think I can raise it that high for roseline anglefish and kissing gourami
@@Jordanhann02 Hi , i am not sure , cause i didn't had those species (i had : platy , white cloud minnows ,guppy , corydoras and molly ) but i think if you have ick you really must do something about before it's to late .
I just want to stay I really enjoy your videos. They are full of helpful info. Anytime I run into something new that I don't know or understand I look up your videos. Thank you very much for all you do
You are soooo awesome to care enough to create these time consuming videos and educational tips! No one else does this sir! Blessings!!😊 Thanks 😊😊
Absolutely true!Although had only keeping 3 gold fish but had them for about 10 years now. Im blessed to learn about power of plants from my grandma and every sickness with my fish I I was able to combat with garlic juice and alder cones. I have NEVER used any shop bought treatments!
Saw 2 spots on my rainbow fish and started to freak out , found your vid, raised the temp and increased the surface agitation for better o2 , will update soon , thank you 😊
how's the fishes now
👀 updates?
Is it successful or not?
I wanted to say thank you for the video, you helped save my fish for certain death.
Wow I’m really impressed by this no-nonsense solution that defaults to a natural remedy. God has an amazing ability to provide the solution to any natural problem. Very cool. I’m new to this hobby and I’m surprised how much more ‘involved’ it is versus my initial preconceived notions. Enjoying the heck out of your videos. I don’t see anyone explaining things like you do. Great job. I wonder if the younger generations have enough patience to actually listen to your wisdom and aren’t already skipping ahead or to the next video. I pray they do! Regards to you 😊
Day 1 of treating ick with heat! Thank you for providing a natural way to help my fish ❤
Day one for me today, how is yours going?
@@AnglerCalendar on round two of it. The first time worked, the spots went away, but came back after about 5 days. Keeping the temp a little high for a few more days to see how that works
I have used the garlic method of helping my fish I took the garlic crunched it up and mixed in the food then fed it to the fish. Good stuff
The natural fish keeper's little secret.
I'm doing the same way ❤
Exactly what I was looking for. I have live plants I'm attempting not to kill 😂
Just upped the heat a tad more and going to get fresh garlic this evening.
Here's to happier fish a few days. 🤞🏼
As always, great information and explanation.
This vid is all u need if u treating ick! Great sharing FF
Thank you Bob. And thank you for all your efforts to provide documentation of all the wonderful assistance so many continue to provide on our DISCORD channel. discord.gg/aZdhPasp
Thank you for your instructions as I have ich in my 30 gallon.
This is a great video thank you!
More than a decade ago I had discus that came with a couple ich spots. The tank was heavily planted with clown loaches, a bristle nose pleco, oto cats and 2 siamenses. Non of the available medications or salt was safe for this set up and remembered doing heat treatment for a week which worked perfectly, lost no fish or plants and I never saw it again.
I finally set up a new planted tank this summer after a decade of renovations and moving, and got a batch of congo tetras which I noticed ich on the next morning. I was in a panic as this tank was also already fully cycled, heavily planted and has bamboo shrimp, snails and twig catfish. My house is tiny so no room for quarentine tanks.
I couldn't seem to find the old article on heat treatment for ich I'd used originally, and that was before TH-cam became such a big DIY site.
So greatful to find your videos with specifications for degree changes, duration of heat and feeding a bit of garlic. It's a 75 gl tank so I had to get an additional heater to get the temp up. It has a slightly undersized eheim canister filter but 2 agitators to help move water around. I also added 2 air stones just to really keep the oxygen levels up.
I'm on day 4 of 31 C and everything in the tank is alive and well although very hungry and active with such a warm temperature. I got frozen blood worms and baby brine shrimp just to feed them extra well and do a small slow water change before bed just too keep things a bit cleaner.
The tank never showed any ammonia, nitrite or nitrate even while cycling. It has 3 to 6 inches of substrate starting with soil, then 1 inch flourite and gravel to cap. I packed it with plants right away and used generous amounts of fish food for a month plus liquid plant fertilizer made from composted seaweed and the plants took off! I had found my best tanks were set up this way, so have also enjoyed watching your planted tank videos for details and explanations as to why this system works so well.
In any case, there's been no signs of ich for a day and a half so I'm thinking of starting to lower the temperature tonight a degree and then again in the morning. It's a bit hard changing tank parameters as I'm at work all day and don't want to do anything major to get home 9 hours later to chaos. But I also don't want to keep the temperature this high for 6 days which is the next day off I have.
Your fish are in o danger from temps. Gradually lower naturally. I recommend an inch of sand on the gravel. It will prevent water from flowing to the florite level and provide more area for microfauna and beneficial bacteria.
Thank you for the note. Please join us on DISCORD for more opportunity to share and chat. discord.gg/9dcKdGnG
@@FatherFish thank you for your reply!
In the end the temperature stayed at 31 all week as everything seemed fine. I thought better to adjust things when I can check every few hours. No signs of ich or poor health and all inhabitants seem vigorous. The mystery snails seem to have doubled in size.
The only negative is these congo tetras are so rowdy and hungry they've been poking into everything and eating some of the pearl weed and combomba the bamboo shrimp liked to sit on. Now all the bamboo shrimp are hiding up in the back corner where the tetras can't go. I'm a little worried I've made a mistake with the congo tetras. I'd read they were shy peaceful fish, but they're more like mini piranhas lol. If they even see me come into the room they start swarming the front surface of the tank hoping for food!
I'm hoping once the temperature goes back down they'll chill out a bit.
Thank you for this video. My albino Oscar had ich and we thought she was a goner, after 5 days with this temperature & salt treatment she's back to a normal, spot free, hungry, healthy fish. ❤
You just saved me from putting aquarium salt in my heavily substrates planted aquarium. Thank you so much!!!!!!
How did your plants hold up? I’ve used this treatment after I added some un quarantined fish and saw ich spots in my planted 29 gallon, and so far (about three days in) all my plants are fine and the ich spots have disappeared.
Another great informative video, thanks
Thank you father fish. Great informative video. 👍
I tried the garlic and the heat, and it worked-no drugs needed!
My house smelled like Boulibaise, though 😆
This saved my Neon Tetras , heat and garlic as you suggested, thank you.😊
Thanks for all your information
My pleasure Buick.
Thank you so much for sharing, so helpful and it all makes perfect sense.
That you so much Father Fish!! ❤
Salutations and thank you very much for your wisdom! 😊
This guy @father fish is the Albert Einstein of the aquatic world thank you for this follow-up in detail for your original ich video god bless
Great video, and easy to follow. My tank has a case of ick and I have lost over half my fish. I’m hoping I can save the few I have left. I bumped the temp to 83 initially but I’m going to gradually bump it up to 86 today.
You can do it! Keep it up for 3 days. 87 is optimal.
Good stuff 👌🏼 Cured ick a couple times. But still learnt a few new things here 🤓
Great. That is my hope.
I sure hope this works for me! Thank you so much!
Ive been having an ick bloom on my tetras. Seems this fish is really prone to it. As before they arrived, my tank never had any issues such as this. Ive been keeping at the heat treatment for the past 5 days. Its improving. Not as quickly as id like but improving. Save for 1 tetra with 2-4 spots left and the otto cats that caught it right after the heat treatment began.
[thank, you father fish for another interesting video]🙏🙏🙏
I confirm, garlic helps, fish like it, especially guppies and mollys. I have other question, how to treet other parasites like nematodes, flagellates, flukes ?
Great information thank you for doing this video 👍👍
Glad it was helpful Rego. Thank you for your support.
Thank u for ur vid I’m trying the garlic and the fish love it I hope it works
Garlic is good for secondary infecxtion. Temp of 86 kills ick.
Methylene blue has brought back fish from the brink of death for me that works super well
As father fish said dosing it directly to your tank will mess up the life support systems of an aquarium, so it’s best to remove the fish and treat it in a separate tank
Ick is in the tank though
@@chrisrusso4512without a host the ich will die in a few days so keep fish in recovery tank during this time
@@filiplaskovski9993 no. The parasite leaves the fish and goes back into the soil. The spots are simply scabs. It’s a tank problem
what medication or natural cure do you use for parasites in betta fish ? My male placket betta fish has clamped fins and I suspect internal parasites .. would love to help him. His tank is father fish approved.
what about fish that cannot tolerate that heat level, such as darters, minnows and bluegills?
My fish had this I used heat and garlic in juice and fed to fish and it killed this I never lost any fish and their fine!
I've got my first outbreak of ich. Been fish keeping for 3 years. Im glad it's only in my 70 litre betta tank than my 350 litre community tank. I have put in salt (but only half the recommendation because it's a planted tank) and raised the temperature to at least 30 degrees. I also added some garlic that the fish loved. I'll let you guys know the outcome.
Full of wisdom! Thanks
I wish my dad would have had access to this information in the early 90s. Sadly, he lost his big established Oscars to Ick (he thinks it's from feeding feeder goldfish). If those Oscars would've lived, I might have seen them in my life lol. Thanks for this info; it makes me dread Ick a lot less! ☺
Peerfect. Nothing to fear. Raise the heat and KILL IT!
Thanks for this video. Please could you do another update video on ich/ick as this one has a really painful piercing noise in the background.👍
Yes I will
I don’t hear any background noise except bubbling in the tank
@@1957Bevyit's a high pitch noise throughout
Thank you for your video ! Changing water todat and starting with temperature boost and hopfully wont have to go wth salt !
keep me posted in the SHOAL
Thank You
You're welcome Mollynim.
My 2 prettiest fish look like that Oscar 😢 I'm trying to treat with Seachem Paraguard but I'm fighting a losing battle. 😢 I raised the heater to 83 degrees Farenheit and I put the Paraguard in every 24 hours. I came home from a 4 day vacation and my fish were covered in ich. My tank has what appears to be a bacteria bloom as well. I have a 2 ottos and a large tetra and a 2 year old yoyo loach. I added an airstone last night. I also have 2 cherry barbs and it is a 20 gallon high freshwater tank.
My tank has been at 87 for 3 days and my glass knife fish still has spots. Some have disappeared but new ones have appeared too. Any advice?
Planted aquarium I put hitter 24 digere so battre
TQ❤...KERJA DENGAN SEMPURNA.PERFECTO! TQ❤❤❤❤❤❤
[thank, you for this info]👍👍
Do you have a video on water temperature? Thanks
My green neon tetra’s currently have random white spots on them. Not a ton and mostly on the fins. I’ve had the temp up for about 50 hours now and they are still there. No more but no less either. Temp is at 87.
May be another parasite or a fungus or even virus. If it does not increase you should be ok. Keep me posted. Join us in the Shoal and let some folks follow this. discord.gg/father-fish-shoal
Best way by far
Thanks herp
Always value your knowledge. My first battle happening now after seeing white spots on my rummy nose tetras. I have live plants, otos, cory doras, Brusselnose, otos, mollies and shrimp. The tank has reached 83 slowly climbing. My concern is my Brusselnose, I've heard they will not live past 82, he is my oldest and favorite boy in this tank. Do you think he will be okay that high of temperature?
Yes. He is a tropical from equatorial Brazil where summer temps of the water range into the 90s.
Fatherfish Savior of fishes far and wide!!! THANK YOU
At 87, the white specs have all disappeared so far so good 👍 👌 😊 😀
In case anyone sees this, it worked ! 🙏 🤲 yaaaay
@@rainbowlove7235Great news! Yayy!!!! 🎉
As always, great info!
Thank you Triple J. It is good to be appreciated.
86° that ich!
I removed my Fluval 407 filter and used it on a bucket on its own to save the beneficial bacteria. I put my spare Fluval 107 on community aquarium then increased temp to 29c. Then nuked the tank with API white spot. I lost 3 cardinal tetras and all the ick was gone in 24 hours. I redosed after 48 hours. Then I did a 70% water change twice whilst vacuuming the substrate over next 48 hours. I think it is a tank problem as much as a fish problem and not treating the tank will probably mean a recurrent problem. None of my guppy’s or ottocinclus showed any symptoms at any time and none were lost.
Good video I’ll watch more
What about increasing tannins. Throwing in some almond leaves maybe?
'Sure. That's good
@@FatherFish As a kid with my first 10 gal. I remember goldfish getting ich. I haven't dealt with it in years now.
I tried to up the temperature, my heater thermostat says 32C but temperature is actually 27C. I have a 180l aquarium. How do I reach 30C? Put another heater in?
Another great food for curing and preventing diseases in fish is fresh koriander leaves, there have even been studies on it.
It's been many years (knock on wood) since I have had to deal with ick and I knew about the temp trick but I had no idea it needed to be raised THAT high. Other than the depletion of Oxygen, are there any other potential negatives to watch out for when jacking the temp up over 86.4°? Can cold water fish even survive in water that warm for a week?
86 is pretty standard for mid summer in most temperate zones. If there is bacterial infection heat will not help.
Please , What help in bacterial infection ?
Will raising the TEMP(86), hurt the live plants?
no
Would Seachem Garlic Guard work Father fish..
I prefer fresh crushed garlic, not liquid.
@@FatherFish I didn’t have any, so did use Seachem, and it worked.. but if the ich comes back, I will definitely buy fresh garlic.. thank you for all your great advice Father fish, you are truly a treasure to us hobbyists❣️
Why is there information online saying 86 degrees stops replication, but doesn’t actually kill the Ich. 89.7 degrees is what I am hearing is the needed temp to actually kill the Ich. I am also hearing others say 88 degrees kills the Ich. So many people tossing around different numbers. Father fish, what are your thoughts?
At 86f or 30c the ick falls off the fish. When the temp is lowe4red to 82f it does not return. That is what I know.
I’ve been at 86 degrees for 3 days. Lost one fish yesterday :( and see more spots on another today.
I bought a 10 gallon medical tank. I’m thinking about setting it up with sponge filter, heater, and transferring fish. Then treating with chemicals or salt.
The hard part will be keeping water parameters right. I could do a water change in my main tank and use that water in the hospital tank, but then the salt would just kill the beneficial bacteria.
Should I put a light on the hospital tank, or keep it dark? Thank you FF
If you have ick and it is not gone in 3 days increase the temp. Water is not warm enough.
@@FatherFish Sadly my heater won’t go higher than 86.
I’m wondering now if it could be something other than ich. I was led to believe ich spread very quickly, but this isn’t.
These fish were just added to the aquarium a week ago, I took a visit back to the store to purchase an adjustable heater and took a closer look at the tank I got my fish from, some of the fish had 1 or 2 white spots on them.
@@flexedout6650 Could be bacterial. Sometimes it is both. Remove the affected fish to a hosp tank and treat with 1 tblspn salt p5g.
@@FatherFish okay, got a new heater that goes up to higher temp. Also got the hospital tank ready to go.
Gonna try the higher heat before stressing them out even more by moving them. I’ll give it 2 or 3 days at 87
@@FatherFish Day 3 at 88 degrees, no visible white spots. Now I have a perfectly set up hospital tank already up and running that I didn’t have to use. Should I use it to quarantine new fish before adding them to the community tank? If so, for how long? Thank you for your replies
Always use an air stone. Increase heat to 87 degrees F. 1/8 cup of salt per gallon in a hospital tank after 2 days increase salt by another 1/8 or 1/16. If this does not work light your house on fire.
Ps. Dont burn your house down. Probably just treat the fish in a hospital tank with an air stone. DO NOT FEED YOUR FISH IN THE HOSPITAL TANK
The salt, hosp tank and fire are overkill. 87 does it all!
How much of the clove do you suggest for a 20 gallon. I have a tank of endlers that has got ich. I just got them from someone on kijiji and they were already infested.
First, be sure to get the temp up to 86/87. Then crush the clove and add a small portion. If it is all eaten you may add more. Good luck with curing the ick.
@@FatherFish I'm already upping the temp. Went from 80 to 83, going to boost it up another few degrees. Didn't want too jump to high too fast.
Do you recommend we give methylene salt baths for every new fish we order online? 🤔 Incase they have parasite or an illness.
no
Thank you so much! My fish would all be dead without you!
Are you saying to never feed fish while in a hospital tank or never to feed them in their regular tank while temps are raised?
My poor fish have this nasty parasite, so im raising temps now and have garlic ready. I have guppies, mollies and lepord danios. Unfortunately, they came from STUPID petsmart, as that is all we have here. I will be ordering online for now on.
I really appreciate your videos!
Do not feed in hospital and do not feed while temp is raised.
@Father Fish I ended up having to get a new heater, as it wouldn't go above 84, I'm having a really hard time finding one that will reach anything above 86. I went and bought a 200 watt, and it says it will go up to 93, but it just shuts off at 84. Do you have any recommendations? I am fearful they will die before I can get this figured out.
@Father Fish also, I have the heater towards the bottom. Tried putting a long air stone under it to circulate the heat. I have an underwater fluval filter that pushes water pretty good as well.
How much of a qater change should i do after the 3 day treatment of 87 degree water?
How long should i continue to do the water changes to make sure the ick is totally remoced from tank?
until it is gone
Father fish,
I have goldfish with white spots and red spots . I’m doing the 87 degree heater now.
They had a partial response to doxycycline and metronidazole. But both failed.
Any thoughts?
move to hospital tank and add salt with heat. discord.gg/father-fish-shoal
Does the heat treatment work for gill flukes too? Some of my fish are flashing against plants.
Not so much but flashing is typically a sign of ick distress. Raise the temp.
So I have a question? After ich treatment should I change out the mechanical media in my canister filters of the affected tank?
Only if you are treating with chemicals.
Can the heating method be used for cold water species?
I have three kuhli loaches and two dojo loaches. One of my dojos has a few spots I’ve noticed. Will the others be okay if I turn up the heat?
yes
Quick question...can you use the garlic in a jar pre chopped or should you only use freshly chopped garlic?
fresh
Greetings FF, I have an ich problem that just came from nowhere, I added fish about 9 days ago and just now the ich started to show. I think they must be dormant for more that 4 days. My temp was set at 79 the entire time
What should you do if you already treated once with a medication before watching this video? Huge water change?
small water change, maybe several over a week or so. Add charcoal to remove chemicals.
@@FatherFish Thank you!
I’ve been following your recommendations on the dirted tank idea. I have a 20 gallon tank with plants covering the bottom and some Pothos growing into the water column. Idk took out my whole fish colony as I didn’t catch it quick enough. I did a water change and noticed one lone fish still alive appeared during the water change. He has since passed. I added a water heater and it has been running officially 3 days at 86 degrees. Today I have small almost microscopic white worms in the water column and on the glass. These worms are moving around. Besides continuing heat treatment can I do anything else since the tank is planted?
Your comment leaves out some important information. Why did you take the fish out and why did you change the water? I am guessing ick but that is no r eason to remove the fish and water. If you will join me on the Father Fish Shoal we can more easily help you. discord.gg/G4fkAE6qNw
How do you treat skin and gill flukes in goldfish
salt bath
My black tetras have white dots. I suspect it’s ick. Upped the temperature to 30 degrees celcius juz now. Juz praying my fish can take it. I have raw garlic. Shall do a mince. I hope my green neon tetras, white cloud minnows, and black tetras will be fine pls.. if they recover I’m gonna add ember tetras.
Im interested to try this and avoid chemicals, but worried about confusing it with epistylis which high temps will increase? Ive looked at so many pictures but cant tell which my fish have
You will know in 3 days when all your fish are dead. Raise the temp to 87 now and keep it there until the parasites disappear.
I just have one question, what if a fish still has left some white spots on the fins, after 3 days of heat treatment, do i still keep my water temperature untill it is completely gone, or i can lower it down to normal, because i can see that ich is not progresing any more and i can see that spots are weaker day by day. Thank you
stay up until all spots are gone.
Hi Father Fish! I have a question. I had a very severe case of ich in my aquarium. I do have a soil tank with sand above. My first trial actually. Black dirt from the ground and the sand straight out of a lake. Anyhow, I treated the ich with a quick cure medicine before I watched this video. The tank has gone horribly wrong with excess algae. Obviously the entire ecosystem has crashed. Anything I can do to save it?
FIRST, raise the temp to 87f. Second turn the lights off for 2-3 days. Leave the temp up for 5 days.
lov=wer it when the fish have been clean for 4 days to 82f. Turn the lights back on normally.
@ thank you. You’ve really inspired me to get back into fish keeping in a whole new way. Having an absolute blast with it. Looking forward to building my first 55g with your soil and approach!
Thanks for the video. I find that my glofish tetra fishes can't stand salt water. I had 1 died after 2 days in salt water. Another lied flat side way at bottom of hosp tank as soon as I put it in. I haven't tried the heat to 86F yet. Will this high temp be ok for my Cardinals, ember , rummy nose tetras and gupies, platties, rasboras? Thank you sir.
When you said garlic, is it minced raw garlic? Is Seachem garlic guard be the same? Thank you.
Raw crushed garlic provided as food. Your fish will do fine in 86f.
I failed to save my neon tetra, they are having ich for 5 days, i increased the water temperature to 33c and add in 1 crush garlic clove for treatment, now i only have 4 neon tetra left in my 14 liter small tank, before that i have 8 neon tetra , but my red cheery shrimp are doing fine
ich must be caught in the first 3 days or it can be too late.
I have a question please. I believe my fish was harmed by other tank mates that have been removed. I placed my pacu in a rubbermate container w airstone and salt. Its been 5 days, i fear its getting sick. 3 wounds on body and its upper lip is like gone. If it was a trauma pt, Id say its healing but infection is upon us. I cant find help anywhere. Can you or your community pls help me save this fish. Silly i know, but my grandson is counting on me. I found your church message tonight and have been watching your videos and its already 2:20 am. I know your not a vet.. im asking for guidance. I can send pictures if u provide an address.
Come joiin us on the Father Fish Shoal where we can help you and your pacu. discord.gg/GdakStEjAy
@@FatherFish thank you very much. I joined and am waiting for the 10 min clock thing. I am unfamiliar with Discord. I'm trying though
Thank you for the answers of Ich it was most helpful.
On a different topic I tried to get info on injuries on fishes or accidental injuries. What I mean is one day as I was cutting my plants in the aquarium I snipped the tail fin of my tetra. I didn’t see him and I felt bad and I said sorry to him. I separated him and placed him in a small bowl .5 gallon with air stone and heater. I tried treating him from the cut and I was hoping he would get better. Unfortunately he died😞.
Could you advise me on the next time I accidentally do this again (which I learned my lesson) on what to do?.
What kind of treatment is good?
Please and thank you
a simple salt treatment prevents bacterial infection.
@@FatherFish thank you for responding back and giving me information on treatments. Blessings
Might 86 degrees kill some aquatic plants in the tank? So should they be removed before raising the temperature. Like bucephelandra and some other aquatic plants?
nop. Buce is from a tropical island
I just rescued a betta that was covered in ich at Petco in Glendale,CA. She was covered in ice like the Oscar you showed and said probably didn’t survive. I got lucky I guess, because after medicinal treatment, the ich was gone in a few days. I also raised the temp and did 25% water changes every other day (and replaced the amount of medicine each time proportionate to what was lost with the 25% change). I’m just disgusted that Petco doesn’t take care of their bettas. She was sitting in a small cup with feces and food and surrounded by dead bettas. I took pics, emailed corporate Petco, and they gave me some generic response. Something needs to be done already. I am sick of Petco and Petsmart abusing bettas
Years ago when I was into salt water tanks I was told that I ick is in every salt water tank laying dormant waiting for a weaker fish with a low ammune system to attach to. Not sure if there is any truth to this.
A lot is not known. Probably that is not true, however, the parasite continues by virtue of hosting and reproducing. You can stop it in your aquarium. In the wild probably not.
This work on freshwater as well?
yes
Ps: Im going to get garlic in the morning and thank you in advance even if the answer is no. Im srill grateful
Garlic prevents bacterial infection caused by the ick parasite injuring the fish.
My question is. What causes ick? All of my other fishes are healthy except for one Discus. How do you explain that?
It is weak
I have a 20 gallon with a couple corydoras, African dwarf frogs and mollies. One of the mollies has ich. Is this method still safe ?
They will all survive 30c, 86f for a few days.
My Oscar has very large white spots, is this still ich? Or could it be something else? The spots look like indentions.
Not ick. Probably bacterial infection. Join us in the SHOAL to get help.
@@FatherFish what is SHOAL?
Will the 87 degree heat harm my plants?
no
Good new video ff
Thank you Hulk
Anytime ff love the channel