SUPER ICH?

[Bilbo]

I have been having a problem with sugary white dusting on my flowerhorns, rams and discus. Normally i would say "Oh well, it's just Ich" and raise the temp but not so. My temp is already at 85 degrees and Ich is supposed to "burn out" with warmer water like that. I have treated with Coppersafe and it seemed to help some but it is back with a vengeance. I also have used Praziquantal but still nothing. Last night i dumped a little over 3 pounds of salt in my 125 gallon and a little over 1 pound of salt in my 55 gallon. This makes the water about 3 ppt salinity and is safe for most fish. Ich dies at 1 ppt. And while true Ich is safe as long as it's on the host fish inbedded, the phase where it is not safe is when it is free swimming just out of the egg. I want to see if this salt works but i have my doubts.
So my question is... is there truly a Super Ich strain out now? And my other question is... Is there ANY other diseases out there that show symptoms very similar to Ich (Sugary white dusting over fins and body?) I kind of feel like a newb now as i have never come across this delima in the 20 something years i have been breeding fish. Thanks

[mewickham]

"Dust" is a word commonly used to describe the appearance of velvet disease (Oodinium). It's another protozoal infection and one that is harder to treat. Copper is a traditional cure, but unreliable. The efficacy of copper is greatly affected by the hardness of the water. It can range from useless in hard water to deadly (to the fish) in soft water. Copper also kills plants and snails. It's not a first choice medication.

Chelated (pronounced kee-lay-ted) copper forumulas, such as CopperSafe, are often useless in all cases. Copper tends to fall out of solution quickly, and is best administered daily and tested with copper test kits to maintain a certain level. (I'm not sure what that dose is best for freshwater, especially since hardness needs to be factored in.) The chelating process makes the copper stay in solution much longer, but there is a trade-off. Chelating makes the copper less reactive and, therefore, less effective. I've seen CopperSafe be unable to cure even common ich, and do not recommend it.

The salt may help. I wouldn't expect it to cure velvet disease-- at least, not at those levels. The praziquantel might work. A formalin/malachite green mix would probably be my first choice. In any case, give it some time. It takes longer to cure velvet than ich. You might also try giving your fish a three-minute saltwater dip. Mix up a bucket of water with around 12 tsp salt/gal, and place the fish in it. Remove fish immediately from the dip if there are signs of them being overly stressed. A dip won't kill parasites in the tank, just on the fish. It might be enough, though, to let the meds work on free-swimming stages.

[snakeskinner]

I had a case a little over a year ago that you could categorize as "super ich" and I've heard others with similar cases. There does seem to be a more resilient strain of ich floating around out there. I am impatient with the heat/salt method alone. I can't see fast results, I worry it's not working at all. I have been using Jungle Ick Guard and Ick Guard II as well as their other parasite products with very good results. I use this in conjunction with the salt and heat and can wipe out ich fast however this last bout I had took longer but it did work. the Ick Guard II is made for weaker fish such as tetras and catfish that normally don't like the parasite meds. I have not lost fish from the jungle meds. I used some other products before I found this stuff and had lost many tetras. since then, no losses. I generally don't flinch at purchasing fish with ich because it's easy to treat but this last time I'm questioning that philosophy. we'll see next time I find something I can't live without Kyle

[pinkrblu]

I have had two rounds of super Ich in the past seven or eight years. Both times, I ended up losing a lot of fish before beating it. Malachite Green is my "go-to" med for Ich. The last time I dealt with it, I actually moved the fish to a bare 10-gallon tank (a bit crowded, but it was temporary) and treated them there, doing a lot of water changes. I wish you luck!