A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners
Catfish and ich
I think after much looking on the web that my catfish have ICH, how do I treat it? Much of what I have read says not to use certain medications on fish that are intended to be eaten, and then there is the plant side. Some of this stuff out there says not even to put your hands in the water after treatment. What's my options? I have started water changes but don't think that will kill it, I have already lost 10 fish. If you look at the fish in the water they look like they have salt spots on them, if you take one out it looks more like a green slime.
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by TCLynx on
-
Salt the system to 3 ppt and keep it warm for several weeks. Ick or Ich is actually a parasite so you need to keep the system salted through the life cycle in order to kill it. With catfish you have to be careful not to over salt since they can't take it over 5 ppt. Here is a blog post about salt.
-
Permalink Reply by Charlotte Seibert on
-
TC you are a God send, don't know you but I love you already, any ideas how I warm a 180 gal tank? Trouble is I work week ends, only get 30 min lunch, and not sure what I can find here in east TX, just finding the media was a venture in it's own. Temps here are getting into the 80's, not sure what my temp is now in the tank it was 62 this morning. Can't check it again till tonight. Do I add that much salt slowly, over hours or days? And how do I know how much salt I still have in there from a few weeks back when I added to 1 ppt, but then I have done water changes too. I called everywhere here looking for a salt testing kit, do they make one? Once salted I would think it stays in there right?
Again ty TC,
-
-
Well if you have been doing water changes you have diluted the salt you put in before. So I would say salt to something slightly less than 3 ppt (don't do more water changes once you salt.)
For heating a stock tank, if you can get a stainless or titanium stock tank heater then go with that, otherwise you will probably need to get several large aquarium heaters. Slowly warm the water up to about 80 F. Make sure you let it take several days to get up to that though.
However, keep in mind all my recommendations here are based on what I've read online since I have never personally dealt with Ick.
there are ways to measure salt levels in a tank but they are all a little tricky or require a piece of equipment that you may never need again. I've faked it by diluting the system water a known amount and then used a hydroponics EC meter but that isn't all that accurate either. So I would say figure out how much salt you need per ppt. Set aside enough salt to do 2 ppt and if you salted to only 1 ppt before then you will guess how much water changes you have done since then which would have removed a % of that salt from before. And you will just have to kinda guess how much salt is left, to figure how much of the 3rd ppt worth of salt you will add. Hopefully that train of thought wasn't too much gibberish and you got the drift.
Just make sure you have plenty of extra aeration when you dissolve the salt in and raise the temperature since salted and warmed water will hold less dissolved oxygen. I would dissolve all the salt and add it pretty quickly and hopefully it will help against whatever is attacking your fish. However, there is also a chance that it is too late, don't stress yourself too much, you can always get more fish later.
-
Permalink Reply by Aquachronic@ogg on
-
Would you suggest a 1 oz salt per 400 oz water? This is what I used from my experience. Heat water to 82 degrees for 2 weeks.
-
-
water is 72 right now, I salted to as best I can figure 3ppt, I lost 7 more fish since lunch
Water should warm more tomorrow's high 85..untill I can order a heater or get someplace I can find one it's all I got ... it's not so much the cost of the fish as it is the "I told you this was a dumb idea" I'll get from my husband who was against this from the start.question?? if I loose all my fish. isn't my tank contaminated now and I'll have to start all over? Cycling and all??
TCLynx said:Well if you have been doing water changes you have diluted the salt you put in before. So I would say salt to something slightly less than 3 ppt (don't do more water changes once you salt.)
For heating a stock tank, if you can get a stainless or titanium stock tank heater then go with that, otherwise you will probably need to get several large aquarium heaters. Slowly warm the water up to about 80 F. Make sure you let it take several days to get up to that though.
However, keep in mind all my recommendations here are based on what I've read online since I have never personally dealt with Ick.
there are ways to measure salt levels in a tank but they are all a little tricky or require a piece of equipment that you may never need again. I've faked it by diluting the system water a known amount and then used a hydroponics EC meter but that isn't all that accurate either. So I would say figure out how much salt you need per ppt. Set aside enough salt to do 2 ppt and if you salted to only 1 ppt before then you will guess how much water changes you have done since then which would have removed a % of that salt from before. And you will just have to kinda guess how much salt is left, to figure how much of the 3rd ppt worth of salt you will add. Hopefully that train of thought wasn't too much gibberish and you got the drift.
Just make sure you have plenty of extra aeration when you dissolve the salt in and raise the temperature since salted and warmed water will hold less dissolved oxygen. I would dissolve all the salt and add it pretty quickly and hopefully it will help against whatever is attacking your fish. However, there is also a chance that it is too late, don't stress yourself too much, you can always get more fish later.
-
-
if they all die, leave the tank salted and let it warm up. Use some other source of ammonnia to keep the system fishless cycled (keep feeding your bacteria the ammonia so they will be ready when it's time to get more fish.) Plants will be able to keep growing.
-
-
Update..my water did get up to 72 yesterday, but dropped to 65 last night, I am down to 12-14 fish :( , can't find a heater large enough for my tank, not worth buying 8 small heaters and trying to figure out how to get power to them without overloading my power supply for pump and air. Going to try and remove the tank surround (more for decoration) which should let more sun hit the tank, still will be able to cover the top for sun protection. Got some water heater insulation wrap to cover sides of tank at night.. why is it I am always working when something goes wrong with my system??? IF they can make it through the next 24 hours I'll have 4 days to care for them...if I have any left.. :(
-
-
it's the way murphy's law usually seems to work. Things will usually go wrong at the worst possible time. Or at least it usually seems that way.
If you were to run heaters, often running several smaller heaters usually works out better than one large one (which might overload the power anyway so you would probably need to run more power out there for heaters.)
As noted though, if they don't make it, you can always finish cycle up fishless and then be in a better position to add fish again later now that you are more prepared with experience and a cycled up system. Even if the fish all die, keep the system salted for a few weeks before changing out any water (or don't change out the water, the salt will eventually get used up by the plants.)
Take heart, you can't do aquaponics without killing a few fish eventually. I'm just sorry you had to start early instead of getting to wait till they were big enough to eat for your first fish killing experience.
-
-
I was able to keep the tank at 70 throughout the night, wrapped it with sleeping bags, blankets and plastic, will take the surround off today and the sun should help me warm it up...good news no more dead fish so far...
I am wondering if I should put the fish in a smaller tank that would be easier to keep warm... but then still I would not beable to warm the big tank and I fear anymore change with the fish would stress them more.. they ae so frail looking...very thin.. I did hand feed worms to several of them.. just one worm each.. they ate it like they are starving.. I am sure they are ... they have not eaten in weeks... handing feeding fish I hope to eat is not going to make that any easier....lol.. I really did not want to make friends with them
TCLynx said:it's the way murphy's law usually seems to work. Things will usually go wrong at the worst possible time. Or at least it usually seems that way.
If you were to run heaters, often running several smaller heaters usually works out better than one large one (which might overload the power anyway so you would probably need to run more power out there for heaters.)
As noted though, if they don't make it, you can always finish cycle up fishless and then be in a better position to add fish again later now that you are more prepared with experience and a cycled up system. Even if the fish all die, keep the system salted for a few weeks before changing out any water (or don't change out the water, the salt will eventually get used up by the plants.)
Take heart, you can't do aquaponics without killing a few fish eventually. I'm just sorry you had to start early instead of getting to wait till they were big enough to eat for your first fish killing experience.
-
-
I am wondering if I add another grow bed would help... ammonia is still 0.25, nitrite has dropped to 0.25, Ph dropped to 7.4 and nitrate are as far as I can tell over the 160. My thought is that filtering through the GB would help with the ammonia and nitrite and warm the water since the grow media does warm with the sun also wouldn't it help kill the ick?
Charlotte Seibert said:I was able to keep the tank at 70 throughout the night, wrapped it with sleeping bags, blankets and plastic, will take the surround off today and the sun should help me warm it up...good news no more dead fish so far...
I am wondering if I should put the fish in a smaller tank that would be easier to keep warm... but then still I would not beable to warm the big tank and I fear anymore change with the fish would stress them more.. they ae so frail looking...very thin.. I did hand feed worms to several of them.. just one worm each.. they ate it like they are starving.. I am sure they are ... they have not eaten in weeks... handing feeding fish I hope to eat is not going to make that any easier....lol.. I really did not want to make friends with them
TCLynx said:it's the way murphy's law usually seems to work. Things will usually go wrong at the worst possible time. Or at least it usually seems that way.
If you were to run heaters, often running several smaller heaters usually works out better than one large one (which might overload the power anyway so you would probably need to run more power out there for heaters.)
As noted though, if they don't make it, you can always finish cycle up fishless and then be in a better position to add fish again later now that you are more prepared with experience and a cycled up system. Even if the fish all die, keep the system salted for a few weeks before changing out any water (or don't change out the water, the salt will eventually get used up by the plants.)
Take heart, you can't do aquaponics without killing a few fish eventually. I'm just sorry you had to start early instead of getting to wait till they were big enough to eat for your first fish killing experience.
-
-
Yes, more grow bed means more filtration which will mean better water quality and healthier fish and more plants to use up the abundant nitrates. All good.
-
Permalink Reply by Bob Campbell on
-
Here's a link to my blog CLICK HERE where I show how to build a water heater using a water heater element. It's quick and easy.
My 1000 gallon system needs no thermostat because the temperature changes so slowly.
I had to place my heater external to the tank because both my tank and sump are built with liners, but if you can access the side of your sump then you can do like this CLICK HERE.
The important thing is to place the heater below the water level of the sump tank so it never runs dry.
In the picture I show the heater above the tank. I have since moved it down below the water level of the sump.
You could also feed your fish with antibiotic food, but I tend to stay away from medications. Salt is all I ever use.
© 2024 Created by Sylvia Bernstein.
Powered by
