Freshwater fish disease

Question
Karen,

Thank you so much for your prompt reply!  I'm really trying to make my little fish as happy as possible and I'm always worried that time is of the essence in these situations.

I do have a heater in my aquarium.  The temperature of the water has been at a constant 78 degrees (the guy at the fish store told me to raise the temperature to 85-88 degrees because the ich can't survive in these conditions, but the fish can).  The fish are all new fish.  The 10 gallon tank was a new tank that I set up and put through the "fishless cycling" process before putting any fish in there.  The little guys have been doing ok (I did lose one of my tetras within the first 24 hours), and only now appear to be showing signs of trouble.  I've had them now for approximately a week.  I figure maybe it's just the overall stress of being in a new environment or something.  If I just put in some Coppersafe and raise the temp, will that be enough to cure them?  How long should I keep the  raised temp for?  I guess my big question is, since I've already used the Coppersafe, should I just wait?  Or should I take other steps like adding salt or quick cure or something else?  It just seems too easy, almost.  :)  

I'm also a little worried that my heater isn't the greatest thing ever.  It doesn't have any presets, you just have to play with the knob until the thermometer gives a different reading.  I haven't really played much with the thermometer since I didn't want the fish to be exposed to too many varying temps.  The fish store guy said to just raise the temp for at least five days, not feed the fish for two days and put in the two teaspoons of Coppersafe (then he used the words, "hopefully they'll survive" which didn't really boost my confidence in the process).  Oh!  Also, I have one of those "bubble walls" in my tank.  I turned it off because I read that some of these fish prefer calmer waters.  Really, all I have going now is the penguin filter (the one with the bio-wheel) and no other "aeration" medias.  Should I turn on the bubble wall again?  

I'm sorry to keep bombarding you with so many questions.  I just want to make sure I do as much "right" to give the fish a good chance to beat the parasite.  

Thank you again!  I appreciate your time and advice!

Natalia

  
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
"Good evening,

I just recently bought some fish for my 10 gallon aquarium.  Just this morning, I noticed my two threadfin rainbows had ich on them.  The tank also has neon tetras, cherry barbs and those little albino catfish bottom feeders.  I've been reading on line to use Quick Cure for the Ich (but since I have neons, to only use half the dose).  The pet store I went to today, recommended Mardel's Copper Safe.  The instructions only say to add one teaspoon per 4 gallons of water.  Is that it?  I find it hard to believe that I shouldn't have to repeat the dose or do anything else.  I've just added a teaspoon to my tank (so far) because I'm worried that I'm supposed to do something else.  Every other medication (like Quick Cure) repeats the dose every few days or has you do some sort of water change, etc.  Any suggestions?

Also, the cherry barbs seem to be "flickering" around.  It's not really like "flashing", ir's more like they're shaking around a little.  One of my barbs even was looking a little depressed earlier (laying near the bottom, quivering, clamped fin).  Could this be the same problem as the ich?  Or might it be something else?

I keep testing my water quality constantly.  So far, I have zero ammonia, zero nitrites.  My nitrates are between 5 and 10 on the chart and the PH appears to be a little high.  (The pet store said it's fine, but I keep reading lower PH for these little guys.  It looks like my PH is over 8.3).  I'm not really sure what my problem is at this point.  The water quality overall appears ok, but a few fish don't seem too happy.  The others seem fine.  It's just the three fish I mentioned that seem to have problems.  I assume if they are having problems, the others will soon follow if I don't correct the problem.  Any ideas?

Thank you!

Natalia"
-----Answer-----
Dear Natalia, (Good evening to you too!)
Yes, it is correct that coppersafe medication need only be dosed once. This is because it stays very effective and stable in the water up to one month!

Sounds like your Cherry barbs are exhibiting the typical symptoms of ich. The parasites are bothering them, causing the twitching and sitting on the bottom. Poor little things.

I'm so glad you are testing your water. A million cheers for that! It's wonderful you have zero ammonia and nitrite and your nitrates are at a good level. You do often find that the recommended pH level for small barbs and tetras is much lower. But fortunately because most all fish are captive bred now. They have become very adapted and well-adjusted to water chemistry that is less than ideal or one that they would be living in back in nature. So a high pH should matter very little your barbs, tetras, rainbows, and corydoras. Many captive raised fish even spawn in harder water than they would have in nature. I constantly read of many other very long-time aquarists whom have high pH and keep even rare and unusual fish. So you should be fine here. The important thing now as you know, is getting your little fish over the Ich infestation. Do you have a heater in your aquarium? A good working heater is very important to have, to avoid temperature flucuations that can trigger Ich, and during treatment of ICH. Since these parasites' lifecycle speeds up at warmer temperatures at least 82F. The parasites can also be destroyed faster with medication. Since they enter their free-swimming (vunerable) stage much faster at warmer temperatures. ~Remember that good oxygenation is essential with any treatment. Make sure you have good surface agitation and adding a airstone or two would be very beneficial as well.

~Normally you would go by what your test results would read as to determine if you should change some water during medicating and such. And since your levels seem almost near perfect. This likely isn't necessary.
I have always used Quick Cure in the past of treating any of my fish whom had ICH parasites before. Even scaless and delicate ones. The dose must be halved as you said of course for the tetras and catfish. Quick cure seems to do a very good job and I have always had good luck with it.

I just noticed you mentioned that you just added some new fish into your 10 gallon aquarium? This is very likely where the ICH outbreak started--from the newly added fish. Sometimes fish in stores can appear healthy, but in realty they could eventually develop a illness in a few days due to all the stress fish experience when being shipped to petstores and often the poor conditions they are in. This is why a quarantine tank is very important for any new arrivals.

But besides that. I really hope this helps! Feel free to write if you have anymore concerns.

Best wishes to you and your fish,
Karen~

Answer
A big hello again Natalia,
Sounds like you are doing everything right so far. Yes, I would highly suspect that since all these fish are new, they likely had something before you even got them when they were living in the petstore. Or they could have simply been very stressed and suceptible to ich when you added them to your aquarium.

I think the coppersafe and warm temperature should be enough. Remember it's good to know that Ich is the easiest of all fish diseases to treat as long as it's caught early. I can understand about how you feel "this seems too easy" but it should work out just fine. It's very important as you know watch your fish closely and note for any additional signs of stress they may show. I would continue daily water tests just to be sure no ammonia or anything and pops up.

You are very right about many small fish like yours not appreciating strong currents in the aquarium. But during this illness time, it may be best for you to turn the bubble wall back on because the higher temperatures lower oxygen levels and it's just best to have that additional good oxygen in sickness times. Your filter is a good brand too so it will also further help. If you see that your rainbows, tetras, and barbs are being stressed by too much current. You can simply try running the penguin power filter as these filters often create excellent surface agitation just themselves. Again, it's always best to watch your fish and notice if they seem to be gasping or breathing heavily.

Some heaters are very poor quality as I have found out. Not being able to know what temperature you are setting the heater at is very risky. Many heater brands don't work properly. By far, the best heater brand I use is "Visi-Therm" it's a little more expensive then other brands. But it hasn't failed me yet maintaining the proper temperature.

Well, I really hope this helps! If i've missed anything, feel free to let me know. Oh, feel free to write me with questions anytime! ;-)

Best wishes as always,
Karen~