update on ich

Question
I wrote a few days back about ich.  I only have one fish that has spots and I have now done day 11 of treatment with quick cure.  The guppy is improving every day and now is eating well etc.  I really want to stop treatment and reinsert my filter material as soon as possible.  The 3 platys and pleco I have all seem really healthy.  do you think it would be safe to stop treatment tomorrow.  The tank has been maintained at 30c during the treatment.

Answer
Dear Kerry,
It's really good to hear your guppy is doing so much better. You are really close to getting rid of Ich completely on your fish. But the ones with the white spots must mean you are best off treating until those dissapear and at least 1-2 days after that.

Actually you don't need to completely remove your filter material from the box. Most cartridges have a little slot that can be opened and you can dump the carbon out of that. I have even taken those cartridges that cannot be opened and used a pair of scissors to carefully cut a slot at the top and shake the carbon out.

Stopping treatment is tricky to determine. I'm afraid that if you stop treatment right when the spots dissapear that the parasites (as they do) would only be multiplying in the aquarium to attack again. So I might treat for a few more days after the spots dissapear just to be sure. Then start doing water changes and put your carbon back in. Check your ammonia and nitrite levels just to be sure your bacterial colonies haven't been destroyed as a result from medication use. As this can happen.

*Your current temperature is good because it helps speed the cycle of parasites and helps enable the medication to become effective sooner. It also helps the fishes immune system.

Well, it's so good to hear your fish are doing so well despite everything! Feel free to write with anymore concerns!
Only my very best wishes and happy fishkeeping!
Karen~