Ich in plant tanks

["Jon Wilson" <jwilson at knology_net>]

Unfortunately, a recent fish/plant shipment came with an undesired side
effect. I now have visible ich in the tank.

I was just curious if anyone has found any ich treatments that are not based
on copper or malachite green (or any other staining agent)? I had a bout
with ich about 8 years ago. I tried a copper based treatment. It wiped out
most of my plants. I will not risk my plants for the fish again.

I dug through the FINS archives last night to see if there have been any
recent developments in ich treatment. I found nothing new.

Since I don't want to use anything that stains silicone, I won't use copper
again, and I can't possibly catch all the fish, my options look really
limited.

Since I had to do something, I implemented a few things people claimed work.
I bumped the temperature to 88F, turned off the lights, and covered the
tank. I realize that all this will really do is accelerate things but, if
nothing else, keeping the tank dark for a couple days will make me feel
better since I can't see how bad things are getting inside.

I guess that no matter how long you do this, something will always find a
way to surprise you.

Jon Wilson
http://www.knology.net/~jwilson/plants.htm