Tetras are ill, please help

[Elythador]

Hi, i'm new to this board because i'm looking for help with my aquarium because I am a beginner. I have a six gallon tropical tank with 16 tetras in. I bought the first four seperataly from the rest and they are great, but I bought the rest at a later date from somewhere else and I think they have ick, i'm not sure how to treat them and I am scared they will infect my other four. What should I do? thankyou

[themusician]

There are several ways you can treat ich. One of the most popular ways is by cranking the temperature up (85 or so), adding aquarium salt to the water, and doing lots of water changes. You can also use medications specifically for ich. You will want to treat your whole tank in order to keep your other fish from getting it.

BUT BUT BUT...you may also want to figure out why your fish got ich in the first place. It could be that they came with it from the pet store, but my guess is because your tank is extremely overstocked. Even if they are smaller tetras, I don't think you can fit 16 of them into 6 gallons. In addition, it sounds like you added 12 of them all at once, which means you probably overwhelmed your biofilter and created an ammonia spike.

Depending on what kind of tetras you have, consider taking at least half of them back to the pet store. Also, do some research both here and on the internet in general about how to set up a fish tank. I really like a book called "The Simple Guide to Freshwater Aquariums" by David E. Boruchowitz.

Good luck!!

[CAF]

Whoaaaa.... WAYYYY overstocked. Even if you have really small tetras, most grow to at LEAST an inch. A good rule of thumb is an inch of fish per gallon of the tank. This is an extremely simplified rule, but it works well and makes sure you do not over stock the tank. Tetras are prone to ich because they have such fine scales, they are actually considered scaleless fish. What are your water stats?

pH, temp, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate

What are using to treat the ich if anything? Tetras can not withstand the full dose so make sure you are being careful if you are dosing.

Did you cycle the tank prior to placing fish in?