My fish have ich.

[Wallyfish]

I think my fish have ich. There are white spots that look like salt on thier fins. To counteract that I have been doing large water changes of over 50% as I think my ammonia is higher than normal. I bought a gravel vac to clean gravel which has been getting quite dirty. I think it is the main source of the ammonia. I'm not certain but I think the water changes my be stressing my fish out too much. I had two filters going to pick up extra particles after the water change but I turned one off because the turbulent waters in my little 10gal looked like they were stressing the fish out even more. Perhaps the PH from my tap is too different from my tank? I am dechlorinating my water. One of my fish died immediately after a water change. I have added 10 drops of quickcure to my tank. The temperature is at a steady 79degrees. I have 3 glofish and a ghost shrimp left in my 10gal tank.

After gravel vacing twice and replacing the water
nitrate ~20
nitrite 0
Hardness ~75
Alkalinity ~80
PH ~7.4
Ammonia ~.5

Will my remaining fish survive? Will I ever get enough healthy bacteria?

[Cichlid_Man]

Hi Wally...

Don't panic, slow down...

Your fish most likely have Ich from what you described, so that needs to be treated before anything else like lowering ammonia...

I suggest Quick Cure. It is cheap and effective. The directions tell you use for 2 days or until Ich is gone, but you need to use it for 10 days, trust me.
Also, please raise your temp to 82 degress as this will assist in ridding the tank of Ich.

NO SALT....Fresh water fish don't need salt. These medications are basically safe and work very well.

Do a water change after 2 days of treatment, then don't do another water change until you are finished with the Quick Cure. (8 days later)

Questions? Just ask...

[f1oored]

Your nitrates seem a little high for right after a water change but I don't think that is the problem. I think cichlid man hit the nail on the head here. Just do what he told you and things should turn out ok.

Best of Luck

[Severus]

Also, just remember the only time you can kill ich for sure is when it is free floating in your tank looking for a new host. You can not harm it while it is on your fish. The reason cichlid man told you to raise your temperature is because it speeds up the life cycle of ich, thus progressing it faster to the free floating stage where it is vulnerable. Keep up with the quick cure and you should be fine. Good Luck

[Wallyfish]

If ich is a parasite, how did I get it into my tank.

[f1oored]

It probably came from walmart on one of the fish.

[Wallyfish]

So when I establish my tank with all of its fish and no ich, does that mean that I probably will no longer encounter it?

on a side note, my ghost shrimp waldo is doing well and growing, however I worry that one day I might vacuum him up with my gravel vac as he often disappears in the tank.

[f1oored]

Usually you get ich when you add something to your tank. If you kill every ich bacteria in the tank and never add anything you should be fine. It's hard to know if every single ich bacteria is gone so there is always going to be a chance that it will return.

[jeffs99dime]

i quarantine all my fish for atleast 2 weeks before adding them to my aquarium. i do this to see if any diseases or other problems flair up before hand.

[TehTANK]

To be honest, I think I have ick as well. I haven't had it in this tank ever and have only added a new fish a while ago. It just came on though. I don't know where it came from though. can it just show up for no reason? It is really weird. My large oscar seems to have it but my little one doesn't. I am going to treat it tonight but I have a question just for knowing.....what happens if it doesn't get treated?

Don't get me wrong I am treating it tonight. I just want to know what will happen if I didn't notice it.

Thanks

[jeffs99dime]

those treatments that claim that ich will be gone in two-five days is a myth by the way. ich cysts take atleast 1 week to go through their cycle.

[Wallyfish]

I'm seeing an improvement in my fish. Ich spots are gone. I will continue to medicate. I only feed my glofish once a day now as more than once seems to be wasteful and I don't want to bust out tweezers for smaller feedings. I think I want to change my water on monday.

[redfin]

I fought with the ich for more than a month...I followed every little wives tale instruction I found on the net, with few good results. I avoided some of the medicines as I have shrimp, snails, and loaches in there, and most said they'd kill inverts and scaleless fish.

I finally got rid of it with increased heat, and Kardon's prevent ich. No tank stains, and no fish kill. :19: