ive got ich on my starter fish !!!!!!!!!!!

[Fish Friend]

Hi,
today i was checking up on my 10g tank because its cycling with 3 guppies and a catfish in...i tested the water yesterday and it was at its highest peak in cycling but when iwas checking the tank i noticed one of my guppies had ich on its tail and fin...i wanted to take the fish out as soon as the cycling stage started to prevent this but i got advised not to... is this usual to get a disease on starter fish and shall i just start to treat it immediatley ??? please help ASAP

 

[dbacksrat]

no its not usual to get ich on your first batch of fish--luckily, it can be treated with a variety of medications (copper, etc)...just be careful and follow the directions on the label and be wary of what you use (catfish can be very sensitive)

 

[discus4everGrl]

some medications claim to not disrupt the bacteria colonies. I think I would try to find one of those if you choose medication for extra insurance against killing the cycle.

 

[Iceman]

I'm fighting Ich in my tank right now to. First of all don't use the tablets that when you put them in the tank they fizz. I tried those and they didn't work. What works is Ich-X. The chain stores like petco don't carry it so you would probably have to buy it at your LFS. As long as you follow the directions for Ich-X it will work really well. I hope that I was a help.

Iceman

 

[discus4everGrl]

make sure you check on directions for the catfish, he's a scaleless fish and sensitive to most medications.

 

[Fish Friend]

i have a bottle its got a blue liquid its made by king british... white spot terminator or something liek that :S

 

[discus4everGrl]

okay - that should work. It will stain your sealant though and decorations.

 

[TradeWinds]

My first fish got ich too. I used Aqua-Sol and it worked great, but the 50% water changes I did every day did bring the cycle to a screeching halt.

 

[Fish Friend]

ok... so what should i do ? because its kinda crisin in the tank... leaves keep comin off plant.. there is poop everyhere and the water is turning yellow from the wood... i am stuck and confused please help me

 

[Fish Friend]

i think it was a faulse alarm.. there was ich but today its not there :S ? so i will still put just 1 dose in for a precaution though

 

[Lotus]

No, don't medicate unless you have to. A water change would probably help things.

 

[SANND]

Instead of medicating, maybe just put the temp up a little bit for a few days? The ich won't like that and will speed up their lifecycle process and then you'll be able to see if it really is ich or not.

 

[Fish Friend]

ok thanks for your help everyone when i mean treat it i mean like put only a days worth treatment in... and i will keep up the water changes aswell... another thing... how do you start an air tube as a mini siphon ?

 

[SANND]

One day only of treatment won't be beneficial to anybody and might cause undue stress to the fish so if you haven't done it yet, then I wouldn't, espeically with the catfish in there.

Make sure you have a bucket lower than the tank then put one end of the tube in the tank your syphoning from and suck on the other end just to get it started. Be careful not to suck too hard or you'll get a mouthful of yuck!

 

[Fish Friend]

i thought they worked like that... because its just like an air tube but without a stop valve on it... comes out

 

[randalizm]

the best treatment for ich is salt. less stressfull on the fish and works just as good as any medication if not better. between 1-3 teaspoons per gallon. i put in 2 blue rams in my tank (dont have a q-tank) about 2 weeks ago and yesterday i noticed a few white specs on one of them, so what id do is start by cranking the heater up to about 84. then mix 1/4 tsp of salt per gallon in a big cup of tank water and then pour it in and do that every 4 hours 4 times, and that slowly brings it up to 1 tsp per gallon. then the next day ill do it again to bring it up to 2 tsp per gallon. i like to stay at about that level of salt per gallon of water. leave it like that for a week, then do a 50% water change, refill the tank with clean water that i already put 2 tsps of salt per gallon in and after another week i make my water changes with no salt.(usually the last sign of ich is within the first week, the second week i keep salt in the tank just to make sure i got it all) and thats that.

p.s. the first time i had to deal with ich i used coppersafe and it killed 3 of my fish. i had to deal with ich again after that, used salt and none of my fish died.

 

[Fish Friend]

how much salt shall i put in my tank... coz my tank is 30 liters and i dont know how many gallons.. i suspected it was 10 but im not sure.. and i only have table salt aswell

 

[randalizm]

30 liters is almost 8 gallons. i use jungle labs aquarium salt. but table salt IS ok. you dont wanna shock the fish with a bunch of salt so start off with 1/4 tsp per gallon so thats...2 tsps for the 8 gallons, mix the 2 tsps of salt in water first then poor it in the tank and do that every 4 hours for a total of 4 times. that will give your 1 tsp per gallon. the next day you can do it again to bring it up to 2 tsps per gallon, thats what i do and it has worked every time. you can go up to 3 tsps if you choose but i never have had to, like i said before you should see the last sign of ich within 7-10 days, of course it can take longer.(make sure the heater is set between 82-85, that will speed up the ich cycle. if you dont it may take longer than 10 days) keep the salt in the tank for at LEAST 5 days AFTER the last sign of ich just to make sure you get the sneaky ones.

 

[Fish Friend]

all the signs have gone.. i have turned the temp up to the edge of the 'safe zone' so i will put 1 tsp in for today.. then tomorrow 2... ok ? just incase i am missing anything

 

[randalizm]

are you still treating with medication?