Since I dont care to use the carbon, either, I take an utility knife and slice the bottom off the filter and shake the carbon out. I usually put some quilt batter into the space where the carbon was, to improve the mechanical filter, but that may not be necessary.
However, in my quarantine tank, also an eclipse system, I usually just completely take out the whole piece. Without the carbon, it is only mechanical filtration anyway, and if you dont mind a few floaties in the water, nothing should be hurt.
You should leave the carbon out the entire time you use (any) medications. If the carbon is worth anything, it will take up the medications rather quickly, obviously not letting them be used for their purpose. Many members, myself included, only use carbon to take the medications out of the water after treatment is finished.
If you are 100% sure it is ich, there are many good sites and many different medications that can be effective. The biggest advice is to read up on the life cycle of ich to understand that you will have to treat for a matter of weeks. The ich protozoa is only vulnerable to meds in one of its many life stages, so you have to medicate through many life cycles to ensure you get all the ich. Simply put, this means that the ich is not gone just when the white spots come off. If you do not medicate long enough, you will be back on the forums complaining about the ich the never dies.
