Ich Is Frustrating Beyond Belief

[GetItSahn]

Dear lord.... Let me cut to the chase because i am ridiculously stressed out about this. I have bought a total of 6 mollies and 1 betta in the past week and a half. these are the first fish to ever go in my 29G tank. I first bought two black mollies and a betta. I was told i bought a female molly who already had ich at the pet store, the male stressed her even more and i had to take her back and the aggressive male. the betta was fine. I then replaced those two mollies with another two females. I noticed that one female had a white spot on her lip when i bought it. I was told it was ok since i was currently treating the tank for ich. I put those two in with the betta and the other female and the betta haven't developed ich STILL! Now about two days ago i went in there to ask questions. I asked if the dalmation mollies were contaminated and the woman assured me they weren't. I haven't had any problems with them yet except my betta flares at them constantly. Unfortunately, i have to take back my beautiful male betta today.
 
That's my basic backstory. Also my water conditions are all fine, the temp is currently set to 81 to increase the speed of the ich cycle. I haven't added any salt to my tank. So right now i have 4 mollies all female, 2 dalmation and 2 black. One black female has ich (spot on her lip and a few on her belly), the others show no visible signs of ich. Tank has been treated for over a week while my black female with ich has been treated for 3 days with the temperature up. Shouldn't I be getting rid of this by now? Are my expectations too high? I'm using Rid Ich Plus which i assumed was a good product since the lady at PetSmart recommended it over more expensive products. If anyone can give me some form of advice, instructions or tell me i'm doing something right/wrong i would be extremely grateful!

 

[fluttermoth]

Are you sure it is ich? If it is, the fish should be covered in bright white, raised spots that look a little like grains of salt or sugar. If you could get a pic up, that would help check your diagnosis.
 
There are lot of medication resistant strains of ich about, so it might just be that you need to change med; don't forget to do a big water change and run some activated carbon in your filter for 24 hours before adding a different med, as they can react with each other.

 

[GetItSahn]

I'll work on obtaining a picture. When I returned my first black molly, she was covered in ich and the woman at PetSmart confirmed it was ich as well. This looks like the same thing and more white is appearing every day. I appreciate the advice about a new medicine, any idea what to try?

 

[fluttermoth]

I'm in the UK, so it's difficult for me to recommend meds, as they probably won't be available to you.
 
Hopefully someone from the US will chime in shortly, with a recommendation for you

 

[GetItSahn]

thanks again Fluttermoth

 

[Ninjouzata]

I used QuICK Cure for my betta's ich, if that helps.
And here's a link to it: http/www.walmart.com/ip/Aquarium-Products-Fast-Relief-For-Ick-Protozoan-Parasites-Quick-Cure-.75-fl-oz/10313376

 

[GetItSahn]

Did that quick cure stuff really work in 48hours? thanks for the suggestion regardless
 
 
I couldn't for the life of me get a good picture

 

 

[fluttermoth]

No ich cure will work in 48 hours. When the parasite is encysted (ie, actually in the white spots) no med will touch them; you need to be medicating for at least five days.
 
I have to say, that doesn't look like ich to me; it looks more fungal.

 

[Ninjouzata]

I didn't even notice that it said that!
I treated for a week and a half.

 

[GetItSahn]

well my medication treats "protozoan, dinoflagellate, and fungal infections". I am considering trying the salt/high temp method. I feel like having medication in the tank for over a week isn't good for the fish...

 

[bloodyeagle4]

I had ich the first time a month ago and I did the salt water and high water temp method and it was gone in about a week...symptoms were clearing in about a few days and i kept it at a high temp for a solid 2 weeks before slowly bringing the temp back down! It worked for me so that was awesome and it was super cheap. Unfortunately i think im getting it again but I at least know what it is this time haha the first time it killed half my tank so that sucked! All in all ich sucks!