My fish have ick

[fibrotina]

Hi all... I have a 55 gallon aquarium that was set up and cycled for 3 weeks before I added any fish. It's been over a month and I have added my fish, floating them and then adding a little bit of the aquaruim water to the bag... floated them for at least 30 minutes. I have 4 Plattys, 4 Cardinal Tetras, 4 small angel fish, 2 Dalmation mollies, 2 salfin mollies, 3 clown loaches, 4 guppies, 4 albino guppies, 2 large plecos, 4 others in the tetra family - forget what they are called. When I got the 2 salfin mollies the dalmations would not leave them alone... chased mostly the female around constantly, the male some too but not as much. My mom said she thought they acted that way when they had some sort of disease, but I didn't see anything so I let it go. I have lost 3 of my angels, the female salfin - which was pregnant, 1 guppy, and now it is looking like I am going to lose a few more. I started treatment yesterday for ick since I spotted the "spots". I am using Jungle Ick guard. It's all I could find in my tiny little area. My fish are all eating like little piggies, but the ick has not changed on bit. My aquarium temp is 80F. I have one live plant, 6 fake plants, 3 decorations and a nice wooden thingy (sorry so new to this forget what its called). I have gravel in the bottom, 2 longs air stones, and one 30/60 Aqua Tech Power Filter. I use those test strips to test the water and everything reads safe. Should I be using a different kind of tester?

My main question is if I started treatment for Ick yesterday I should repeat the steps again today but also do a 25% water change? And should I vaccum it out yet? How long should I treat and how often should I do it? I really don't want to lose any more fish.

Thanks so much!!

Fibrotina

 

[Tempestuousfury]

The packaging should tell you how long to continue the treatment.

You should try doing water changes, but not so frequently. It seems that your parameters are fine, so there is no need to remove any nitrogen-based compounds or the like. What your fish need is constant, good water conditions and medication. Just keep up what you are doing now and you should see some results soon.

If you haven't done so, you van also check out the pinned articles in the emergency section of this forum.

 

[CathyG]

Hi Fibrotina , and welcome to the forum!

I am sorry to hear about your problems, but they do raise a couple of questions/observations. One major cause of Ich is stress, which can be attributed to many issues such as recent moves, overstocking, poor water parameters, bullying etc.

Were you absolutely sure your tank was fully cycled before adding any fish? I don't think I understand from your post whether your tank took 3 weeks to cycle, or a month (or a further month following the 3 weeks...) How did you cycle your tank, btw?

Did you add all of those fish in one go? This may have caused a mini cycle to occur in your tank.

What ratio of males to females do you have in respect of your livebearers? Males will pursue the females relentlessly, causing stress, so you need to be sure that you have 2-3 females to each male.

Tetras are schooling fish and need to be kept in groups of 5-6 or more, so I would look at adding a couple more of each.

Neons and Cardinals are natural prey for Angel fish in the wild, though I have heard some success stories when the Angels are introduced at a young age with larger Neons/Cardinals.

Clown Loaches are scaleless fish so you need to check the packaging of the medication you are using - some advise half dosing when scaleless fish are in the tank. (For the same reason, you could not add salt (which would aid the Ich treatment and benefit the Mollies) unless you can remove the Clowns.

Water changes and gravel vacs will help, since they will remove the free swimming parasites, but I would carry out a water change before I add the medication dose. Regarding the length of time and frequency of dosing your tank, follow the packaging insructions. Once you have completed a course, do a water change, leave for 24-48 hours then dose again. (The parasites can remain in the water for a while after the fish show no signs of white spot). Also be sure to remove any active carbon from your filter during treatment, but you can re-introduce it once your tank is clear to remove any medication residue.

I would recommend the liquid water test kits over the strip ones, they are more accurate. What have you been testing for btw? Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates? PH? What were your readings?

Why not add a few more live plants as cover for your tetras (and Mollies/Guppies when they are being harassed?)

Good luck!