Please help identify!

[Mrsmoore30]

I believe this to be ich, am I right?
Just noticed it today but I've been watching the tank closely. Due to the comment that was made to me when picking out fish at my LPS. The employee that help me said I didn't want the fish from the first tank I had chose. Said they had ich & then proceeded to tell me about it (as I had no idea.) We then proceeded to another tank, so on & so for. He told me which tanks appeared to be ich free & now I'm not so sure any of them were. I fear my new fish friend's have it also!
I've never dealt with ich before but everything online appears to match these here images of all 3 of my Tetra's. So please help verify! & give any tips you can to help me treat this. I just got these guys a week ago & up until today to me they appeared to be fine.
Tank info: 20 gallon freshwater, temp @ 78°
3 live plants, 2 Java fern & one Anubias. Fish include 3 platies, 3 Tetras & 2 Rainbows.
Thanks in advance!

 

[FishGuest5123]

Ich without a doubt. Best treatment is temp raised to 86F along with 1 tablespoon of dissolved aquarium salt per every 5 gallons of water. After 1st day, do 25% water change daily while vacuuming the substrate with a gravel vacuum to pick up ich spores. Then add 1/4 tablespoon of dissolved aquarium salt per every 5 gallons back into tank. Be sure to disinfect your vac and nets, etc with a litttle chlorine bleach after use to kill ich on equipment. Rinse very well and soak in a little Prime to remove chlorine. Do this for 14 days and ich should be gone. I also feed my fish Garlic Guard during treatment as Ich hates salt and garlic. Most fish can handle salt treatment for 14 days even if they are salt intolerant. You can cut salt doseage in half for salt intolerant fish if you wish or not use it. The heat method is by far the best treatment, better than any ich meds. You just have to be patient. Keep us posted!

 

[Guyb93]

Looks like Ich to me , you can treat in lots of ways
I know many people like salt
I would just increase the tank temp for about 2 weeks about 86-87f

 

[Mrsmoore30]

Looks like Ich to me , you can treat in lots of ways
I know many people like salt
I would just increase the tank temp for about 2 weeks about 86-87f

Thank you! I've increased the temp. Should I do a cleaning of the tank after this 2 weeks then? Or right away.

 

[Guyb93]

Thank you! I've increased the temp. Should I do a cleaning of the tank after this 2 weeks then? Or right away.

Soon as they fall off then change water and give yiur gravel a good vacuum

 

[Essjay]

It is recommended to clean the tank immediately to remove as many of the stage 2 ich cysts on the bottom of the tank as possible, before they have chance to release the free swimming stage 3 - the fewer there are in the tank the better. Refill with water warmer than usual and turn up the heater.
During the 2 weeks, you can do your regular tank maintenance and clean, just refill with 86 deg water so the tank temp doesn't fall.

 

[Mrsmoore30]

It is recommended to clean the tank immediately to remove as many of the stage 2 ich cysts on the bottom of the tank as possible, before they have chance to release the free swimming stage 3 - the fewer there are in the tank the better. Refill with water warmer than usual and turn up the heater.
During the 2 weeks, you can do your regular tank maintenance and clean, just refill with 86 deg water so the tank temp doesn't fall.

Perfect! I'll get started right away then. Thank you for the help.

 

[FishGuest5123]

It’s recommended to vacuum the substrate every 2 days to suck up ich in the substrate.

 

[Mrsmoore30]

Update!
Day #5 & I'm so happy to say that all my fish are Ich free & doing well! The plants are still thriving & I couldn't be happier! ? Thank you all for your help! One final question, when I start to bring the heat down in a week-"ish" Should I be doing this gradually, over the course of a few days? How many degrees should I decrease at once. Just want to make sure I'm not shocking the little guys! Thanks again everyone.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Congratulations on beating the ich. Hope it stays beat. In a 20g, assuming it's in a normal room-temperature place, I would just turn the thermostat down and let it go down at its own speed. Water holds a LOT of heat, so it should come down slowly enough to not shock the fish.

 

[Mrsmoore30]

Congratulations on beating the ich. Hope it stays beat. In a 20g, assuming it's in a normal room-temperature place, I would just turn the thermostat down and let it go down at its own speed. Water holds a LOT of heat, so it should come down slowly enough to not shock the fish.

Perfect! Yes, it's in a normal room temp place so I will do that. Thanks for the help! ?