Treating Ick/ich Help

[cooledwhip]

I discovered last night my tank has ICK in it, it took my pleco and I moved my guppy to a quarantine tank. There is no fish int he tank now only a lot of plants and my drift wood and substrate. I turned off my filter, I have my heater and air stone still going tho. I added two tablets of Tetra ICK Guard because I have a 20g Long. How long should I wait until the next treatment if I need to? My water is 83/84 degrees right now.
 
 

 

[fluttermoth]

The only reason I said to switch off your filter and heater is so you could empty the tank without them running dry.

With ich, only part of it's lifespan is on the fish, so you need to treat the tank as well as the fish. But you need to get the salt out first, by doing a 100% water change.

What you need to do is; take all the salt water out of your tank and refill with fresh, warmed, dechlorinated water. Put the fish back in the tank.

Add the medication, following the instructions exactly.

 

[cooledwhip]

I know. I removed the fish, he is in a completely different tank now by himself, I did about a 80-90% water change, as much as I could do without harming the plants or disturbing them.
 
Then I refilled it with tap water, and added the tablets. I ordered a water testing master kit to test everything about the water since I have no idea about if it's high in chlorine, etc.

I am treating the fish and the tank separately. The fish was originally my mom's so I put it back into her small fish bowl and I am treating him in there, and I am now treating my tank. Like I said the master water tester kit should come in soon. I didn't really cycle my tank, I just let everything run without fish for a few weeks I didn't test any water so I will do that soon.

 

[fluttermoth]

The fish will be better in the larger tank with a filter than in a small bowl. Toxic wastes from the fish will build up much faster in a small volume of water, and you need to treat both the tank and the fish anyway.

Even if your tank's not cycled, you may have some bacteria in the filter, and the plants will also help absorb some of the toxins.

 

[NickAu]

 
I have no idea about if it's high in chlorine

 
You need to get a good quality De Chlorinator and treat the water with it before adding the new water to the tank. As your tank is not cycled Seachem Prime would be a good choice as it takes care of chlorine, chloramine, and temporarily detoxifies Ammonia.

 

[cooledwhip]

Ok I will get some Seachem prime, but also when I measure my ammonia levels it is always 0 ppm or the yellow color on the card. (API testing kit)
 
Should I get the seachem prime to help? I'm just scared if it's my water that is bad and if I put in some fish they will get the ICH again because of the stress from the water.

 

[NickAu]

 
but also when I measure my ammonia levels it is always 0 ppm or the yellow color on the card. (API testing kit)

This may or may not be accurate. Please describe the process you use to test Ammonia with the API kit.
 
 
https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUw0Rlusz5Y

 

[cooledwhip]

Take 5 mL of my water, add 8 drops of solution 1, then 8 drops of solution 2, then wait 5 minutes.
 
Also, a couple questions.
 
How soon can I get fish? Should I try the seachem prime then wait a bit?
 
I found a fish store near me that looks high quality, not like pet smart or petco. It's a mom and pop shop.
 
I used the Tetra Ick Guard, should I use 2 more tablets or am I good and should consider the ICK gone?
 
Is it safe to put my hand in the water to move some plants around?

 

[cowgirluntamed]

If there are no fish in the tank you don't have to treat the water with ich medicine. You just have to keep the temp up and wait for a couple of weeks. Also turn the filter back on, otherwise stuff can just sit there(unless you're willing to wait a couple of weeks for the life cycle of the ich to die without hosts). Also, seachem prime does not cycle a tank. It removes chlorine, chloramine, heavy metals and such. It also helps promote a good slime coat that the fish need. Is your tap water from a well or a municipal water supply? If it's city water you most definitely will have chlorine which absolutely needs to be dealt with(with the prime) during each and every water change. Fish can't live for long in chlorinated water.

For cycling your tank... http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/forum/291-cycle-your-tank/ please check out this link and read the topics. At the very least learn about why we cycle without fish before you make a desicion. And just running the tank won't cycle it either.

 

[cooledwhip]

If there are no fish in the tank you don't have to treat the water with ich medicine. You just have to keep the temp up and wait for a couple of weeks. Also turn the filter back on, otherwise stuff can just sit there(unless you're willing to wait a couple of weeks for the life cycle of the ich to die without hosts). Also, seachem prime does not cycle a tank. It removes chlorine, chloramine, heavy metals and such. It also helps promote a good slime coat that the fish need. Is your tap water from a well or a municipal water supply? If it's city water you most definitely will have chlorine which absolutely needs to be dealt with(with the prime) during each and every water change. Fish can't live for long in chlorinated water.

For cycling your tank... http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/forum/291-cycle-your-tank/ please check out this link and read the topics. At the very least learn about why we cycle without fish before you make a desicion. And just running the tank won't cycle it either.

 
I live in a suburb of chicago so my tap water comes from Lake Michigan...
 
I will cycle my tank and post the numbers when I get my water testing kit.
 
I did add some seachem prime tho too anyway.

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Not sure, but I would think that it would still come from a water processing plant even if it is from Lake Michigan. They have to clean the water somehow. I wouldn't think they would just pump it right into your house. Might be worth looking in to to see how they clean it before it gets to you. That way you know exactly what you're dealing with. (Sorry if you've already done this...lol).

I started using prime even with my well water(had guppies not doing well) just for the benefit it helps with their some coat. Only just started using it so hopefully it will help me too!

 

[cooledwhip]

Thank you much. I already bought some Prime. does that take care of my dechlorination? Btw my water testing master kit came in and my pH is 7.4-7.8 I couldn't tell exactly. I only tested pH as well no nitrates or anything. Is the Prime good for adding the bacteria? Does that already cycle my tank?

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Prime is great for dechlorinating. It doesn't cycle the tank. If you want to do an instant cycle the only thing I would recommend is Dr Tim's One and Only for freshwater(it will coudy the water for a little bit but will go away). I used this in my little 5 gallon tank for my betta and didn't have any problems. But then again it's one fish and a few small snails in the tank. However I also used it in my 20 gallon recently when I switched from a sponge filter to a nice sized canister filter. I did not leave the sponge filter in or anything and everything went fine in that tank. As for testing, it's a good idea to test everything now before you cycle to see where your baseline is at for your water. That way there won't be any surprises on you when you do your water changes.