HELP first ICH outbreak ever. ...need advice!

[Chriznat20]

The scary part is I "did" catch it early on when only 1 fish had it. I treated right away and thats when the s**t hit the fan. I have so far lost 50% of my fish! That stupid Ick Guard II and Melafix I think is what did it.
My water parmeters are still perfect 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 30ppm nitrate. Been doing 25% daily water changes (per LFS) and retreating every 24 hours per Ick Guard II.
Now my rafael has ick and cloudy eyes. I already am treating for fungus and cloudy-eye. Apparently what ever hit my tank hit it HARD and isnt going to let up

 

[Guest]

Like I said a week ago, get a UV.

 

[Chriznat20]

Hey I dont have a sugar daddy to buy me a UV light for $80. I balked at paying $38 for a heater!

So basically at this point - Wednesday night I have lost : 4 neon tetras, 2 large balas, 1 silver dollar, 2 yellow and black striped tetras, and my rafael right now is dying. Hes just sitting in his decorative stump and breathing really fast.

I am so P***ed off right now. I seriously can see why there are so many nice fish tank setups for sale on ebay! I have had 90% of the fish that perished since the beginning... thats over 2 years now. I cant believe my rafael is dying! hes like the king of the tank..lol

Well anyways, I did a 25% water change last night and put in a few more teaspoons of ick guard I. I ran out of ick guard II. I dont think Im going to use that "pimafix" anymore I think thats what caused most of the deaths because after I treated with that, i started getting "floaters"...

 

[Guest]

Add up the ich medications and lost fish and I bet its going to come to close to $80. Plus, a bunch of YOUR fish didn't have to die. Don't you have a credit card?

 

[Chriznat20]

Yeah ok rub salt in the wound Anyways my poor rafael died the other day, he turned white? It was sick. Ive been sick for the past month, I wonder if I picked up something from my tank... I do have a lot of cuts on my hands because I do a lot of work on cars and boats. Hmmm...

Anyways I ended up losing more than 50% of my tank. I am still treating for ich, even though none is visible on the fish. The temp still sits at 86F and I dont plan on lowering until maybe late next week. I am very bitter at ICH right now and Im feeling ugly :x

I guess the fish that "did" survive were the healthier younger ones. My Pleco is still kicking, though he doesnt do much of anything. I think hes lonely he lost his stump-sharing mate (the rafael).

I also heard something about keeping the lights off when you have an ICH outbreak, is there any truth to this?