How did my tank get Ich?

[cyates]

Hello, I'm new to aquariums, and I would like to know how my tank got Ich so that I can avoid repeating mistakes.

I have a 55 gallon tank that is about 3 months old.
It is a community tank, but also has a figure eight puffer. The fig8 was biting fins, so I decided to give him his own tank.
I already had a ten gallon that should have just completed cycling, that I just populated with all live plants.

I put the puffer in this tank, but he didn't seem to like it much. He tried to "break through the glass" for a long time, and at first he ate okay, but then stopped eating as much and developed ich.

I very stupidly put the puffer back in the 55gal because of these symptoms thinking that something was wrong with the 10gal, and I was right but that infected my 55gal.

My question is, how did the ten gallon get ich? Could it have been carried on the live plants from the LFS? I had other fish in there even with the plants that didn't get the ich before I put the puffer in.

Also, do I have to take all the plants out of the 10gal to treat it?

 

[krap101]

i dont think so. ive never encountered ich. i think he already had ich but his immune systems or whatever was fighting it off. when you moved it you probally stressed the fish out making it more able to get ich.

i think you put the temp to 86. i dont think you should put salt in there because its a scale less creature.

if your 10 gallon is already cycled you should put the puffer in there and treat it in there. but since (i think) your 55 gallon is already infected i think you should treat him in there. or put the fig8 puffer and any other scale less creatures in the 10 gallon and do the temp thingy and put salt in the other tank.

sry i couldnt be any more helpful but like ive said ive never encountered ich and learned all this by reading

 

[oscarbreeder]

Raise the temp in both tanks to over 86.
The tank that doesnt have the fig8 can get aquarium salt added.
Try and avoid Ich chemicals if at all possible.
If not Rid Ich seems to work well.
Hope this helps.

 

[Menagerie]

Read the article on FW ich written by Allivymar in the Articles section. Don't put aquarium salt in with your plants.
It is my opinion that ich is always present, and others believe it must be introduced. My thoughts on ich can be found here.

 

[oscarbreeder]

What will the salt do to the plants?
I use aquarium salt in my 55gal planted community tank and it's always been fine.

 

[Menagerie]

I have no idea I keep reading that on this board.
Actually, if you change the osmotic concentration of the water enough, the plants will whither due to water leaving the plant cells and going into the surrounding water via osmosis. This is an attempt to even out the ratio of salt to water molecules. Wow, teaching a general biology lab for three labs just payed off!

 

[krap101]

but osmosis is just for water. diffusion is for everything else. the water would go through the plant but the salt would stay outside.

in a way the salt could dry out the plant even though its in the water

 

[cyates]

Crap, I should have come back to this post, forgot I even posted the question after I read article after article on other websites sigh

 

[cyates]

And, btw, all the articles I read suggested the meds as if they worked great with no hint of problems. Also a guy at work said he used ick guard and it took care of his ick. Maybe it just depends.

 

[cyates]

Interesting forum post menagerie, all my sunburst platties are doing fine - no sign of problems..in fact, I just noticed that one looks pregnant.

Have to get sleep, be back in a few hours. Increasing the thank's temp. 1 per 12 hours until I get to 86, then I'll add the aquarium salt.

I've put aquarium salt in when I first set up the tank, and with water changes. According to everything I've read, the salt doesn't evaporate, so could this be harmful? Adding more salt, probably increasing the pph or whatever the acronym is? I dont have the salt tester thing....yeesh I'm tired.

 

[Essayons89]

Have to get sleep, be back in a few hours. Increasing the thank's temp. 1 per 12 hours until I get to 86, then I'll add the aquarium salt.

Be sure to increase surface agitation or add an airstone to the tank've put aquarium salt in when I first set up the tank, and with water changes. Increasing the temps reduces the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water.

According to everything I've read, the salt doesn't evaporate, so could this be harmful? Adding more salt, probably increasing the pph or whatever the acronym is? I dont have the salt tester thing....yeesh I'm tired.

You are correct, salt doesn't evaporate and can only be removed through water changes. The amount of salt used for medicinal pruproses shouldn't have much of an effect, if any, on the water parameters. Only replace the amount of salt removed during a water change. For example, if you change out 5 gallons then only add enough salt to replace what would normally be added to 5 gallons of water. I dose 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons if using salt to treat ich.

Bryan

 

[Menagerie]

but osmosis is just for water. diffusion is for everything else. the water would go through the plant but the salt would stay outside.

To clarify this little biology lesson....
Water will diffuse from the plant's cells, leaving it whithered. The salt will not move from the surrounding water into the plant.