Ich I can't take it anymore!!!

[sciencegirl]

Ok, I'm so sorry to keep posting about stupid ich. I've had my home aquarium heater set at 87F since Jan. 6, and I've been keeping it slightly salty. I've also started adding melafix for the past 3 days or so.

WHY won't my fish get better??? They are swimming and "playing" and doing their thing, and the otos don't seem to have any problems (except that I never see them anymore), but my tetras STILL have the odd white dot, and slightly frayed fins.

I've been doing the usual partial water changes, etc. I'm just getting frustrated because I hear so many stories about fast ich cures, and I feel like I'm missing something!

 

[An t-iasg]

I'm sorry that your ich troubles are continuing! (but no need to apologize for posting again!)

By now, you should be seeing a reduction in the number of ich spots; however, to make sure they are eradicated, keep the temperature elevated for at least two weeks (so you'd have another week to go). Some people even keep their temps elevated for a month, as long as the fish aren't stressed.

Can you verify the accuracy of your thermometer? It could be possible that your tank isn't as warm as you think it is. Try to get a second thermometer in there and see what it says.

How often are you doing water changes? It's important to do water changes to get the free-swimming form of the parasite out of the water. During the first week of treatment, I would do a water change every day. Changing some water every day is effective in the first week because at higher temps, the whole life cycle is about a week long. Now that you're on the second week, but still seeing spots on the fish, I would continue with daily water changes, at least for a few more days.

Hang in there! It sounds like you're making progress against the ich, but sometimes it's not as fast as we would like!