Ich in an uncycled tank

[crashball]

I have been having difficulty getting my 30 gal tank cycled (10 weeks now) and i think i am starting to see an Ich outbreak. I picked up some Tetra Lifeguard for treatment, but then saw it shouldn't be used on new tanks. I'm gueesing this will mess up or kill off what liitle biological filter i have. I have heard Kordon Ich Attack isn't supposed to damage the bio filter, but the guy at Petco didn't reccomend it as it didn't work for him. Their other product was a copper based one which i'd rather avoid. I lost 2 fish over the last few days, but they were less than a week old. I have a Bala shark, 3 Mollies, and a Platy at this point.

I have heard good results with salt/heat - at this point i don't have an adjustable heater, but i guess its an excuse to upgrade. I guess this is my preferred method since it won't mess with the biofilter, but can my fish handle the salt? And can the salt be phased out after the ich is gone? Or should I do a med. Considering the tank isn't cycled, the fish are probably stessing as it is, i'd like a the quickest method to help them out.

 

[BigJim]

Mollies can actually live in very brackish water and I think your other fish will be ok with the salt.

I would encourage you to upgrade that heater. Heaters usually use a cheap bimetallic thermostat that's encased in glass, which isn't a good conductor of heat. Basically this means that the heater knows very little about what's going on in the tank which can lead to temperatures being way off.

Good luck.

 

[dkpate]

Most meds don't work too well in an uncycled tank. My LFS guys said that the Ich Attack was the BEST ich med, since it can be used with any fish or invert, and won't kill the bacteria you have been building up, and therefore won't mess up the cycle.
If you don't have it already, I would recommend getting Prime to dechlorinate your water, since it helps during the cycle in taking care of the ammonia, nitrite and nitrates.
Good luck!

 

[crashball]

for dosage of salt i have seen everything from 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon per gallon. Any reccommendations? And can the salt be stopped at a later time?I imagine it'll eventually get dilluted out as i do water changes. Is aquarium salt necessary? I have kosher salt handy, which has no additives i believe.

 

[dkpate]

1 tsp per gallon, but only start with 1/2 tsp per gallon, and dissolve it in dechlorinated water before adding it.
Salt does not evaporate, so you will have to manually remove it by doing pwc's.
What are your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings?

 

[crashball]

Ammonia has been pretty steady around 1 ppm. 0 Nitrites and nitrites. stupid nitrogen cycle I just picked up prime since my Jungle Labs Start Right ran out. Will be using the first time tonight when i do a pwc. I guess i'll change a 5gal bucket worth and add 15 tsp (5 Tbls) to it when i add it back in. That should be 1/2 tsp per gal.. Perhaps pick up a new heater tomorrow. I believe Petco has Aqueon heaters. Any thoughts on these or other heaters?

 

[dkpate]

Well, if you can find the Stealth heaters that DO NOT have the indicator light on them, just the red knob, I would go with those. I have had a glass AND a new Marineland (Stealth/Visi-Therm) heater overheat on me. I have had the cheap Tetra heaters, they are crap IMO, but I don't have any other kind of heaters, so I am not much help there.
Since you still have ammonia, do a pwc every single day, if you have to, but the Prime should help with that. Remember, the Prime only binds to the ammonia and nitrite, so you will still get readings.

 

[crashball]

Not sure this is ich anymore, although i do so very tiny white spots on my Platy's tail. I just lost our Bala shark. Notice the orange-ish spots on his belly and fins. i don't know if this happened after he died, but he couldn't have been gone for more than a couple hours. Could this be some other type of Fungus?


{edit} working on the photo upload...