Ich + Parasites! Aah!

[jbarr]

First of all; fully cycled (old) 30 gal, pH 7.5, nitrites 0ppm, dunno ammonia/nitrates

I'm dealing with ich right now and i've been treating half dose every day (15 drops rather than 30), because I have a pleco. That's the practice, right? How long should I do that for ? I've heard 2 weeks or until Ich clears.
I also heated my tank up to about 86. Is that too high??

am I treating ich correctly so far?

Secondly, I think my Tiger Oscar has come down with something; maybe it's the effects of Ich, idk, but he is very territorial when it comes to feeding. He loves flakes and shars w/ all (cause there's plenty to go around). He used to eat cichlid pellets, but not anymore. He also doesn't eat much of anything. So I got some Shrimp pellets, won't touch em. Not even brine shrimp. He nibbles on an algae wafer, but that's just to keep it away from the other fish (though it gets around; he couldn't handle the whloe thing), but now it seems like he's not eating much.

I also noticed a small little wormy thing in a plant I got from a lake (bad idea; i know) but I figured it was a baby leach, and that my fish would eventually eat it . Was that a parasite of sorts??
Also, his poop is sort of light green and sort of stingy, unlike say, my goldfish's which just looks straight, like toothpaste, heh.

Should I be worried about a possible parasite/virus?

Any help at all. Would be great, appreciate.

 

[Zagz]

First, meds for treating ich will harm your bacterial cycle. What I recommend is do a large water change 50-75% and actually increase the heat in your tank to 87F and add an airstone or lower your water level a bit to increase aeration.

Question for you. Is your goldfish in the same tank? Goldfish do not like heat. Which fish has the ich or all of them? You have an oscar and a goldfish in the same tank? What other fish are in the tank? What size are your oscar and goldfish? These two do not make the best tankmates.

Parasites make poo white and stringy. It might be a different parasite but ich is a parasite. I'd keep an eye on the poo and wait and see what happens there.

You also need to be able to test for ammonia and nitrate. How often do you do water changes and how much water do you change?

 

[jbarr]

I do 20% PWC about once a week.

I know they arent typically good tank mates - they get along though.

So far only my cichlid and goldie are showing signs of ich.

My two banded killis and pleco seem to be fine...

What effect on the bacterial cycle does the ich have? Should I not lend out any plants/rocks to my friend (hes cycling his first tank) after I used the ich medicine?

 

[Zagz]

The ich doesn't affect the bacterial cycle, the meds do. I wouldn't lend him anything due to the fact that the ich may still be present and contaminate his tank.

20% pwc is not enough for that tank with the tankmates you have in there. The tank is overstocked and you should be doing 50% a week minimum. IMO.