Ich went away on it's own?

[Daniel H]

Just to give some backstory on what happened, I bought 2 Ryukin Goldfish which were the healthest looking ones from the store. I went back home and my sister accidentally broke my spare 20 gallon tank I keep all my new fish for quarantine. I wouldn't be upset if it wasn't the same day i bought new goldfish. I had nowhere else to put them unless i wanted to risk getting my fish sick. My parents didn't have time to take my to a local fish store so I could buy at least a 10 gallon for my new goldfish. My only option was to keep them in a bucket. After 1 night I didn't think it was a good idea because I'd be wasting too much Tap Water Conditioner, and stress out my fish. I made the stupid decision to risk getting my other goldfish sick by adding them in.


For a few days everything was good, nothing out of the ordinary. On the 4th day however, my all 5 of the fish were on the floor of the tank, fins closed, ich on my new Ryukin and my Albino comet, and they were breathing slowly. It was only until they noticed me that they began swimming towards me, excitedly waiting for me to feed them. Later on, all of them were in bad condition. Their fins red and covered with ich. They still ate but their movements were awkward. My albino comet (which had it the worst) ending up dying 2 days later.

I couldn't do anything since i had nobody able take me somewhere like Petsmart to buy ich medication for them. My parents aren't exactly 100% supportive of me keeping fish as a hobby, so they just told me to just buy feeder fish to replace them if they die and that it's not worth wasting money curing them. So I'm ordering it online which is cheaper thay buying it at a store.


Somehow 3 of my goldfish started getting better they didn't have ich anymore even now! They were happy and swimming around like normal except 1 of them which was the Ryukin that had ich died today this morning. I still don't understand how it happened since I've never had this happen before. I never did a water change or medicate the aquarium. Did my goldfish manage to fight them off on their own and gain an immunity? Or is it something else.

My fish tank is 55 gallons with a MarineLand Biowheel 350 filter, no heater and my tank is barebottom with only a cave for my 3 surviving Goldfish which are a Wakin Goldfish, an Oranda, and one of the Ryukins I bought.

 

[King Fisher]

Kicking ich on their own without your intervention is definitely not typical. I would suggest not stocking anymore fish in that 55 than what you have.....you are maxed out in stocking IMO. Correct stocking generally leads to good health of fish.

In a pinch, such as you were in, you don't need meds for ich. You can raise the temperature of your tank to 86 degrees (get a heater asap for this reason). When doing this only raise the temp 2 degrees per hour until you hit 86 degrees. Do a 50% water change every other day. When you do your water changes, make sure you are doing a light gravel vac. This is really all you need.

If you can get your hands on aquarium salt, stock up on a carton. If you use aquarium salt start out at 1 TEAspoon per 5 gallons of water. Dilute the salt before adding it and pour it evenly across the surface. I personally just add the salt to my water during the water change. After a couple of water changes you will get the dosing where it needs to be. After a week to 10 days you can up the salt to 1 TEAspoon per 2 gallons of water.

If you catch ich early you generally don't have to use meds, just the method I explained. And it won't cost you money in meds.