Ick, medicine, and carbon filter- please help!

[Aryl]

My daughter recently got a fantail goldfish. It seems to have contracted ick. We were adding aquarium salt to the tank for several days but it doesn't seem to have worked, the more I read it sounds like you need heat as well as salt to kill the ick and we don't have an aquarium heater.

Last night, in desperation, I went to the petstore and bought API's Super Ick Cure. It says to remove a carbon filter before adding but I didn't think our filter had carbon. Doing more investigating today on the filter it seems there is carbon inside the little filter packs, so I cut them open and removed the carbon.

The directions on the bottle say to wait 48 hours before medicating again. My reading has led me to believe that the carbon in the filter sucks up the carbon, so can I do a water change now and re-dose the tank, even though it has been less than 24 hours, or should I wait the full 48 hours before adding any more medication?

I would very much appreciate any advice! Thanks!!

 

[DBradar3]

Hello Aryl!
My name is Ashley. I'm going to help you.
I can tell you've been trying REALLY hard to help your goldfish, and I admire that. I'm going to give you the information you need to do the best you can for your little one.
First, let me tell you how ich works. The only time you'll see it is when it's on the fish. At this point, the medication will not work; but, that does not mean don't medicate the water and I'll tell you why. At some point the ich on the fish will spread its spores and end its own lifecycle. These spores infect all in the tank and re-infect the original fish. It is at this point the medicine takes affect. The medicine is meant to kill all of the spores so nothing else gets infected and the original fish does not get re-infected. The way that heat aids in this... The ich cycle shortens the hotter it is. By raising the temperature, you are making the ich spread its spores sooner, thereby clearing the ich sooner and giving the original fish a better chance at surviving.
Salt doesn't help, or at least helps very little. Salt does not affect ich or any disease directly. All that salt does is help a fish breathe a little easier, giving them the room to heal better, like giving someone oxygen. However, like pure oxygen to a human, this should only be temporary! You will need to do a water change to clear out all of that extra salt.
As for the carbon, yes, all filters have carbon. Carbon is what cleans the impurities out of the tank water (including medicine). However, you don't need to remove the carbon out of the pouch. Simply take the whole pouch out of the filter and toss it. If a fish was sick, you do not want that same pouch re-infecting your water. When you're at the fish store, you will see plain white sponges that you can shove into the filter for debris filtration while you're medicating.
Should you re-medicate immediately? You can, but in order to do so you will have to do an 80% water change. This will also stress out your fish. I use API Super Ick Cure myself; it's a great product! Every fish is different though. I've had the medication fail due to my fish dying before the spores had a chance to spread (he was already stressed ). Goldfish tend to be more hardy than my little oto, so personally I would go ahead and wait the 48 hours; make sure all other helps and hindrances are taken care of in the meantime!
I wish your little goldfish the best of luck, and don't hesitate to ask questions. That's why we're here!

 

[Aryl]

Thank you so much for the advice and taking the time to reply! I really appreciate it!

 

[nirbhao]

For cold water fish, the heat can be worse than the illness.

I am by no means an expert on ich, so I won't get into that except to say to vacuum your substrate very carefully and often while getting through this.

 

[Aryl]

Unfortunately, our fish passed away this morning. Thanks again for the advice.

 

[DBradar3]

I'm sorry to hear that. It's sad, but it does happen.
Just be sure to do a full medication on the tank before any other fishies go inside, okay?
If you need any help, let us know

 

[Aryl]

Thanks. I've cleaned out the whole tank and boiled the gravel and we got two feeder goldfish to help cycle the tank (which we never did before). Hopefully the result is a tank that will last long term.