Missing Bala Shark and Ich

[Tahl]

Sorry about skipping my introduction, I promise I'll go back and do one as soon as this problem is solved. My tank has been a series of bad mishaps since I first set it up about 6-7 weeks ago. Since it has started, My wife and I have had an angelfish and red tailed shark die. We have also had an angelfish and between last night and today a bala shark disappear. The bala shark has never been a very strong swimmer and has had trouble keeping up with the faster gourami fish in the tank to eat so I don't believe he jumped out of the tank. Also, he was the only one with noticeable remaining ich spots on himself and he had quite a few develop.

Now my questions are: is it possible that the three gourami, african leaf fish, and pictus catfish managed to eat him while I was asleep and leave no trace (not even a skeleton)?

When treating ich with heat, how long are you supposed to keep the temperature elevated?

What else can I do to ensure the rest of my fish make it through this and not lose anymore in a new tank?

 

[dkpate]

Not sure where the fish went.
Do you know your water parameters? How big is the tank?
If you do the heat treatment, leave it at 86* for at least 10 days. Add an air stone also since warmer water has less oxygen.
There is not much you can do but watch them to make sure they don't develop anything else like fungus, etc. And make SURE your tank has gone through the nitrogen cycle, if it hasn't, you will most likely be doing alot of water changes for the next few weeks to a month.

 

[Tahl]

It's a 55 gallon tank, my parameters are as follows:

No ammonia
NO2 - 1.6 mg/l
NO3 - 12.5 mg/l

I'm pretty sure it's in the process of going through the nitrogen cycle right now and that's why the nitrites are high. Nitrite poisoning might explain the Bala death though so I should probably do a water change and get it under control.

 

[dkpate]

Sounds like a good idea. Clean water is the best medicine IMO. I would do water changes every time the nitrites get over .5 ppm.

 

[Tahl]

Thanks for the help, it took quite a few water changes to get the nitrite under control. The fish seem to be acting better now that I have the water condition back to normal and I don't have any more signs of ich. I'll give the heat some time to kill the remainder of the ich that the water changes missed as well.

 

[dkpate]

Oh that sounds great!!! Good job, keep up the good work.