New tank......and sigh...ick

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NascarPaul

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jan 22, 2004
Messages
22
Location
Dallas,Texas
Good day all....after reading through all the posts on this subject...i still need some advice.....have a 10 gallon new tank...1 1/2 weeks old....ammonia is 8+(had it independently tested.said the levels were elevated but not life threatening,am using ammo loc) while my nitrites are .25...ph is 7.6 gh seems to be ok for my fish(i am using the test tube test method)...I have 2 golden barbs,3 head and taillight tetras,2 sissortails,and 2 waterfrogs..had a iridescent shark until this morning :(.My question is I am using rid-ick..with the carbon removed from my filter,did not know about the water temp increase.My tank is currently at 78 degrees.Only the shark and a cheap start up fish shows signs of ick.I have added all the fish listed above on monday evening.I was advised that as long as i was using the rid-ick that this would keep the other fish from getting this ever so depressing problem.My other 10 gallon does not show signs of it (yet).Any help or advise is greatly appreciated. Thanks y'all
 
Obviously the ich came in on a new fish (hopefully). Since you have started using the rid ich you might as well continue. Some fish are able to tolerate small amounts of ich and others not so much (hence the dead fish). Follow the directions excatly on the meds and raise the temp to around 83-84F, this will speed the life cycle of ich. It is only killable in its free swiming form and not the egg. So you must treat for at least 2 weeks, probably 3 to make sure you get it all killed. Do not share equipment between the tanks or the ich will spread.

Also do a water change. Any ammonia above 1 ppm is deadly to fish and could be why the dead fish succumbed to ich so easily. Get that ammonia down and don't worry about using ammo lock. The tank will still cycle as the fish are constantly producing waste. The fish store may say it will slow the cycle but if you are registering ammonia then it is more than the bacteria load can handle so reducing it will be fine. At teh current levels it is doing permanent damage to your fish.
 
Thanks for the advice.I now realize I made a big mistake in both the amount of fish and trying to rush the cycling process.Should I do 25% water changes daily?Thanks in advance...just another newbie being impatient :)
 
Daily water changes with a good dechlorinator is the way I would go. This will slow the cycle down but after a week you should be able to cut that back to every few days. Just keep testing for ammonia and nitrite. If ammonia gets to 1ppm or nitrite gets to 0.25 ppm then do a water change. Of course the meds might also kill the bacteria from the cycle so watch your levels while using it. I am not that familiar with that medicine. Good luck.

Impatience is generally bad, but I am glad to hear you are learning. That's the most important thing :D
 
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