ICH Killed My Fish

[LeftyTwin]

Thought everything was good! New Tank 35 g hex fish were happy and active, then noticed the white spots on the tetras!

Turned up the heat, added salt water changes done.......

Every day more and more were dead... I am now only left with 3 cories and 1 black neon....

What to do from here... The neon has no signs of ICH on him, but I am not sure what I need to do before adding more fish.....

I am at a loss that I killed my fish, that seemed doing so well and now this

 

[Hholly]

Some fish are just weak stock and the stress of the treatment plus the infestation does them in. You should continue treatment at least a week after you see the last spot. Then slowly lower the temp. Make sure your water parameters are good. Then you should be good to go. If you can, set up a small quarantine tank for next time you buy fish.

 

[Petrah]

I'm so sorry to hear you lost some of your fishies.

I'm doing the heat and salt treatment right now with the two Barbs I have left, and one of the things I've noticed when researching this method is how long you should do it (there seems to be different recommendations on how long it should last). I decided to keep it going for two weeks from the first day that I can no longer see white spots on them. I'm also doing water changes (using a gravel vac) making sure to keep the salt solution and Prime going with the new water I put in.

Keep us informed with how things are going?

Here's the vid I watched about maintaining the treatment for two weeks after I see no more spots:

Treating Freshwater Ich - YouTube

 

[LeftyTwin]

Yeah, I have a ten gallon tank that I will be setting up for future panics like this... I am going to take your advice and continue the treatment for the next week or so... Then slowly try to introduce fish...


I thought I had hardy fish with the tetras i had, but they just one by one all fell to it...

Lost my dwarf gourami as well, it just sucks....

 

[Hholly]

Yeah, sorry you lost them. Were they neon tetras? Neons are known to be weak fish due to over breeding.

 

[LeftyTwin]

They were neons, and black neons..... 4 cories and Dwarf Gourami


Alll neons gone, all but 1 black neon left, Dwarf gone, and 1 corie gone...


What do you suggest for the next stocking... hardier version

 

[Hholly]

As long as they aren't badly infected with ich, cardinal tetras are pretty hardy. The thing with ich is, they can be badly infested in their gills, even if you don't see a lot of spots.

 

[jcolon]

Is your tank temp at 86F - 88F? If so, your in the right temp range for treatment and keep it up a week after the last sign of ICH. Once it's gone, it's eradicated so the way
for it to return is if it's introduced with new stock.

Unfortunately, treatment for ICH on weaker sensitive fish can lead to deaths. If you have another trusted LFS that sell Neons, maybe go there. Some LFS just get weak stock and the shock of going from one tank to another will stress them to the point were the ICH just outbreaks.