Ich on on of my fish but my only available QT tank is uncycled

[PancakesMcCoolWhip]

I see some white spots on the fins of a goldfish I bought today. I put him in the only tank I have available, a 5 gallon tank. I put salt, an air stone and a heater (set to 80 degrees) in the tank. Problem is, the tank isn't cycled and has no filter.What should I do? I'm in a quick fix and I won't be able to visit the LFS till Friday!

Thanks,

Pancakes

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Keept him in the main tank and do some large PWC every day and small ones over the course of the day. Clean water is the best way to get rid of ich. There's also a great article here in the forums:
Freshwater Ich? Yuck!

 

[HUKIT]

Clean water is the best way to get rid of ich.

Clean water alone will do little to nothing in the treatment of ich, heat and salt being the best but not for coldwater fish or a commerical medication like Quick Cure.

 

[PancakesMcCoolWhip]

Keept him in the main tank and do some large PWC every day and small ones over the course of the day. Clean water is the best way to get rid of ich. There's also a great article here in the forums:
Freshwater Ich? Yuck!

Wouldn't keeping him in the main tank infect my other fish with the ich?

 

[mfdrookie516]

If you see ich on a fish, treat the whole tank. It'll show up on the others. I also agree with HUKIT. Clean water is definitely a good thing, but it's not going to do anything for ich. Heat and salt are my preferred method.

 

[PancakesMcCoolWhip]

The new fish had been quarantined as soon as I got home and was never in my main tank.

I'm using a makeshift sponge filter but it's no use cause it's a brand new sponge (no good bacteria on it). how many water changes should I do daily?

My temps are at 80 now and there's 3 table spoons of kosher salt in the 5 gallon tank. I'm planning on increasing the dosage of salt to 5 tablespoons every 12 hours two more times to get the percentage of salt around .3%. On friday i'm thinking about getting Coppersafe too and dosing the tank with it.

 

[alex07]

Wouldn't keeping him in the main tank infect my other fish with the ich?

If 1 fish has it good chance others will get it. That is why they recommend to treat the whole tank to kill all parasites.

 

[PancakesMcCoolWhip]

If 1 fish has it good chance others will get it. That is why they recommend to treat the whole tank to kill all parasites.

Yeah I'm aware. He was never in my main tank though, so I have no reason to treat my main tank for ich that it doesn't have.

 

[alex07]

Gradually raise your temp. between 84-86 degrees. Once you notice the ich is gone leave like that for about an extra week.

 

[sobersteve323]

I had the same problem. It was recommended to me to add some gravel from my healthy tank into the QT. Then I did PWC every day to keep the ammonia down. My gold fish was fine in the 10 gal for over 3 weeks. Hope that helps.

 

[jetajockey]

that is a ton of salt, you don't need that much to kill ich. I usually aim for 1tsp/gallon.

 

[PancakesMcCoolWhip]

thanks guys seems the ich is getting worse before it gets better. the ich is more apparent now. i was able to get a filter for the tank and added some main tank gravel in a pantyhose bag

 

[Dwohlge1]

Sorry to resurrect this thread but I bought a new goldfish and put him in QT. thank god because he has ICH now.

First thing. I used a gravel vac to clean the infected tank (before I knew) then used it to clean my main tank. Did I infect my main tank? Should I treat this tank before I have an outbreak?

Second is it dangerous to keep goldfish at 86 degrees to kill the ICH?

Third is 1 tsp spoon of salt per gallon enough? I keep reading I need 3?

 

[PancakesMcCoolWhip]

dwoh,

if the gravel vac wasn't dried out before you used it int he main tank, you MAY have transferred some ich into the main tank. i'd watch it carefully. It's happened to me, but with me, it was a reused net.

my goldfish were really active and hungry at 89 degrees, but my oranda, moor and ranchu did more than fine.

you can try the heat only approach, but 1 tablespoon* per gallon (equal to 3 teaspoons) is optimal, but you have to raise the salinity gradually (or did what I do, dip a net in the tank water and pour the salt into the net, allowing it to slowly dissipate over a few hours.) the goldfish adapted realy well to the salinity and they were more active even though they were completely covered in ich. Don't keep the salinity too high for too long though. only replace 75% of the salt every time you do a partial water change.

Recently I had the heat resistant strain of ich, so tough to get rid of w/o salt.

hope this helps and good luck.

 

[Dwohlge1]

Thanks I will try to raise my salinity slowly. I have the temp up at 78 right now to speed up the process. I have also read to do daily gravel vacs then re adjust the salinity. I am still worried about the heat so I may hold off on that.


No my gravel vac was not dried out first. I will keep an eye on them. How long can the parasite remain dormant?

 

[jlk]

If you just bought the fish today and he is sick, i honestly would return him. If you want to keep him, treat the tank with aquarium salt for atleast 2 weeks. I would then keep him qt for atleast another 2 wks after treating him to be sure he has no other illnesses. You should consider getting a small filter (less $10 at big chain stores) & add some media from your established tank. You will need to check the water parameters daily for amm/nitrites/nitrates and do frequent pwcs to keep his water healthy.

 

[Dwohlge1]

If you just bought the fish today and he is sick, i honestly would return him. If you want to keep him, treat the tank with aquarium salt for atleast 2 weeks. I would then keep him qt for atleast another 2 wks after treating him to be sure he has no other illnesses. You should consider getting a small filter (less $10 at big chain stores) & add some media from your established tank. You will need to check the water parameters daily for amm/nitrites/nitrates and do frequent pwcs to keep his water healthy.

I think you are replying to the OP, sorry I hijacked his thread.

 

[PancakesMcCoolWhip]

haha the parasite matures depending on temp. I'd say keep an eye out for 2 weeks atleast.