O, Oh I think one of my fish is starting to get Ick….

[M Riley]

Greetings, so far I've been performing a in fish cycle going on week 3, on a 45 gallon tank. I've 50% PWC with PRIME doses everyday. Just trying to get rid of the Ammonia and Nitrite levels, so far good. Ammonia is at 0 ppm and Nitrite is at .25 ppm. My water temp is stable at 78 degree and I check the temp of the new water for my PWC. I introduced 2 x-ray tetras last week, then 2 red eye tetras last night. Today I notice a spot of Ick on one of my red eye tetras. How should I go about treating Ick? I've stayed away from water conditioners, bacteria additives. The only thing I've treated my water is with PRIME. Any help, direction and advice will be appreciated Thanks

 

[LyndaB]

You bought a sick fish. In this case, that's why you have ich.

Raise the temp to 86 F.

Add an airstone to increase oxygenation.

Do gravel vacs every 2-3 days to remove ich spore from substrate

Maintain this schedule for no less than 2 weeks.

Please keep in mind that cycling with fish weakens them so you may not have 100% success in curing the tank.

 

[M Riley]

Then again it looks like it could be the silver color reflection on the red eye tetra's spine but I'll keep a close eye on it.

 

[M Riley]

I have patience but this hobby can be discouraging if I'm not successful and have to start over again I'm selling my tank

 

[Donkey Gun]

If your going to treat the tank by raising the temperature, Don't just crank up the heater. Make sure to do it slowly. I believe I have read on here that people go about a degree or two a day.

Don't get discouraged! Consider it a challenge. Once you finally reach an established tank, the rewards are far greater than the struggles.

 

[M Riley]

Other than raising the temp slowly and gravel clean up. Is it necessary to isolate the sick fish and or add Ick medicine?

 

[Super_Blueberry]

If one fish has Ich, it's safe to say your whole tank has it, do isolating one fish won't help.

I know a lot of people like to treat Ich with heat and salt, but I used Quick Cure with heat in my tank and it worked in a little over a week. The downside I found out afterwards is the blue medicine started staining my silicone seals. I think next time I'll just use the heat and salt method.

 

[jcolon]

Other than raising the temp slowly and gravel clean up. Is it necessary to isolate the sick fish and or add Ick medicine?

Treat the whole tank... With ick, you have to assume every fish will have it. I'm currently on my 5th day of treating it in my son's 10gal ... Darn Neon Tetras from Petco. Thankfully it seems gone, but I'll continue the heat treatment and pwc's for another few days.

 

[M Riley]

Thank you all So far I've raised the temp up to 82 degrees slowly added salt and my fish are a lot more active. As far as the ich goes. It may or may not be ich, but I'm keeping a close eye. Both my red eye tetras have a silver reflection on their spines between the back fins and tail fins. So far those very small silver (hopefully light reflections) spots have not grown. Nor have I seen ich in my other fish. As I am aware I'm not out of the woodwork yet, and my tank is still cycling. I appreciate all the great advice and insight. Thank you