Sick tank

[Engel]

Ok, I've decided to set up another new tank for multiple reasons... most pressing is that a new platy at work came to us pregnant, and we found two fry, and a really fat dwarf gourami yesterday morning. The two fry have been put into a little nursery basket we purchased yesterday, but the tank (10 g) is already stocked.... so I am setting up a little tank (5-10 gallon) in my son's room. He is really into the 40g I put in my room recently.
I also posted threads about not cycling my new at home tank properly, and I am in the process of rectifying that situation, but...... I think I've found ich among the red minor tetras as of today. Should I go with:

Option 1 - Use the new tank in my kid's room for a sick tank before it's cycled? I could treat them there for a week, and then finish cycling it before I bring the fry home.

Option 2 - Treat my 40 gal in total.

The fry at work can stay at work until I have a tank ready for them, so my biggest concern is what is best for the entire 40g community? Separate and treat the sick, or treat them all together?

Is the picture ich? The spot is on the tip of his bottom lip. The blurry 3rd picture is of a different tetra with a spot on his rear fin, which has also been nipped up by the other tetras. Sorry about the phone pic quality. I can try for better

 

[Engel]

Slightly better pic of tail guy

 

[meegosh]

I would treat the whole tank before moving things around. I would slowly raise the temperature to 86*F and keep it there for two weeks after the last white spot disappears.

 

[McLumpy]

Hi! Besides the white spot on a few of your Tetras, are there any other signs that it could be Ich, (i.e. are any of your fish flashing against objects)? If it is indeed Ich, you will need to treat the entire tank regardless if any of your other fish shows signs of having it. Removing the ill fish and placing them in an uncycled tank will only stress them out more and could be devastating.

However, if it ends up being something else other than Ich, you can always do a quick cycle of your smaller tank and use it as a quarantine tank for your ill fish. I actually don't have any experience doing a quick setup for a QT, (because I don't use one), so I'm afraid I can't help you there. But I'm sure someone can give you advice on that or you can find a thread on here that explains how to do it.

 

[Engel]

OK,
Thanks guys. The only signs I see are the spots. As of today, the guy in the last picture is being harassed by the other tetras. In fact they all changed their behavior today. They were going around in a neat little school except for one, and now they are chasing one another, and separating.
No flashing, and other fish in the tank are fine.

As far as the 86 degree mark, I started out with the water at around 85, and my angels got super sluggish and pale. The place I bought them from said they keep their tanks at 75 so I dropped it, and they were fine. 85 won't hurt them during treatment?

 

[Tim Wheatley]

I don't think it's Ich. Some kind of bacterial infection or bad water quality more likely. The fins are a bit more freyed than I would like to see, so perhaps a Melafix and Pimafix treatment would be better...

 

[McLumpy]

If your Tetras are harassing each other by chasing, and separating then yes, you have every reason to suspect an illness. It could be Ich or it could be something else. I'm currently battling an Ich outbreak in my tank caused by an ill Tetra that I recently introduced to my tank. Mine are exhibiting the same behavior as yours, so chances are you're dealing w/ an Ich outbreak as well.

But, like Meegosh suggested, you should gradually increase the temp to 86F in order to speed up the lifecycle of the Ich so that you can kill them. Heat alone, however, may not kill them and you should use either an Ich medication or try the salt method. I'm using Ich Attack and it seems to be working quite well, (even w/ having a high Nitrate issue which is causing me to perform large pwc's).

As far as your Angels acting sluggish/looking pale when you increase the temp, yes, that could be due to their inability to tolerate high temps. But, even if they're not showing any signs of Ich, they could still have it and should be treated w/ meds too. I believe, (and anyone please correct me if I'm wrong), you can use a med without increasing the temp, but I think it will take longer to kill off all of the Ich.

Edit: Tim has a good point too. You should really try to determine if it is in fact Ich before you begin any treatment. Have you tested your water lately? If you post the results, this will help w/ determining if this is just a poor water quality issue or an illness.

 

[hdultra]

I don't think it's Ich. Some kind of bacterial infection or bad water quality more likely. The fins are a bit more freyed than I would like to see, so perhaps a Melafix and Pimafix treatment would be better...

I agree with Tim. Some Melafix will cure that up in no time.

 

[Engel]

OK, bought Melafix today, and dosed them after the water change. NOW I notice one of my angels is flashing. :| I've been raising the temp all day, and we are at 80... so far so good, and everyone is still happy, but I think I'll stop at around 83.
I decided to put pure sea salt in the tank per Tim's advice I saw in another thread. I'm was kind of chicken and only put two tablespoons back in with some water I siphoned off from the tank. My question now is should I continue with the salt, or go get some ich cure tomorrow?

 

[Engel]

By the way my Ph is already high, and my angels don't seem to mind in the slightest, so I'm not worried about ph, or changes in it with the salt.