wiped out

[biorb]

I had been really pleased with my tank over the last few months until I got greedy. I bought some black neon's and got them home into the tank then noticed they had ich. After an initial panick i slowly cranked the heat up to 85F. After a week my 3 guppies and 2 cherry barbs were totally encrusted in spots and the 5 tetras weren't getting any better. So i did something stupid and bought some malachite green based meds and added 1/4 dose.
My long serving guppies which were my first ever fish 7 months ago died within 2 days along with 1 of the barbs. Panicked again and did 2 x15% water changes over 2 days. It's been 2 weeks since ( and a few more Water changes ) and all that's left is 1 struggling spotted barb. I am not sure how long he will hang on for.
If he doesn't make it do i need to clean my tank out and start all over?
Or should i leave the heat on maybe add some more meds and hope to kill off the rest of the ich before starting from scratch.
Thanks for any help

 

[Jchillin]

I'm truly sorry to hear of your unfortunate losses however, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

You can keep up the heat treatment...go to 86d. Keep it this way for the next couple of weeks. This will take care of any remaining ich nasties and you will be able to re-stock the tank.

This is an unfortunate by-product of the learning curve in this hobby. The experience will no doubt make you a better aquarist.

 

[biorb]

Thanks, didn't want to go through that whole cycling business again.
Plus my plants have all taken root and it would have been more of a nightmare to sterilize all the gravel.

 

[severum mama]

I hope your barb survives, but if it doesn't, here is what I would do. You don't want to add new fish immediately since the ich would still be in there. However, the bacteria in your bio filter must have a source of ammonia to stay alive, or you will have to cycle all over again. I would leave the heat cranked to 85-86 degrees for a couple weeks, and at the same time add pure ammonia every day to feed your bacteria, as in a fishless cycle. I've never tried this, but theoretically it seems like it would work, and that will be enough time to kill the ich before you add new fish.

BTW it is my opinion that a Biorb will not be able to sustain the same bioload as a regular rectangular tank of the same size, as the Biorb has a much smaller surface area for gas exchange. :? You may want to keep that in mind when restocking.