Things aren't going so well....

[fandsw]

Well, it's not going so well, here is a recap from the beginning:

New 72g bowfront, 3 inches of flourite put in 3 weeks ago, 20+ live plants planted the 13th, fish added with 3 oz bio-spira on the 14th. Lost a few neons and serpae to start (came from one source shipped, possible stress) but all others from my old tank and the other sources were doing fine. 78F, 7.6 ph, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 10 nitrate. Looked like the bio-spira worked. Then I noticed a red-eye with a half dozen ich spots the 18th, who was quickly removed.

Here are the tank inhabitants:

20+ live plants
1 2.5" gold nugget pleco
5 1.5" clown loaches
4 albino cories (1 full grown, 3 babies)
2 1.5" otos
3 neon tetras
8 glo-light tetras
8 red-eye tetras
3 sword tails
3 platies
8 guppies
a few guppy fry (one of the guppy ladies REALLY liked the new tank! )

Started Rid-Ich+ with water change the 19th & 20th, saw no other fish with any Ich, and did not treat the 21st, as the instructions said 3 days without problems to stop . At this point on a water test I saw slight increases in the Nitrite levels (0.5) & Nitrate (20), as well as an increase of green algae on the glass & driftwood.

Came home this evening, the 21st.......1 clown loach dead (not unexpected, only 5 of the 6 were really active, one always hid) as well as one oto. Nitrites up to 1.0, Ammonia up slightly (0.5-1.0), remaining clown loaches look lethargic, one looks pale with small white spots.....more ich. I've also got a male swordtail who had an injured fin that is now turning into finrot (sp?). Rest of the fish look ok, the glolights seem to look a little duller that usual, but that just might be me. KH (100) and GH (75) have stayed constant.

I immediately changed 10% of water and restarted RI+. The RI+ always seems to liven up the livebearers, I'm figuring the salt in the RI+ is doing that.

My dilemma: what now? Obviously the RI+ is affecting the bacteria of the tank, as is evidenced by the ammo/nitrite/nitrate changes, so how can I combat that? More bio-spira? Continue the RI+, or swap to the heat treatment in combo with new bio-spira to combat nitrite/nitrate changes?

I'm open to suggestions..... can go to the local PetSuppliesPlus in the morning, they are fairly well stocked with treatments.

Thanks in advance,

Frank

[Allivymar]

Ugh. Ich is a PITA.

Some thoughts/suggestions.

You'll find most folks here avoid meds if they can. As you're finding out, meds cause a host of problems. They muck up the nitrifying bacteria colony. They are dangerous to scaleless fish. And the instructions on most ich meds suck.

I would suggest raising the temps to above 86F over the next 2 days. Looking at your list of fish they should be able to handle the higher temps for the 2 weeks it should be used (as long as they are not hugelt weakened; then any treatment may be an issue). Once you reach 86F, can the RidIch+. This way, you can water change at will without messing with med levels. I wouldn't add Bio-Spira until you are no longer using meds, whether you decide to go the route I suggest or use the meds for the entire treatment; the chemicals will simply kill the bacteria in the Bio-Spira.

Did you read the article I wrote on Ich, what it is and what to do about it? If not, go to the articles section and check it out; it may answer some of the questions you haven't thought to ask yet as well as explain some of the treatment options

[fandsw]

Thanks for the quick reply Alli.....doing the heat treatment is how I'm leaning also, just hope the plants live. Anything I can do in the mean time to control the nitrite/nitrate levels? Got the water heater bumped to 81 as we speak......

Thanks again,

Frank

[QTOFFER]

Allivymar is the Ich Slayer!!!!!!!

I unsuccessfully tried Kordon Formalin-3 to eradicate ich from my 58 gal. It didn't affect my biofilter, but it was ineffective and expensive. I can only imagine what it must cost to treat 72 gal!

I read Allivymarls ich article and had great success battling ich using the heat treatment alone - no salt, no meds. Just make sure your heater is up to the task - 72 gallons is alot of water to heat to 88F. You may find it necessary to add a temporary heater to get the job done.

Good luck!