First time having ich?

[munoza]

I have a 5.5 gallon tank its been active for about 4 months. I am new to aquariums ect. willing to learn new ideas. I have one dwarf pleco, two dwarf frogs, one snail, and one Betta; they were all healthy and happy ammonia levels zero and all that. Then I made an impulsive decision and bought four black neon tetras. I noticed one had a little white fuzzy thing buy its mouth. Everyday that went buy I noticed the tetras getting the itch on their fins ect. They were the first. Then my Pleco and Betta have ich. Im not sure about the frogs or snail. So I did a little research and took action.

Today I took all tank decor out and boiled them over the stove for about 30 minutes. Also I gravel cleaned and did a major water change, then I put the necissary amounts of ammonia blocker, stress coat, and benifitial bacteria in. Also I took out all the gravel and Boiled it for about 30 minutes. I let the filter do its job for about a half hour so it would delute the normal chemicals I put in. Then I put the recommened medication in afterwards. I also took the snail out and incubated him in a seperate countainer, because I did not want him to die from the medication. I will do a 25% water change everyday for 7 days. I will leave all decor out and rocks for 7 days. and see how things go. Also I will keep testing amonia levels everyday.

I know that I should have bout the tetras, they need a bigger tank, but am I on the right path to fixing the problem? Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks.

 

[Thumper828]

Ich can be erraticated by raising temperature up 1-2 degrees an hour to 86-88. Let it sit for a couple of weeks and gravel vacs every couple of days....

 

[munoza]

How do I raise the temp in my water?

 

[Thumper828]

Add a small aquarium heater with thermostat. I think one for your size tank would be inexpensive. Heaters are a great way to keep your aquarium temperature from fluctuating. Having a steady Temp. Goes a long way in keeping healthy fish.

 

[munoza]

I have a heater but I dont think it has an adjustable thermostat. Its only been one day, so I am not sure that I see any reults yet, besides the fact that the fish are still alive. Is it ok to put the gravel back in the aquarium or should I leave it out still.

 

[Thumper828]

Since the gravel is out it would make cleaning the spoors off the bottom easier.....

 

[munoza]

Thanks Thumper for all the support. Its been 4 days since I took action with my ich problem. My pleco looks great now! He is back to his normal activities as well. My Betta is improving very well almost back to 100%. My black neon tetras are 50/50 they were all infected with ich and 2 of them are fully recoverd and acting normal as well. The other two which is were the itch started, unfortunatly I had to dispose of them because they were suffering. One could barley swim and looked just infested and it wasnt getting better, and the other was showing similair syptoms. I think the others recovered because I caught it earlier with them. My snail is still doing good, he is in a temporary incubator. I am letting the boiled gravel dry for a couple days, then I will put it back in the tank. I will then monitor for a few more days before I decided to put the decor back in the tank.