ICH?????

[dmrt1722]

I am new to the fish tank world and am in need of some help. I have a 39 gallon freshwater tank that was given to us. It has an Aqua - Tech 20-40/30-60 power filter, a bubble wand, and a bubble stone. I done a 40% water change last week and forgot to add the water treatment for about an hour. I ended up losing several fish, and I have 5 Black Skirt Tetras, 5 Red Minor Tetras, 3 Mickey Mouse Platys, 3 Cory Cats, 2 Tiger Barbs, and 1 Pleco now....I didn't know about cycling so we are currently doing a fish in cycle. Now the Tiger Barbs have white spots on them and they are swimming nose down and hiding near the heater alot. The white spots just showed up in the last few days. My husband said it was "Ich" so we treated the water yesterday with E.M. Erythromycin per directions and treated again tonight (once again per directions). I also plan on doing a partial water change tomorrow. Is this the correct diagnosis and treatment or am I making a huge mistake?

Thanks for any advice/help that anyone can give!

 

[iscr7]

Treat it atleast for a week and then.do a water.change.

 

[jlk]

Do the spots appear like the fish was dusted with grains of sand? This is ich. If you are unsure, please post a pic and we will do our best to help! Em is a gram positive antibiotic and will do nothing to treat ich as ich is a parasite not a bacterial infection.

 

[dmrt1722]

I tried to get a picture but it didn't turn out very well. But they do look like they have grains of white sand on them.The white spots are on their fins, body, and around their mouths. I also noticed that they were gasping this morning. What would be the best treatment to buy to help this?

 

[Bbush]

Do you have a heater?

 

[shellieca]

If you have an adjustable heater slowly turn the temp up to 86F, do frequent water changes with a good vacuuming. Leave the temp up for at least a week after you see the last spot. Some people will add Aq salt but it'll depend on the tanks inhabitants since some can't tolerate it. You'll also want to make sure the water is being oxygenated well with the higher heat.

 

[dmrt1722]

I do have a heater, but I will have to see if it is adjustable or not. I haven't thought to check that before now We will give that a try and hopefully we have caught it early enough. Thanks for all the help.