My first Ick encounter

[katrina7]

I went away for a 7 day vacation and my house sitter totally neglected my tank. I came home and the water was so brown you couldn't see through it and there was a large build up of waste on the bottom. After days of cleaning, I finally got the tank back to normal but my fish developed Ick. I have a silver dollar and 2 clown loaches. I've since lost the silver dollar and would hate to lose the loaches. I bought some Quick Cure and used it in half dose for the first time this morning but one of the loaches seems to have trouble swimming. I noticed 2 days ago that they were hanging out near the surface of the water. I thought it was strange but did nothing about it until last evening, I looked closely and noticed the white spots on the silver dollar and the loaches. I turned to my comuter for help and determined that I had Ick. I ran out first thing this morning to get the Quick Cure. The silver dollar has since died. I felt so bad for him!!!!
What can I do to help my loaches? I have not added any salt but have raised the temperature....slowly. It's currently up to 82 degrees. Is there hope for my loaches? One seems to be scouring the bottom for food, the other just seems to be struggling and hasn't eaten.
Any advice on what to do?

Thanks so much!

Katrina

PS I've had the tank for 5 years with these 3 fish and nothing has ever happened like this. So, I don't know where to begin.

 

[Allivymar]

Hiya Katrina and welcome to Aquariumadvice.

Oh bummer how the heck did your tank get completely brown?? Did the housesitter overfeed or something? What a mess

Anyway, if you go thru the article section here, you'll see the article I wrote about ich, what it is and what you can do about it.

I'm concerned (as you are) about the struggling loach; I wonder if ich has infested his gills and he's having a hard time breathing. I'd kick up the surface agitation to increase O2 levels; that MAY help (no promises tho).

What are the water parameters? Ammonia/nitrites/nitrates. I'm having a feeling that may be part of the problem; ammonia burns the gills, nitrites compete with oxygen at the gills and both suffocate the fish.

 

[katrina7]

I'm not sure how the water got so bad. Something tells me that the pump stopped working or something. The fish were not overfed because I left small containers of food for each day. I tried to make it as "idiot proof" as possible but came home to brown smelly water.
I checked the ammonia levels and it's very high. I'm not sure what to do about that. I probably should do a water change but I've cycled that water so much in the last 2 weeks that I'm afraid of doing more harm than good. I don't have a nitrate tester so cannot tell what those levels are. How can I get the ammonia levels down?
I've lowered the water level to increase surface agitation to get more air into the tank.
One other thing that concerns me is that the fish seem to be "shedding" I'm not sure how to describe it but there is a thin layer of stuff floating from the fins.
Like I said earlier, I've had absolutely no problems with this tank in the 5 years that I've had it. The water temperature has always been stable, pH and ammonia levels have been good and I do water changes every other week. So, I'm clueless about disease and such.
I want to help my loaches because I've had them for so long!
Should I buy some salt and add that to the tank? Any other approaches to help the fish?

TIA for all your kind words and advice.

 

[Allivymar]

Ok, first and foremost WATER CHANGE! It will be ok I promise. Clean fresh treated water at tank temps is always a good thing, and besides, the ammonia will kill the fish (I'll guarantee thats what happened to the silver dollar). The shedding? Is the dead skin coming off the fish (ammonia burns em). I'd do about 30-40% right away, and then do at least 25% a day until those ammonia levels are down. Getting that ammonia out of the tank will be the best thing to do for em, and the best way to do that is water changes. Keep in mind, folks who breed often water change every day! Can't be bad if its good for babies *grin*

As for the ich infestation, check out the article and decide how you'd like to proceed. Know most of us here have done the heat, or heat and salt, treatment with great success. Also, in your case, you may want to avoid meds as they too will mess with the good bacteria.