Possible ich?

[Venturer4life]

Hi everyone,
So, I just bought a candy cane (HY511) tetra yesterday from my LFS for my 10 gal tank, and today as I was looking around and just enjoying my tank, I saw a couple white dots on him. I immediately moved him to my quarantine tank (a tiny circular 2 gal that I used to have a betta in (yes, it has a heater, a filer, and an aerator)) and scanned the rest of my tank for signs of ich. He was only in the tank for around a day. Is it possible that he has not spread it to the rest of the tank yet? I would be VERY upset if I have to go though another round of ich.

I recently just went though an epidemic of ich (which was my first encounter with ich ever, and I have kept fish since I was like 6 years old) in my 42 gal after adding some new fish, and by the time I caught it, it was very bad. I had bought and added some new fish about 2-3 weeks previously, and told my parents to keep an extra eye on the tank for me, but they have never really cared for my tanks and I am just lucky that they feed my fish. Under normal circumstances, I am able to keep the tank running well with trips home every other weekend generally, but in this case, my absence and my parent's lack of care, cause a full out epidemic to occur. I (and my parents after I had to go back to school) treated the whole tank with jungle brand ich medicine in fizzy tablet form (the only thing I could find at 1am), as well as 20-25% water changes every day or so, as well as I quarantined my rope (reed) fish, who I am very attached to as I have had him for about 2 years now, because he seem 100% healthy and I wanted to make sure he lived, for I would have been utterly devastated if I lost him. In the end I lost a ghost knife (who I think was the original carrier of the ich), 3 dwarf gouramis, 2 raffael catfish, and 3 neons, though I was able to save my rope fish, a single neon, a cory cat, and a neon tetra.

It is possible that I am being a bit paranoid, but only because I really do not want to go through the horror of loosing most of my fish again.

Any help is appreciated greatly!!!

 

[tonedogz]

turn the heat up to 86 degrees on both tanks just to be sure leave it there for 2 weeks that should kill off any ich

 

[Venturer4life]

unfortunately, because I am kinda poor, I bought a one setting heater, which was the only one in my price range. The tank is currently at 78'F. Is there another way to heat it up?

 

[XxNoobxX]

Turn on lights.!!

 

[XxNoobxX]

My fish had ich recently and the tank's temperature was like 78... I put some medicine.. It is called super ich cure.. It worked great for me.. And it cost like 6$

 

[XxNoobxX]

The problem is that ur tank's stuff will turn kinda blue... -.- but it works really good..

 

[tonedogz]

Try ebay there are alot of heater on there that are not to expensive the heat is the best method for freshwater ich because you don't have to add chemicals to the display tank to treat it. You can also add some aquarium salt fish your fish can handle it.

 

[Venturer4life]

Ya, I know all about the blue dye! lol! My 42 gal now has light blue seals and the under-gravel filter is a nice shade of blue as well!

I think that my tank is fine, and I am even starting to question whether or not the one tetra really had ich, or if maybe he swam through my bubble mist/wall thing and maybe got tiny bubbles on him, cause I see that on my neon tetra's fins some times because his fin's are clear, so the bubbles look like white dots. I still have him quarantined, and he seems fine (and spot free). He is swimming around, but he is a bit pale, though I really think it is just stress and not illness. I am going to keep him there for maybe another day or two just to watch him, because I reallllly don't want to get my other fish sick. Especially because I also bought a blue ram the day after I bought this tetra. I originally just went in to get another tetra because one of my tetras was beating up on another, so I decided to apply the 3-or-more rule, hence me buying this tetra. I saw the blue ram in the store and I have heard a lot about them, but none of my LFSs have ever had any. So I went home did my research and found how amazing they are (and how beautiful they get when they are adults, as these were still young, and were just barely starting to color, but still very pretty!), and that my community was perfect for a blue ram. So, I ran out the next day and got her before I realized the possible situation I had at home! I have completely fallen in love with her, and she is thriving, which I am very excited about because of the many horror stories I have heard of them being so sensitive and dying within the first day or so. I would be so upset if I lost her, not to mention the rest of my fish!

Thanks for the help!!!

 

[Venturer4life]

Ok, so, I have been doing research about getting a new heater for my tank that is adjustable. Currently I have a tetra automatic heater, which is set to 78'F at all times. I have these heaters in all but 1 of my tanks (obviously all different wattages) (one I have no clue what it is because I have had it since I was very young and my father bought it from our LFS, as we did not even have Internet in our house yet to buy one offline). A lot of people kinda hate on these heaters, but they have worked great for me!! The only con is that they are not adjustable, and in a situation like I am in now, the ability of being able to change the temp is great! I bought them all a few years back when I was short on money (well shorter) and was just really getting into this hobby. I just have not really considered changing them till these ich issues.

I really want a good heater, cause although I am far from rich, I don't want to invest my money in a heater that is not what I want or could end up either freezing or cooking my fish. This heater will be going in a 10 gallon tank with some plants, a community of tetras, a blue ram, 2 ghost shrimp, and a couple snails. My room temp varies. At home it is 76' during the day and 74' at night and at school (assuming my new dorm room will be similar to my last) will be around 68' (give or take like 2'). I do not have any fancy substrate or a CO2 set up.

What brands are the best for reliability. Also what wattage do you suggest I use? I have always just bought the one that said "for tanks ___ gallons- ___ gallons".