Cleaning tank after ich treatment.

mmccoy555

Just finished 5 weeks of ich treatment and saved my fish. Now what? I know a 20% water change is in order but do I just put the carbon filter back in and do the water change or is there something else? Thanks in advance. Ten gallon tank with 8 neons and 3 ghost shrimp if it matters.

LasColinasCichlids

Yeah that is what I do after treating with meds...depending on the tank size, I might do a larger water change...say 50%. Just make sure the carbon cartridge is active, I usually buy a new one to make sure...as the carbon will remove most meds and impurities like discoloration, smells, and such from the water. A good gravel vac wouldnt be a bad thing either.

mmccoy555

The bottle of ich treatment doesn't say if I need to do anything else. Just wanted to make sure there wasn't any tricks that I should know about. glad I got the ich cleared up though.

mmccoy555

I've already done a 25% water change bout 45 minutes ago. Maybe I'll do another tomorrow night or should I wait a couple days? I'm just not familiar with the treatment. Do the fish get used to it similar in a way they would the temp of the water? I don't want to shock them in other words.

LasColinasCichlids

Yeah, ich can be a real pain in the butt. Another and safer way to treat it is with aquarium salt and a raised temp...there is a thread on TFK somewhere about it...if ich ever comes back just hit me up and I will hunt the link down for ya, as it has all the details on how to deal with it that way...that way you dont have to deal with the risks associated with meds.

No tricks I can think of, except for active carbon and the water change.

Congrats on getting it cleared up... five weeks sounds like forever!

LasColinasCichlids

The water change you did already should be fine...just put in fresh active carbon, and it will remove the rest...and maybe in a week or two do another water change...unless when testing your water there happens to be a spike in ammonia nitrites or nitrates for whatever reason.

mmccoy555

Yeah, I'm sitting here with the tank behind me and the water is already clearing up with the new carbon filter in place. I did an extra week of ich just in case fyi. The fish seem to be active and healthy so I think I'm in good shape. I will keep you in mind for the future though. Thanks for your help.

LasColinasCichlids

Not a problem...glad you cleared it up and saved them.