Help! Ich!

hobojoe141

heres my tank:

20 gal long
6'' bubble wall
100 watt heater
wisper tetra filter (30 gal rating) with carbon in the filter itself

Fish:
1 CAE
2 Tiger Barbs
7 blood fin tetras
1 Blind Cave Tetra
1 Tire Track Eel (6 1/2" -7") <=======SCALELESS!

*I know my tank is slightly overstocked because of my eel*

Ok so this is my first time with Ich as i am a beginner, i did my water change (30%) and gravel vac two days ago (1 day before i got the barbs). Unfourtunatley, i think that i added water that may have been too cool for my tank (66-72 deg F) and i think that this is the main cause. **Currently the only fish infected is my Blind Cave Tetra.**

- I dont know my water par. b/c i dont have a test kit :(, but 2 days ago my water was fine (Petco tested it)

- Current temp-80 deg. F.---27 deg. C.


Chemicals on hand are : BioZyme and API Stress coat/ water conditioner
tomorrow i will pick up ich meds. (I dont have any salt)

Current satus:
Tetras and Barbs seem a little shinny
Cave tetra infected

My main Concerns are, should I treat the Whole tank For ich even though i have an eel?

What else should i do? I dont have any aquarium salt....sadly

any help appreciated sorry for the bombardment of questions>>>

Lupin

In the cases of ich, you, of course, must treat the whole tank.:) It doesn't matter how many questions you can ask.:) Temperature seems ok although I would raise it by 28.:)

The ich parasites may have already harbored your tank, Joe.:) They simply appear at the moment when your fish may have failed to tolerate the sudden drop in temperature when you did your water change.:)

Try to buy your own test kit, API Freshwater Master test kit. Remove the carbon when doing the treatment. Treat the fish for two weeks minimum and follow the instructions of your meds. I would advise posting the brand of your medicines. I am not familiar with most meds available in your area hence my recommendation to post them here.:) If the med is confirmed too strong, you will do half dosage instead.:)

Falina

you have to treat the whole tank, yes, because most of the parasites will actually live in the water, and it is when they are in the water, not on the fish that the salt or medication will be effective. this is one of the few diseases where you shouldnt quarantine for that exact reason.

i have just had itch and had a Pictus Catfish in the tank which unfortunately the salt, even at a lower dose because of him, he died

i dont know what medicines would be available in your area but i used protozin and it was very effective. it is also safe for scaless fish. i cant tell you what is in it so definitely do research before buying it as like i said i dont know what the ingredients are therefore dont knwo how suitable it is for your fish. im just letting you know that its out there really.

another medicine i was recommended was formalin. you could check this out too. it was bettababy that recommended this medicine to me and she was very helpful, sending me pms about the medicine. im sure she would not mind a pm from you as well if you want information about it.

another thing is to raise the temperature a few degrees while treating for itch as it speeds up the parasites life-cycle therefre getting them to the stage where theyre in the water quicker which means the parasites can be killed off quicker.

Sadie

I was referred to Formalin by bettababy as well. Great Stuff but you have to use half dose for the tetras (I believe) and do nightly waters changes. I have only used it once so you will want to talk to someone with experience for your particular guys. You also have to be careful with your scaleless. My Yo-yo loach did great with the half dosing. Bettababy also recommended extra aeration which definitely helped my guys. I couldn't do the increased temp and salt because of my White Clouds.

hobojoe141

thanks guys you have been really helpfull, unfourtunatley my mom is out of town so i had to rely on a friend to pick up my meds so unfoutunatley ill have to use whatever she gets me, hopefully it will be fine....

Lupin

Be careful with the meds you used.:) If you can, pls post them here so other members can help you.:)

Gump

I stoped using ich meds a while ago, too harsh on the fish. Instead I use cupramine by seachem. Got the idea from a importer ive bought from a few times and confermed that other importers use it on there stock so then asked my lfs owner who also had been using it for quite some time.

If you have no inverts then simply remove the carbon from the tank and turn off the uv if you have one and follow the directions. The cemicals will alter the levels of coper in the water to a toxic level for ich but your fish shouldnt even notice the change in the water. Its awesome and super concentrated, just 21 ml treats my 450 (1 ml= 21 gallons in fw) so a small bottle should last you forever with a 20 gallon.

jandpgault

Like Blue said, be very careful with the meds you go with. I have found from personal experience that certain meds can kill your tetras faster than the disease will. And like Sadie said, I'd go with half a dose on some meds that could harm your fish and scaleless eel. This has worked for me in the past.

Good luck :) I know it will seem like forever, but make sure you stick with the process of treatment. If you end it too quickly, ich could pop right up again.