furiouswish

Ok those of you that helped me out last week know that I just got a 40 gallon up and going. All readings are normal. Temp is about 79 degrees. I purchased two cichlids. An albino Oscar and a black one. Everything seems normal EXCEPT> I see white spots developing which I assume is ICK. I've used ICK meds on fish before but it has never worked. I'm mad as heck because I think they had it before I even brought them home. It's too late to worry about fighting the pet store, so at this point I just want to save them. WHAT PRODUCT SHOULD I USE?

distressed,
chris

agabr123

for ICH you should raise the temperature slowly to 84 degrees (one degree per hour) for two weeks. most people prefer this method because it doesnt add medications, which can do more harm than good and also kill your cycle. you'll want to add an airstone as well because the higher temp will lead to less oxygen in the water

however, IMO a bigger problem is two oscars in a 40 gallon tank.....oscars get up to and over 12 inches and one will probably end up killing the other in a 40 gallon and the growth on both of them will be stunted. a 55 is the absolute minimum for ONE oscar, for two you'll need 125+ gallons. if you dont intend to upgrade your tank, i have to suggest that you either return them to your pet store or sell them. i understand that they are probably only 2.5-4 inches right now, but they will not stay that size.

when you say normal, what do you mean specifically for the readings? if you just got your tank set up then it probably is not cycled, and you should either do daily 50% water changes with prime or return your fish and go for a fishless cycle, much less hassle, much more peace of mind.
http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm
http://www.fishlore.com/Articles/TheNitrogenCycle.htm

this is the site i use for almost all of my oscar info
http://www.oscarfishlover.com/index....ank-setup.html

furiouswish

Yes I KNOW what cichlids need I have two at the moment because I plan to upgrade soon. I expected a lecture at some point as you are all "experts" but right now I just need to save the two. Nevermind.

Shawnie

turning up the heat for 2 weeks to 83-84 will kill the ich..make sure you vacuum the subtrate extra as ich spores hide in there...some extra airation is good also as warmer water has less oxygen...when doing water changes, make sure the temps are at the83-84 so you dont shock the fish...all this info is only in CASE you DIDNT delete your account..goodluck!

furiouswish

Thanks Shawnie

Email me sometime

Shawnie

this is a public forum and can be found in most search engines, you might want to take off your personal email for safety

furiouswish

Great. All forums are public.
Take care

AlyeskaGirl

I am sorry about your Oscars bein sick. You were givin great advice. I hope you get them well soon.

Butterfly

Raising the water temperature will make the ICH drop off your fish, ICH cannot live at temps over 82F. The temp needs to be left up for at least 14 days. Mean while adding a bubble stone and doing more frequent water changes will add a little oxygen to the warm water since warm water holds less oxygen. Vacuuming the substrate more often during this time will help get the dead ICH cysts out of the tank.
Good luck with your fish.
Carol

Angela_96

I think that the advice above is great advice for getting rid of ich.
As for the 2 oscars in a small tank, as long as you have plans for an upgrade then that is fine. (that means you care enough to have future plans for them). I would up the waterchanging and vaccuming until you can put them in a bigger tank.

If the water quality is good the chance of them getting sick goes down.

agabr123

i'm not a cichlid expert in any sense of the word. putting the info you mention (i.e. getting a bigger tank) in your original post would have been helpful and prevented the "lecture" that you are referring to. again, for the ich just raise the temp and do gravel vacs to get up the spores.

Nick Goody

I had two Oscars in a 90gal and 1 nearly killed the other, and they are only 6 inchs, so you'll need to get a bigger tank soon. They won't last long in a 40gal. As for treating the ich, follow the advice given and it should sort the problem.