pstowell

Hello. I have a 55 gal tank that we got for Christmas, were not aware of the cycling procedure, and got fish for it. We currently have left in the tank 2 clown loaches, 7 guppies, 3 platies, 1 angel, 1 common pleco, 2 gouramis, 2 swordtails, and 4 black neon tetras. The fish have been in and doing fairly well (we have had some casualties however, lost one loach, one angel, two swords) however we have a bad outbreak of ick. We have been treating this outbreak for about a week now, and have raised the temperature in the tank to about 84F with little change on the amount of ick on the tetras, other fish are doing the scratching, but have no other evidence of ick on them. Also in the tank there is some driftwood and live plants. I have been performing approx 15gal tank changes about every other day, some days actually get 2 days in a row. The ammonia levels are at about 0, not sure but think the nitrite levels are around 0, and have no clue on the nitrate levels. Our water here is way off the charts for pH and hardness coming straight from the tap, so have purchased a tap water filter that with the additives that come with it gives us pH 7.0 in the water, so gradually replacing the water in the tank. Can anyone please give me some hints as to how to speed up the getting rid of ick, other than what I am already trying.

Thanks in advance for reading and giving your suggestions.

travie

The only additional thing you could try is medicating the tank. But for the most part the only thing to treat ick, is doing what you are already doing with the increase of temp and frequent water changes.

Blub

COBettaCouple

Be sure to increase the aeration while treating ich. The warmer water has less oxygen for them.

There is a organic, herbal product called Ich-Attack that may help the fish, although you'll still want to maintain 84F for the 2 weeks.

Blub

pstowell

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

The temp has been around 84 for about 2 weeks, have been medicating, the aeration is fine. Since I asked for help, I have lost the loaches, a sword and a guppy.

The spots seems to be clearing up finally on the tetras, however, spots have just recently appeared on the angel. I am at a loss, as the temp is up, medicating on the 24 hour schedule like the bottle states, water changes, no carbon in the filters.

Guess I will just play it by ear and see how it goes for the next week or two, and continue doing what I have been doing.

Blub