finmama

Something horrible happened yesterday. The piece that goes on the bottom of the tube on my aquaclear filter was off when I woke up. I dont know if I knocked it off the night before without noticing or what. 3 fish were in there...I wont go into detail as it was very disturbing, but none of them lived.
Little to no water was coming through the filter, probably all night. So I quickly cleaned the inside parts of the filter (not the media) to make sure there were no blockages, and did a 30% water change.
But...My fish are covered in ich!!! little white specks mostly on their tails. It looks like they have it pretty bad...I didnt know it could get so bad so quick.
I did another 20% water change last night in hopes of keeping it from getting worse, but they look worse today. Last night they were scratching on stuff, but I havnt seen them do that today.
I am broke right now so no way I could get them any meds until Friday.

I have heard people talk about raising temp to fight ick. Could someone explain this to me?
Only thing is, the tank is in my basement and the tank temp drops 2 degrees throughout the night, then goes back up through the day. Both because of the light and we run an electric heater in the basement in the daytime. So I have to take that into account.
Im not sure whether I should do the temperature thing, or wait until Friday to get meds and keep doing small water changes until then.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Allie

Put the heat up 3-4 degrees or as high as your fish can tolerate that should kill the ich germs. High temps kills the parasites.

finmama

Ok thanks! I have started increasing the temp. My sister in law is going to lend me the money tomorrow to get some meds.
I was reading some articles on Ich and it sounds like the meds can be dangerous to fish. What brand(s) are the best and what should I definetely avoid?? Also, can ich live on the decorations? should I take them out and rinse them and wait until its gone to put them back? or will this stress my fish and make it worse?
sorry so many questions

COBettaCouple

The treatment for ick is to raise the temp to 82-84F and keep it at least at 82 for 2 weeks. Meds aren't necessary and the only thing I'd recommend is Ich-Attack, but it's really optional.

25% water changes every other day and cleaning the substrate once a week will also help. Just try to make the replacement water near the temp of the tank water if possible.

finmama

Thanks!! I'll see if I can get the ich-attack, if not I wont risk anything.