Baby fish and ich questions

Ok I have two questions. BUT I'll start with the most important.

I have a little fish who has ich bad. It's also in a tank with a 2 other fish who have no problems. We are treating the tank with 1/2 a tablet of lifeguard ich tables. It says use 1 tablet for every 5 gallons but we only have a 2 1/2 gallon tank for my daughter. We have used it for about 3 days now and I'm watching them very carefully. But I'm not seeing any change. Iv read a lot about raising the temperature of the water but unfortunately I don't have the money or a way to keep the water above room temperature.

Any advice on this is very appreciated!


For my second question. I always thought it was common sense that fish laid eggs. Well we got our fish from pet smart and within a day of these fish being in my tank I noticed 6 tiny baby fish swimming around the big stones we used as gravel. All my 3 fish are different breads. My question is "after only 1 day, how did I get babies"?

Also will any treatment I use for ich affect the babies? Everything in the tank looks great so far except that one fish with really bad ich.

Thank you all for your help.

I found out why I have baby fish. One of my fish is a ballon belly molly and I guess they give live birth. That's too cool. wish I would of been there to see it happening.

Just to let you all know the type of fish I have in this little tank are: a two tailed calico gold fish, a yellow ballon belly molly, and a orange mikey mouse platy (the one that has ich really bad ). And now I have about 6 or so baby ballon belly mollys.

 

I found out why I have baby fish. One of my fish is a ballon belly molly and I guess they give live birth. That's too cool. wish I would of been there to see it happening.

Just to let you all know the type of fish I have in this little tank are: a two tailed calico gold fish, a yellow ballon belly molly, and a orange mikey mouse platy (the one that has ich really bad ). And now I have about 6 or so baby ballon belly mollys.

Are all these in the 2.5 gallon? If so, it is waaayyy to small for any of those fish.. I recommend upgrading with the addition of a heater. Slowly raise the temp to 86 degrees with frequent water changes with a gravel vac.

They won't live long in that small tank. And transferring the fish to a new tank will infect that tank as well. But its pretty dire that you upgrade.
Returning the fish will infect the fish at the store.

Also, livebearers are often already pregnant when you buy them. They can store sperm

 

I agree that this tank is way to small for all these fish. It was mainly intended for only the gold fish. But then my daughter talked her grandmother into getting her 2 more. I intend on getting a bigger tank but it's going to be awhile before I have the cash. I'm just trying to keep them alive tI'll I can do more for them.

Thank you very much for your advice.

 

Comet and common goldfish need ponds, and even fancies need much larger tanks than what you have. I'd rehome the goldfish and the molly (min tank size of 20 gal long) after you treat the ich and concentrate on the platy - they can get by with a much smaller tank than the goldfish (a 10 gal would be perfect for a few platies). Always stock for the tank you have, not the one you plan to get.

For treating the ich, if you can't afford to buy a heater, maybe try Kordon Ich Attack. I've heard good things about that one.

 

Agreed with Texas. Also I want to mention.. I know advertising usually shows goldfish in small tanks or containers, but they get quite big and are poop machines.
They also commonly advertise this with various sharks, mollies, and tetras.
This is why it is so important to research before you buy.
Dont fret, we ALL have made the same mistake.
But as Texas said, stock for the tank you have, not the tank you plan to have