Got the ich

[galaxieconvert]

I noticed this morning one of my cherry barbs looked sick. Shes sitting on the bottom breathing heavily and has poor color. I don't think she will make it through the day honestly. I then took a closer look at the other fish (platies and cherries) and there are a few white spots to be seen.

I'm thinking to go with the temperature increase method. I have plants so I don't want to do salt, and the medicine is not without its drawbacks as well. I'll keep updated with how it goes. I don't know what I can do for my sick fish though, I'm just assuming the ich is what's making her sick though oddly I don't see any spots on her in particular. Water quality is all good.

 

[galaxieconvert]

As expected, lost that fish.

Temperature is up to 86 on my old thermometer. I bought a second one which reads 88. Took about 10 hours to heat up from 78. I added another air pump hooked to a 5" stone for more oxygen.

There's only one or two spots on 3 out of my 5 remaining fish. Hopefully I caught it early enough.

 

[galaxieconvert]

Seems to have been a complete success. No loss of fish and no further sign of ich after the two weeks at 86 degrees. Thanks to this board for showing how to avoid the nasty chemicals.

 

[BettaNormus]

This is very encouraging to read. I'm currently treating my quarantine tank, three new fish, for ick.
I have been very scared because I know the treatment can be very harmful in its own right. I also know that ick will definitely kill your fish so I opted to take the chance on medication. Reading your post makes me wish I would have given the salt a couple more days tho lol. I'll remember your story the next time I have a run in with ick!
Either way, I'm so glad I took the advice to quarantine!