Agreed with Tigress. The important part is unlike the product you're using,
Prime doesn't
REMOVE ammonia, it merely changes it to a different substance that is no longer toxic to fish, BUT can still be consumed by the bacteria. Perfect!
No need to remove the filter. Then you won't have any bacteria to consume the ammonia! How you're treating for
ich is a factor, though. If you're treating the natural way, by increasing the temperature (which is always recommended first) then you'll be fine. If you're treating with meds, and the filter and carbon are new, then you will need to remove the carbon ONLY but the filter media stays. The filter media stays forever! If it gets a little clogged up, take a bucket of water out of the tank and swish the filter around in there a bit to remove the gunk, then back in the filter housing it goes. You mustn't rinse with tapwater, as the
chlorine will kill the bacteria.
If you're unfamiliar with the natural method of curing ich, here is a great thread that describes it:
https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/curing-ich-naturally.105665/
Edit: Yes, definitely pick up a bottle right away! The full name is "Seachem Prime;" you can get it at Petsmart and Petco. And put that media back in! (Without the carbon, of course. The ich meds would have directed to remove the carbon, because it will remove the medication from the water, but the fabric-y part of the media stays, forever and always!) The bacteria is of course dead, since the filter has dried out, but it will get to growing again at least.
My suggestions
1. Purchase a bottle of Seachem Prime and dose for the full amount for your tank volume daily, until you reach step 3.
2. Purchase a
liquid test kit (if you don't already have one) such as the API freshwater master test kit. This is imperative in determining if your tank is cycled. If you aren't familiar with the
nitrogen cycle, click on the underlined text and read up on it. In a nutshell, your fish produce waste, which decays and produces ammonia. Ammonia is toxic to fish, but bacteria grow on surfaces and in your filter media that consume ammonia and produce
nitrite. Nitrite is also poisonous, but other bacteria consume nitrite and produce
nitrate. Nitrate is only toxic in high quantities, so we do frequent (weekly)
water changes to keep the levels below 20ppm. Your tank will be cycled when ammonia and nitrite are 0ppm (because the bacteria consumes it as soon as it is produced) and you have measurable nitrates. This is why a test kit is so important!
3. Purchase a bottle of
Tetra SafeStart. This is a bottle of the beneficial bacteria that grow in your filter media. Read up on this thread first:
https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/q-a-with-tetra-about-tetra-safestart.58116/ In a nutshell, here's what you do:
A. Test your water and make sure the ammonia is below 1.0ppm. If not, do a water change using
Tetra AquaSafe as your
water conditioner. Other conditioners may cause TSS (Tetra SafeStart) to fail, so discontinue using Prime for the time being. (Don't worry, you'll get more use out of it in the future, so your money is not lost. )
B. Dump in the bottle of TSS.
C. For two weeks..nothing! Feed your fish of course, but NO testing the water and NO water changes for the two full weeks. Once the two weeks are up, test your water and if your results are 0ppm ammonia and nitrite and you have measurable nitrate, then your tank is cycled! Rejoice!
Now that your tank is cycled: NEVER throw your media away! Don't listen to the instructions on the package, they just want your money. If your media is getting really old and is literally falling apart, here's what you do: Purchase a new filter cartridge. If there is room, stick it in the filter housing with the new one. This may require removing the plastic frame inside the old cartridge, but that's okay, the new cartridge will hold it upright. Wait at least two weeks (but more is better) for the bacteria to start growing on the new cartridge. THEN you can throw the old, fally-aparty one away. This way, you always have bacteria in your tank to process your fish's waste.
About the ich again, I recommend treating your fish the natural way, by simply raising the temperature, for multiple reasons:
1. As your tank is not cycled, you should do frequent water changes anyway to keep the ammonia/nitrite levels low enough to be safe for your fish. (Really, only 0ppm is safe, but before you use TSS you would be dosing with Prime, which will neutralize lower levels.) As part of this natural method, you vacuum the gravel every other day or so, so you kill two birds with one stone - removing the ich cysts that have fallen off the fish and landed in the gravel, and keeping the water nice and clean for your fish!
2. As your fish have been subjected to a cycling tank (which is stressful) their immune systems have been compromised - this is very likely why they became infested with ich in the first place. Perhaps you bought a fish that had ich and put it in the tank; but a healthy fish with a robust immune system would not have succumbed to the fungus. SO since your fish's immune systems are suppressed, it's a good idea to do as gentle a treatment as possible, if that makes sense. Rather than introducing harsh medicines into the tank, I think it would be better to simply make the tank nice and toasty for a few weeks, and keep the water pristine.
Sorry for the lengthy post, but I hope this clears some things up!
