New fish had Ick - should I treat entire tank.

I bought a couple of Zebra Danios today and they turned out to be infected with Ick. One has several white spots on its body and the other has a few. I made the huge mistake of not examining them closely at the shop. After acclimatization, I put them into my 25 gallon tank that houses several other community fish. Within a few minutes I noticed one of them was acting weird and only then I noticed they both were infected. I immediately removed them and moved them into my 7 gallon quarantine tank. I am medicating the quarantine tank, but my question is, should I treat the 25 gallon tank too? The fish have hardly been in that tank for less than five minutes. Since I live in India and summer is just about getting over, the tank's water is at 82 F. The quarantine tank is a degree higher because it is a closed tank. So is it necessary that I treat the main tank too. It houses 6 tetras, two small goldfish, a 3inch Koi, 2 1-inch Angels, one Pleco, one juvenile Yoyo Loach, and a few Danios (older ones - not from today's purchase). I have added four tablespoons of rock salt in the 25 gallon.

 

Just up the temperature to 86 - 87 degrees in the main tank. That should take care of things. Not a good idea to dose meds when Loaches are present.

 

Generally I would say yes but it's a tough call if they were only in the tank for 5 minutes. I would monitor closely and be ready to medicate if necessary. Ich is easily treated if caught early and you have that in your favour.

 

I agree with GlennO but i would add do a large 80% water change too.

 

Yes and make that a vacuuming water change. You want to pick up any of those white specks that may have fallen off. I would do this for 3 days just to make sure you’ve picked them up.

Does the qt tank have gravel? If so vacuum it daily too. Salt also helps. 2 tbs per 10g. Next a uv steralizer will kill ich.

 

Oh thanks very much. I'm a bit relieved after reading your replies. I'll definitely do the water change with vacuum for three days. Tomorrow is anyway a water change day and i can follow it up with two more days of water changes. I was a bit of an idiot to have not examined the fish while buying. But anyway, I'll keep an eye on the fish as you suggested. Thanks for the tip A201, I'd keep away from medication for the main tank. Hopefully it'll turn out fine.

 

Ich cured! I did the daily water changes and salt treatment on both the main tank and the quarantine tank. Nature helped me by upping the outside temperature and the temperature of the tanks followed suit - I didn't have to turn on the heaters. And white spots were very quick to go - they went away in five days. Of course, I continued treating the tank and do water changes after that too but no sign of the disease in both the tanks. I moved the Danios back to the main tank this week. Thanks very much guys for all your help!