# Ich and Tears



## tashelby (May 10, 2012)

So. Yesterday I came home from work to find Ich in my tank. I live out in the middle of nowhere, and so had to wait for my husband to pick up meds today after work. Well, I went home for lunch, and found 4 of my fish. Dead. Including the 8" bottom dweller I've been cooing to for MONTHS. Had a meltdown (ugly crying, you understand?). And now I'm just hoping that my remaining 3 fish (2 tetras and an opaline gourami) will survive long enough to get the treatment in there when my husband gets home tonight. ::sigh:: So.

I've read the articles. I've read the discussions. And there seems to be a bit of conflict going on as far as preferred treatments. The hubby is going to pick up either Rid Ich Plus or Quick Cure. I have a 37 gallon tank. I'm going to do a major clean out when I get home to prep for the meds (vacuume gravel thoroughly, take out plants and decorations and boil them, then let them completely dry out, etc). A few areas I need some clarification on...

I know I need to take the carbon out of the filter. Do I leave it out for the entire treatment duration, even if it takes a week or three?

Do I need to do partial water (30%? 50%?) changes every day, every other day, what? And should additional medication (in proportion to removed water, of course) be added after each water change?

Should I gradually raise the temp in the tank to 86*? Or is that only with the salt bath treatment?

Please help! And THANK YOU in advance!


----------



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Keep the carbon out the whole time.
Partial waterchanges are always good and can be as often as you want as long as you can "re dose" the replacement water with the meds.You should definately vacummthe gravel 3-4 days in or when you see some of the spots fall off th fish.They will will not be dieing,but landing in the substrate and attempting to multiply(possibly by the thousands).
I use rid ich plus,but believe the same to be true with quick cure;you should see the coloring in the water.So if after a couple days of following the meds directions the water is no longer colored "I would dose again".Close observation of the fish is needed as sometimes the meds are the last straw and weak fish will not tolerate them.If this is the case then 1/2 doses may be the way to go.
It's not recommended to raise the temps (at least not to 86) with the use of meds as the combo will be a much lower dissolved oxygen level.


----------



## tashelby (May 10, 2012)

Thank you very much!!! The 2 tetras are in pretty sad shape, and I don't hold out much hope for their survival anyway. The gourami is in excellent condition, all things considered, and I feel fairly confident he'll make it.


----------



## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

One of the things about Ich is it can possibly be brought about by something we did or maybe didn't do. Can you give us the history of your tank and your normal maintenance rotines? Do you test your water at all?


----------



## tashelby (May 10, 2012)

I do a light clean-out and a partial water change (about 30%) every week, with a major clean and 50% change once a month. About 4 weeks ago we got 6 new fish (unfortunately, my husband was being sweet and surprised me with 2 gourami's... on the same day that I let my little girl get 4 tetras... too many fish at once, I said, but it was too late by then). One of the gourami's did poorly right from the start, and died about a week ago. I used to test the water weekly, before and after a water change, but got out of the habit sometime last year due to personal issues taking over my life and pushing other interests aside. I haven't tested it in ages. Slack, I know, but I'm only just getting back into the aquarium groove.


----------



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Testing is not necessary every week if your tank is established and no "new" fish have been introduced.This is assuming you understand the effects of what is in your tank and do maintenance as needed.
With the addition of new fish it is always a good idea to test at least weekly to see how your filter is handling the new (extra) bio load.
Always when in doubt ,or if trying to "minimise" maintenance let your test guide you for water changes.Any ammonia or nitrites in a "cycled" tank are indications that the filter needs to catch up and water changes will help.
For nitrates(which will constantly grow) water changes are the only way to reduce them.Try to keep nitrates under 40 ppm.The % of water changed is the % the nutrient will be reduced.Example is ;nitrates of 40ppm and a 50% waterchange should yield nitrates of 20ppm.Once you stop adding fish it should be easy enough to find a "pattern" of nitrate growth within a month(weekly test) and then just have a regular maintenance (waterchange )schedule.
As far as gouramis go if not a male female pair,which can still be questionable,only 1 gourami is best,especially with the dwarf gouramis as 99% of them sold are males,and they will kill each other eventually unless you have a very large tank.


----------



## tashelby (May 10, 2012)

thank you very much for the tips! always appreciated!

on the subject of the gouramis... as far as physical appearance, i do generally prefer male fish, they being most often the flashier of the sexes (i'm a teensy bit shallow in the fish department, and i'm not ashamed of it, haha). however, when keeping more than one of any single kind, i tend to go for all females, for the very reason you stated. it can be a real dilemma, at times, when it comes to a favorite fishy. 

thanks again!


----------



## tashelby (May 10, 2012)

Well, as expected, I lost the 2 tetras. The gourami has shown no signs of infection, but I'm going to continue treating the tank for another week, just to be sure. 

That being said, the gourami has developed some discoloration. I'm not sure if it's due to the meds (Kordon's Ich Attack... the store didn't have Quick Cure or Rid Ich), or if something else is going on. It's a dark (almost black) line along the rear edge of his anal fin. There is also some very light (kinda brownish) discoloration around the pectoral fins, wrapping down from fin to fin. Could this be due to stress and the meds, or do I have something else going on?


----------

