9 Fish Dead This Morning

[becketlady]

The barbs probably carried it in.

Having sand can be a royal pain in only a few situations and this is one of them. They'll be harder to kill at this life stage with sand (obviously we don't want to break your vac).

Agreed......I think its the barb since you mentioned you bought them and exposed to the tank.  I have sand and I used salt and 
Quick cure and raised temp to 84-86 for two weeks. Yes do a water change to get rid of the ick floating around freely. Its been over two weeks for me since the tank had ick from the molly and the two guppies I brought home. I think I am ready for the additions, but I am too nervous. I don't want the headache and the stress and worrying about the ick on the fish or not. 
I am thinking of getting 3 yo-yo or  khuli loachs. Suggestion please........

 

[attibones]

The barbs probably carried it in.
Having sand can be a royal pain in only a few situations and this is one of them. They'll be harder to kill at this life stage with sand (obviously we don't want to break your vac).

Agreed......I think its the barb since you mentioned you bought them and exposed to the tank.  I have sand and I used salt and 
Quick cure and raised temp to 84-86 for two weeks. Yes do a water change to get rid of the ick floating around freely. Its been over two weeks for me since the tank had ick from the molly and the two guppies I brought home. I think I am ready for the additions, but I am too nervous. I don't want the headache and the stress and worrying about the ick on the fish or not. I am thinking of getting 3 yo-yo or  khuli loachs. Suggestion please........

No on the loaches. Wait a few more weeks. You want to be totally sure it is out of the tank before you bring anyone else in.

OP, it sounds more and more like the ich is the secondary infection. It sounds like you have something else serious going on.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Lets start with this:
 

 

Freshwater Ich
Symptoms: Fish look like they have little white salt grains on them and may scratch against objects in the tank.
 
White spot disease (Ichthyopthirius multifiliis) is caused by a protozoan with a life cycle that includes a free-living stage. Ich grows on a fish --> it falls off and attaches to gravel or tank glass --> it reproduces to MANY parasites --> these swarmers then attach to other fish. If the swarmers do not find a fish host, they die in about 3 days (depending on the water temperature).
 
Therefore, to treat it, medicine must be added to the display tank to kill free-living parasites. If fish are removed to quarantine, parasites living in the tank will escape the treatment -- unless ALL fish are removed for about a week in freshwater or three weeks in saltwater systems. In a reef tank, where invertebrates are sensitive to ich medications, removing the fish is the only option. Some people think that ich is probably dormant in most tanks. It is most often triggered by temperature fluctuations.
 
Remedy: For most fish, use a medication with formalin and malachite green. These are the active ingredients in many ich medications at fish shops. Some products are Kordon's Rid Ich and Aquarium Products' Quick Cure. Just read the label and you may find others. Check for temperature fluctuations in the tank and fix them to avoid recurrences. Note that tetras can be a little sensitive to malachite green, so use it at half the dose.
Use these products as directed (usually a daily dose) until all of the fish are spot-free. Then dose every three days for a total of four more doses. This will kill any free-swimming parasites as they hatch out of cysts.
 
Another remedy is to raise the tank temperature to about 90 deg F and add 1 tsp/gallon salt to the water. Not all fish tolerate this.
 
Finally, one can treat ich with a ``transfer method.'' Fish are moved daily into a different tank with clean, conditioned, warmed water. Parasites that came off of the fish are left behind in the tank. After moving the fish daily for a week, the fish (presumably cured) can be put back into the main tank. The disadvantage of this method is that it stresses both fish and fishkeeper.

from http/fins.actwin.com/aquariafaq.html
 
The biggest problem with treating ich in Europe is that many countries have banned the malachite green. Research shows the combination of that and formalin are the best treatments. Quinine sulphate is also becoming a popular treatments. The ich research I have read seems to indicate single meds never work as well as a combination does.
 
I doubt the ich is killing the fish on its own. I think the presence of ammonia and nitrite are more of a problem. I would get this handled ASAP and then worry about the ich.
 
If you must do a water change on a tank being medicated, follow these guidelines.
 
- If the water change is done on a day when a dosing of meds is to be done, simply change the water first and then add the medication as a normal dose.
 
- If the water change must be done between dosings, then replace the medication being removed with the water change. The rule here is to replace the same % of the dose as the % of water changed. So if you change 1/2 the water, add back a 1/2 dose of the medication. If you change 1/3 or 1/4, then replace with a 1/3 or 1/4 dose accordingly.