Ammonia + ich

[StanTheBetta]

Well as I've been posting for about the past 2 weeks I'm having trouble cycling my 10 gal tank. I dumped too many fish in to begin with (the 6 in my signature plus Stan ) Its been almost 2 weeks and I've been testing the water every day or every other day and the ammonia stays between .5 and 1.0 ppm but I've yet to even see a trace of Nitrites. I don't have a tester for nitrates so its hard to tell if its going through the cycle. I've been doing 10-15% water changes every 2 days to keep the ammonia down but I can't get it below .5 ppm and its been 2 weeks. Now I have a pretty bad outbreak of ich. One of the black tetras has ich really bad all over and has a shriveled up/shrunken in eye and its been picked on by the serpaes. The other black tetra has a little ich on its back fin but appears to be in good health otherwise. The other fish don't have ich that I can tell but one of my platys has what looks like a white ulcer on top of it and it was scraping itself on one of the fake plants.

So what would be good to treat the ich? and should I keep doing water changes to keep the ammonia down?

 

[Angel Lady]

Raise your temp. to 85 degrees and this is all you need to do for the ich.And keep doing your water changes. try not to put any medicines at all in the tank while it is cycling. The high temp. is enough to kill off the ich, the parasite cannot survive in 85 degree water. Try not to feed a lot either. If you dont have any scaless fish you could add some salt.

 

[StanTheBetta]

the high temp won't harm the fish? Also since its only about 76 F right now will the heater heat the water fast enough to stress them from a sudden change in temp? Its a 50 watt heater.

 

[Angel Lady]

The high temp. shouldnt bother him but raise the temp.slowly you dont want to bring it on real fast I would go from 76 to 78 then wait about three hours or so and go on up like that about a degree every two hours or something like that.But trust me this is the best way to get rid of ich without stressing them out with that harsh medicine. You can ask almost everyone here this is the best way to rid your tank of ich.

 

[crazie.eddie]

I agree with everyone...the simplest method is to raise the temp and perform daily water changes (at the most 15%) and lite gravel cleaning. Adding meds at this time will be stressful. The stress of the cycle is enough for them.

You can also apply aquarium salt, but make sure you dissolve the salt in water first and slowly pour it into your tank spread over an hour or so.

 

[StanTheBetta]

Its pretty chilly right now, it snowed last night, and my heater doesn't seem to be able to keep up (. The temp in my room is about 72.5. The temp in the tank is about 76 F even thoughI have the aquarium heater turned up to ~ 79. Would it be easier for the heater if I turned the heat in my room up?

 

[crazie.eddie]

Yes, you can increase the room temp, which would help.

You may need to replace your heater. Here is a link for a heater guide to help you choose the right heater for your tank and area.

 

[StanTheBetta]

heh the heater is fine for keeping the water in the 70's but it doesn't do too good when I want the temp 85 and my room is 70-72. I turned the heat up in the room to 76 and now the thermometer on the tank reads 84 so I think its working now. How long do I need to leave the temperature elevated like this? A week? 2?

 

[StanTheBetta]

Its been 5 days with 85 F temp and one of the fish still has ich. Also I tested the water again yesterday and ammonia was still at 1 ppm and nitrites at 0 My tank doesn't even seem to be going through the first phase of cycling! Whats going wrong? Its been up 3 weeks and I still haven't seen any nitrites. Only thing keeping the ammonia down is constant water changes

 

[Angel Lady]

it shouldnt take more that another day or so to get rid of the ich.I hate to have to tell you this but that is what you are going to have to keep doing the water changes will prolong your cycle to. That is the reason why you should do the fishless cycle.

 

[StanTheBetta]

Tomorrow will be a week of the 85 degree temp. I haven't seen signs of ich for 2 days so do you think its safe to start lowering the temp of the water? Also I tested the water again today.
Ammonia: 2ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
PH: 7.6

I haven't done a water change in 3 days in hopes the ammonia changing bacteria would form but apparently they haven't. Its been up for about 3 weeks and still no traces of nitrites. Its something wrong? What can I do to speed this up?

 

[crazie.eddie]

You can do a water change, just not a gravel cleaning. Most of the bacteria is on the gravel anyways.

I would wait a few more days..better safe than sorry.

 

[StanTheBetta]

That might explain it I been doing gravel vacs with the water changes. I was under the impression most of the bacteria would be in the filter cartridge since I have a hobf.

 

[CMC]

Glad to hear the ich is gone. As far as the temp, we keep all of our tanks at 80-degrees. After doing some research, we found that it's better to keep it at that temp to help prevent outbreaks of ich and other diseases. The fish are also more active at that temp then the mid or lower 70's. Good luck to you !

 

[fchaulk]

I am no expert and I find it strange that no one else has mentioned it , which makes me wonder if it even works, but I have to ask as it may help. Do biological additives help, such as stress zyme or cycle. I used stress zyme when I cycled my tanks, it suppose to help speed up the cycle process.

I am sure if I am giving you bad advice , someone will correct me. Would like to know for myself also.

regards
Frank