Ick

[majid83@gmail.com]

My black molly recently developed ick and white fungus looking substance on it's right eye. My ID Shark also got ick as well as another catfish. Rest of fish seem fine. But I have always experienced ick problems with mollies. Are they prone to ick?

Also, what could have caused ick in the tank all of a sudden?

Yesterday I noticed ick on my ID shark and Black molly and added drops of ick cure. But today, I noticed my other fish had ick also. Is it possible that the medication caused the rest of them to get ick?

I noticed ick is a very common disease in fish and usually disappears within 48-72 hours after treating the tank with medication.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

What size tank is it? I ask since the ID shark (I take it ID = iridescent) will get extremely big... thought I would let you know.

Not sure how prone mollies are to ich, since I never kept them.

As for how your fish got it:
Apparently, contrary to what I had though, ich does not remain in the tank indefinitely. After it has been treated, or over time, it should go away. Therefore, have you added new fish to the tank? Have you had the fish that are in the tank for a long time? If no and/or not very long, then it would probably have accompanied the newer inhabitants. As for why all of the fish got ich, chances are that the water quality is not very good--speaking of which, could you do a water test and tell us what the readings are?

 

[happyannie]

I think you should post this on the Tropical Fish Emergency section of the forum. Lots of experienced fish keepers there and you should get some good responses. Good luck!

 

[starrynightxxi]

in my experience, mollies are extremely prone to ick, but ick medication will not cause it. ick is sort of like the fish version of our common cold, it's always there, but only shows up when the fish are stressed or have some immune defficiency. if one fish has it, you must treat the whole tank.

 

[majid83@gmail.com]

I just lost my pictus catfish this morning because it got ick. The ick started from my black molly which i bought from petsmart. It has a white cloud on it's right eye. One of my ID sharks also got ick on it's tail and my silver molly as well. My tetras are fine along with a barb. I have treatingt the tank for the past two days and it does not seem to be going away on the molly. The first time I treated the tank I added 20 drops to the tank when I should have added 55 drops (since the tank is 55G or 209L). But the second day I added 55 drops and yesterday I added 55 drops again as instructed on the back of the medication. The medication is called Quick Cure. But I was doing online research and came across some postings where people recommeded MelaFix. However, when I read the description of MelaFix it did not specify that it treats ick also. I was going to go out and buy MelaFix but I am thinking of giving one more day and treat the tank with QuickCure again and hoping for better results.

I have had problems with mollies in the past also with ick. They get this really quick. I have raised the temp to 81*F and now I am wondering if I should start to do water changes (20-25%). Should I do water changes now or wait until they are free of ick? In past I was able to treat ick within 2 days but its been third day today and i am getting worried for my fish. I lost my pictus catfish this morning and I was reading online about them and it said that if they get ick and their fins turn red, they will not eat and chances of survival are very low. Which is what happened to this poor guy. He was the quickest of all fishes to eat frozen bloodworms but he did not eat anything yesterday, which got me really worried.

Now, I don't want to loose any of other fishes. I also read that ick treatment causes the fish fins to go red but they recover once the treatment is over. I will do one last QuickCure treatment on my tank today and then if this is not fixed by tomorrow I will get MelaFix from Petsmart.

Your input will be appreciatted.

p.s. I have two tanks one is 55G and other is 150G (in basement). Once my ID Sharks are big I will move them to the 150G one.

Thanks for your time.

 

[starrynightxxi]

my ten gallon got ich a while back and i used maracide. they haven't had it since.

 

[majid83@gmail.com]

OK , so now I have removed both my mollies from my 55g and put them in another tank. My black molly does not seem to be recovering and it has spread ick to my silver molly which was doing fine before I got my black one. I am going to return the black molly to petsmart and I am hoping that my silver molly will survive the ick syndrome.

Now my question is, since I treated the whole tank with QuickCure, should I do a water change on it? My other fish seem to be ick free right now, except for one of the ID Shark who still has one white spot on it's tail. I should have quarantined the molly two days ago but I never thought it will take over 2 days to get them cured since ick disappers in like 2 days.

My ID SHARKS fins are red now, and I read this happens because of the medication. Any one has any idea as to how long it will take before they get normal?

Thanks.

 

[Bettabelieveit]

I really don't know how great QuickCure works on parasites. I'd try something stronger - like RidIch or Maracide. And mollies like to have salt in their water, so adding some to their hospital tank will help.