Sick Of The Ich!

[seacreature]

I have recently started keeping fish maybe 4-5 months. I had a problem with the first few i had. Now it seems to have come back. I had two rope fish one iridescent shark one black fin shark a crawfish gold fish and a kuhilli looca?sorry for the misspelled words. So today my one rope fish died and the black fin shark also. The others look to be getting the ich also. except the crawfish and louca. I researched how to stop it. i heated up the water to 83° and done a 25% Water change and adding ich guard. i plan to.repeat these steps until i see normal behavior. I tested my water at home and at the.pet store. normal parameters . also today I added salt to the water. 2teaspoons per ten gal. i have a 50gal tank. I already lost enough fish. Let me know if this will help. thanks.

 

[TallTree01]

Ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels?
Current full stocking?
 
 
The main causes of ich are:
Poor water
Stress
 
Ich hates salt and high temperatures. Salt will definitely help ich die.

 

[the_lock_man]

Follow the instructions on the medicine bottle to the letter, and you will be fine.
 
However, ich is the least of your problems. Your tank stocking is almost completely unsuitable. The only thing that's about right is the kuhli loach.
 
Ropefish - grow to about 3' long, need an aquarium that is over double the capacity of yours
Goldfish - coldwater fish, not tropical. Grows to over a foot long.
Crawfish - will use their claws to rip at, and potentially kill, their tankmates.
Iridescent shark, also known as pangiasus catfish. Grows to 4' long. Seriously. These fish are monsters.
 
Have a read through of the blue link in my signature area. There are several photos in there of iridescent sharks, they are referred to as pangasiids in the article, and the photo about 2/3 of the way down shows what happens to them when they are kept, even for a relatively short time, in an aquarium that is too small for them.
 
I strongly urge you to cure them of the ich, and then return them to the store you bought them from.

 

[seacreature]

Jeez i got a lot too learn. I'M off tomorrow and will check out the link. One more thing. do you think the test strips are inaccurate ?

Jeez i got a lot too learn. I'M off tomorrow and will check out the link. One more thing. do you think the test strips are inaccurate ?

 

[This Old Spouse]

Test strips are next to worthless. Invest in a liquid test kit (API, Salifert, Nutrafin) so you can get accurate results.

 

[the_lock_man]

What she said ^

 

[seacreature]

Will do.

 

[the_lock_man]

I'm concerned about the iridescent shark, this a google images search for the term "pangasius"
 
https/www.google.co.uk/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1440&bih=745&q=pangasius&oq=panga&gs_l=img.3.1.0l10.929.1550.0.3831.5.5.0.0.0.0.96.300.5.5.0...0.0...1ac.1.12.img.wQ_pOzjVsmE
 
THe longer it stays in the unsuitable tank, the more it is going to be damaged.

 

[seacreature]

Sad to say he died. I've done a 50%WC and retreated with start up chemicals according to bottle. I'm focused on keeping what I have left alive. More reading to do and little more care.