New to the site~

Hi everyone!
I just found out about this forum, and I'm GLAD I did! I've recently started keeping freshwater fish, and am trying my
best to learn all I can about caring for them properly. I'm learning already, that it's not as easy as I once thought it would be!
I'm already having to battle ICK, so I'm hoping this forum will offer me some much needed advice, and tons of experienced opinions!

Welcome aboard!!



If you are sure it's ich, the first step is to raise the temp! Parasites don't like high temps. 84 to 86 should help out. Next, find a quality ich cure and treat your tank according to the instructions, to include water changes as directed and removing the carbon cartridge from your filter. The carbon will neutralize the treatment, so it is a very important step most people try to skip.

Good luck!! and keep us posted.

Lots of good information here, so look areound and ask all the questions you need to.

Glad you found us. Feel free to ask questions and post pics!

welcome. glad to have you here.

with unknown, use Quick Cure is the best ich treatment i ever used, use it for a week or two and then do a %50 water change, good luck and welcome to the Box!!!

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! I am currently treating with Quick Cure, and I am seeing some improvement, but I wasn't sure how long to continue the treatments.? I did a 3 day treatment, followed by a 50% water change, and just finished with ANOTHER 3 day treatment yesterday. So, I'm planning on doing another 50% water change this evening. I was planning on doing another 3 day treatment. Is that what I should do? I am still seeing a few spots on a few of the fish, but I'm not noticing any flashing, or other signs of stress in anyone. I'm just confused on how long I should actually keep using the Quick Cure. My tank temp. is
around 78degrees, and I have considered raising it (as many suggest) but I'm worried that it will just stress my fish more! Is that possible? I have some neons, and I read that a 2 degree temp. change can stress them, and cause ICK. Just don't know what the correct info. is at this point...
Oh yeah, I did remove my carbon from the filter.

What is the temp in your tank? I would turn it up sloooowwly to about 84-85 and make the cylce speed up. Once ick starts you can only speed up the process. Turning up the heat helps that a bunch. I don't use any meds for ick (this is just my personal opinion)

KMX- My tank temp. is around 78 degrees right now. Since I am using meds to treat it, how do I know when it's Ok to STOP treating? When none of the fish have spots, or will there be other signs I should look for?

Best thing to do is continue to treat until you see absolutely no signs of ich. If you are still seeing a few spots, the ich is still active in your tank. As KMX pointed out, raising the temp is the best way to speed up this process.

Just a note: Ich is actually a parasite found in most water. Your tank will usually have ich in the system, but if the fish are healthy and un-stressed, they will not be able to infect them. Once infected, the fish are vulnerable to many other problems as their system becomes taxed trying to fight off the ich. The best way to clear your fish, and tank, is to raise the temp for a week, or longer if you still see any signs of their presence. Even using the Quick Cure, you will need to raise the temp slowly and continue treatment until there is no sign left.

Welcome to the box:)

Thanks everyone~ For all of the info. on treating ICK. I'm new to all of this, and doing what I can to fix the problem. Hopefully, I will have it under control soon.
I will raise my water temp, and see how it goes. I also bought some aquarium
salt, but haven't added any to my tank yet. I didn't want to add too many things
at once, so I thought I might wait until the ICK is under control. Should I wait? Or
should I add some now?

Add it now. It will help. Just follow the directions.

dont do water changes until you have made the complete treatment, which usually is 1 or 2 weeks.

Thanks- Unknown!

istrober-

According to the directions on the Quick Cure packaging, the maximun doseage is 3 daily treatments (consecutive- that is). It says that if further treatment is required, you should perform a 25 % water changer before administering another treatment cycle.
That's why I have done the water change in between treatment.
I did a 50% water change the first time, because my ammonia levels were a
little high. I'm afraid if I don't follow the directions, I could be causing more
damage to my fish. Not sure- I just like to follow the directions on the product.
To be on the safe side.

Follow the directions. Different treatment have different instructions due to the way they either build or dissipate while in the aquarium. Always follow the directions for the product you are using.

Ok Unknown, that's what I was thinking too. There's already a problem going on with my tank, and some of the fish in it...I definitely don't want to do anything to
make things worse at this point. My goal is to get it under control, and lose as few
fish as possible along the way!
Keeping my fingers crossed...

Keep us posted!

Welcome to the best spot on the web to talk fish

Welcome, and good luck with your tank.

What size tank and what fish and how many?
How new is the tank?

Thanks for the welcome lizard king!
Fern- I have a 55 gallon tank, and I currently have...
6 leopard danios
6 long finned, red minor tetras
2 head and tail light tetras
1 hatchet fish
3 long finned rosy barbs
4 sunburst platys
1 blue mickey mouse platy
7 neons
1 white tipped tetra
5 white clouds
2 heteromorpha danios AND
2 otocinclus

You need to get rid of a few of the single fish and bring the other schools up to 6 or so, they will act much happier and do much better.
Are you doing the 1/2 dose of the quick cure? You do have some sensitive fish in there. Raise the temp up a few degrees slowly, no salt the oto won't like it.

Fern,
With all due respect...I have no intention of getting rid of any of my fish. I am aware that some of the "singles" I have, are schooling fish, and will do better
in larger numbers, but I would prefer to get more of their kind (once my tank is
healthy) than to simply get rid of some, because they are the only ones of thier
kind in the tank. My Blue mickey mouse platy stays with the other platys, so she's not alone. The 2 head and tail lights- the white tipped tetra, the hatchet fish,
and one of the long finned rosy barbs, were all rescues. I got them from someone
who wasn't taking care of them, and was going to flush them, if no one took them.
I have gotten 2 female rosy barbs (since getting the rescues) in the hopes that the male would hang out with them, but honestly...he pays them no attention what-so-ever. lol Not sure why. He just seems to be happy swimming by himself. Anyway, I do plan on getting more of the others, in due time. I am trying to add new ones slowly, and can't add anything at this point- until the
ICK is under control. None of my fish (including the singles) sit alone, or seem to
be unhappy. They all have paired up with others (even the white tipped tetra) and do not seem unhappy. The ICK started when I got the 7 neons. I bought them from PetSmart, and after adding them to the tank...I noticed the ICK a few days later.
Everyone seemed to be happy, before that. My head and tail lights swim with the hatchet fish (oddly enough) and the white tipped tetra has been swimming with the long finned red minors. So, all is well, in that aspect of things. For now, anyway.
As far as adding the Quick Cure to my tank...I have been using half of the recommended dosage, because of the otocinclus, and I have already added the salt, but I did a half dose of that as well. Not the full recommended amount. At this point, things seem to be making a turn for the better. I'm hoping it keeps improving. Thanks for the advice! It's all been very helpful~