Help, newbie with a question Re: Ich

[dianne6]

I have a tiger oscar that i just transfered to a 55 gallon tank
a few days ago. He was a tiny little thing when we got him
and is now perhaps 4 or 5 inches. I bought another oscar
yesterday morning and put him in with Bo. ( i know that you
shouldnt put two oscars together but they seem to be getting
along beautifully, are practically glued to each other most of
the time, even though the baby is only about an inch long.
I figured that for a little while they will be fine in a 55 gal.
Problem was, the baby after i got him in i noticed under the
flourescent lights that he had like a tiny white spot on his
right fin. ( we would all be sick if something happened to
our Bo.) I have 4 children that have cried over the death of
a gold fish. :( They love him. I have no way to quarantine
him. My fish store suggested that i go ahead and treat for
ich. I raised the h20 temp and he said since its obviously very
mild ( if its indeed what he has) only to treat the tank if it
was 30 gal instead of 55. I did just that.
Do i change part of the water today? wait a few days?
Add more ich treatment? See if more spots develop? Maybe
its normal for him? Ive read so many conflicting things.
I added aquarium salt when the tank was set up and im
afraid to add more now.

Any suggestions?

Thanks alot!

Dianne

[Cichlid Woman]

What kind of ich med are you using? And what's the tank temp now? I'd wait a day or two--if it's ich, it will spread quickly and you'll have no doubt. Or maybe the med fixed it. Is he acting okay?

-- Pat

[dianne6]

The medication that i used was ick guard. The water temp
is 80 degrees and hes acting perfectly healthy. Its just two
tiny spots very close together on his right fin. I didn't notice
them at the store where i bought him, he acted healthy,
was active, seemed like a good choice. But under the flourescent
lights in my aquarium, i noticed them. I am keeping my fingers
crossed that it will go away.
Is the temp right? Should i change some of the water or let
it go for now, just wait and see. I hate to disturb the water
too much since its just been recently established.

Thanks again!
Dianne

[Sumpin'fishy]

Changing your water should never be a problem unless you are adding significantly colder/hotter or different pH water. It's always a good idea to make sure you have extra clean water when disease is a possibility. I personally do AT LEAST 2 water changes each week while treating for disease. Many treatments suggest every day changing up to 75% of the water. I have personally done 75% water changes every other day and dosed every day with Quick Cure. The fish made it through and disease was destroyed.......sounds like success to me! I believe it's very important to do FREQUENT gravel vacs if parasites of any type are present in the water. I did mine with every water change.

Hope this helped some.