ICK! Yes another ICK thread. Sorry

[tmpadmin]

I read all the thread here on Ick and know more now than I ever wanted to know about it. About 10 years ago I had a great tank and only got ick once in the 9 years it was functional. Now my wife goes out buys a 10 gal tank and the obsession starts all over again. Except this time ICK is taking all my fish!

So I don't rehash the old Ick story my question is looking for an opinion. I lost the neons (who knew?) but the next one to go sometime today is my red tail shark (he's the best of the bunch). At this point I'm thinking it would be best to take everything back tank and all (since I found a much better deal on a 30 Gal complete set) and start over. Any opinions? Even if I don't get the new tank I should probably just treat this as a new tank and start over...?

Thanks. OH ignore my name, I'm NOT an admin here as I'm sure you know, and do not want to pretend to be one. It's just what I have been using at work for five years...

[OrionGirl]

How many fish are left? Will the store take the fish and equipment back? Without any fish, the tank will need to be fed, or the bacteria will starve, requiring a new cycle before fish go in. If there aren't any survivors, you can actually feed the tank ammonia to keep the bacteria going, and crank to temp to 86. In 2 weeks, you will have a fully cycled, ich free tank to stock.

I would much rather have a 30 than a 10, but I'd probably wrangle a way to keep both. :)

[tmpadmin]

I have two fish left, they look healthy but are covered in ick. I have the take at 82 right now. The tank, gravel filter, gravel and the little air pump were bought at Walmart so they take back anything anytime. I have the receipts for the others from petsmart bought less than 2 weeks ago (three fish).

Yeah, as soon as I got the 10 gal running I wanted a 75 gal.

[mooman]

I agree, take the fish back, crank up the temp and feed the empty tank with ammonia or just a pinch of fishfood a day. Without a host the ich will die off, the temp will speed up both ich lifecycle and bacteria growth. When you restock the tank, conditions will be much less stressful to the fish, and they'll be much less likely to come down with ich.

[Holly9937]

If you can, the 10g will be great to hold onto as a QT tank, that way you can quarantine new fish before introducing them (and disease) into your big tank once it is established :)

[tmpadmin]

If you can, the 10g will be great to hold onto as a QT tank, that way you can quarantine new fish before introducing them (and disease) into your big tank once it is established :)

That is my thought too. However, I am not sure if I want to go through the expense of a brand new tank. But then again I do want more than one tank.

I raised the temperature another 2 degrees to 84 now. Everything is steady no noticeable improvement but no worse. The water seems a bit cloudy today. Do you think I should swap some water?

[tmpadmin]

EDIT: Just wanted add this before you read. I set the tank up and let it run for 4 weeks before adding any fish. I did not do a proper cycle or add anything beside the conditioner. I added this edit because I did more than what I thought was necessary. I don't want anyone to think I jumped into a tank and sacrificed the lives of these fish... Having to look my shark in the eye and tell him there was nothing I could do was very hard (I had to do that with my last shark after having him for 9 years) - I don't want to do it again.

I lost the red tail shark earlier today :sad: I have two tetras left and one neon. I have a lily and two clumps of that standard plant you see in almost every beginner's tank (10 gal). The water is a bit cloudy at 85 degrees. I added salt (Not table, I noticed the debate on another thread - just to clarify), and ick medicine.

I want to get this tank running smoothly and I know good things come if done properly and with the proper patience. But that being said I have a 4 year old who is wondering why some fish are not there anymore. I don't think it's time for that talk just yet - maybe but I'm not ready... In your opinions what is the earliest I can have this tank back to normal? Then maybe a link to what I need to do, unless someone wants to type :)

Also I am 99% convinced I will be getting a 30 gal setup. Would it be best to let that go through a proper cycle or transfer what I have to that tank and start a new cycle on the 10 gal?

Last bit... I really wish I knew what happened (And from the research and poking around here it could be many things). In my younger years I had a great tank and only got ick once but attacked it quickly with no fatalities. At that time I did zero research. Added water, a few drops of conditioner, gravel, fish, heater, filter... All went well.

Thanks for the help.

[nlmadison]

Having just gone thru the whole Ich thing myself and FINALLY (crossing fingers & toes) getting my tank clear, I would not recommend putting anything from the 10 gal. into any new tank you might get. I would also wait until I was sure that there was no more infection (at least 2 wks w/o symptoms) before I moved any fish from the 10 gal into any other tank. (Be sure when/if you do move the fish that you don't transfer any water from the 10 gal into the new tank.) I waited only 1 week w/o symptoms and added new fish only to have the original fish start flashing again the next day. I haven't seen any spots yet but I'm still not sure the Ich gone. (I'm now running 1 tsp salt/gallon and have my temp at 82 degrees just in case.) My water got cloudy too, it took about 2 weeks after I stopped meds to clear up. So far I've not seen any Ich spots ... but who knows, only time will tell. My best advice ... better safe than sorry and don't transfer anything from the 10 gal into your new tank.