can ich be on an ADF??

[butterflylove]

okay, well about 2 weeks ago i noticed that something wasnt right in my 10 gal betta tank. i have 3 CT bettas,3 otto cats, 2 ADF's, and alot of snails. it looked like ich, so i did everything that the forum in here said to do. (raise temp, add salt, ect) well unfortanly i dont think i caught it fast enough, because everything died since then, except 1 otto and 1 frog. well today the last otto died, but the one frog looks great.
my question is, does the frog have ich? if not im thinking about putting the frog into one of the other tanks, getting rid of the snails, and starting the tank all over again. but if he has ich, i dont want all of my fish to get sick. also, i dont know how ich works, will it still be in my tank even if it has nothing in it?

what do ya'll think i should do??im sad everything has died, but i would like to move on and get the tank going again if i can. could someone please inform a little better about this dreadful ICH?

thanks everyone!!!!!!!!!
amber

[daveedka]

Ich won't live on your frog or snails, at best they could be a passive vector for an unhatched ich cyst. I'd give the frog about 6 days (that really is overkill) to eliminate the passive vector possibility and then transfer as you wish without worry. A good rinsing would really eliminate the passive vector idea as well but better safe than sorry is my philosophy
dave

[Leopardess]

Don't know much about ich? What a coincidence:) The kindly fellow who first answered you happened to write a lovely article on it, to be found here:

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39759

It's worth a read if you are interested (I suggest it, this won't be your only dealing with ich, I'm sure).

As mentioned, frogs do not get ich, but if some cysts are kind of stuck onto the frog it can carry it into a new tank.

You can take the frog out of the tank and (temporarily!) put him in a smaller container. They sell 2.5 or 5g fish tanks for under about 5$. Or even a goldfish bowl would work for even a few weeks (with enough water changes). Just make sure whatever you do has a tight fitting lid so he can't jump out (but airholes so they can breathe). Then, you can tear down the "ichy" tank, clean it out with bleach/hot water, etc. and start new.

In the future, you may want to consider starting up a quarantine tank so that any new fish with ich don't harm your existing fish.

As for what to do if you get ich again, read Dave's article. I highly suggest only using the salt + heat method, for reasons that are mentioned in his article, I believe.

[butterflylove]

thanks, i did read daves article when i first noticed problems, but like i said, i must not have been fast enough. but the article did tell me alot about ich than i knew. i have a little 2.5 gal cup that i originally had the bettas in. i'll give him a few more days in his home, then let him hang out in little cup. will the frog have trouble adjusting from a heated tank, to a non heated tank, and then back into a heated tank?? i dont want to stress the poor guy anymore. also, i hear that ADF's like to have other ADF's with them, if thats true, will my frog be very unhappy in a 55 gal tank alone?
and about cleaning out the "ichy" tank, i can use bleach and hot water?? i didnt know that bleach was okay. also, do i need to remove the already exsisting rocks and decor? thanks so much dave and Leopardess for your help.

amber

[wataugachicken]

a problem with putting it in a 55g is the possibility that it may not be able to find the food in time to eat it before the fish do. you'll have to take special care to make sure it's eating enough.

[butterflylove]

what does a frog eat? just the regular flake food that makes it down to the bottom, or should i go out and look for something specific? i also have a 20 gal high tank with mollies, maybe i will put him in there first and see how good he is at catching some food.

[FisheyLisa]

What have you been feeding your frog?!?! If you are just waiting for it to snatch up the flake food on the ground, you probably starved the other one. You'll need worms, and if in a community tank a baster or tweezer to hold directly over the frog's head, or else it doesn't eat. For specifics:

Leo has a wonderful article on them...check her sig for the link.