ick help

:help: my uncle has handed over his 2 smallest fantail goldfish and has brought me a 3foot tank for them to live in, i have had to buy the filter etc but at least they are no longer being picked on in his tank, he decided to add all to the same tank again after not wanting some out in a tub in the garden :angryfire: well the bigger ones picked on the smaller ones, and to make a long story short i have 2 dinky fantails,one bright orange and white and one red/brown rusty colour, about 1-2inches inc tails,and his 2 dojo loaches, one normal long slim one and 1 olive colour chunky one(he didnt want them as he never saw them, both are about 6-7inches long) in a 36 x 12 x 16 tank, ive used a load of the sand from my goldies tank and half the filter media too, theres a few live plants and some fake ones. they seemed to be settling in really well, but over night they have both come down with white spot (i dont remember seeing it last night) i have dosed with aquarium salt (no shouting i know its not good for the loaches,but i figure its better than white spot) i have added 4 tablespoons to the tank, will that be enough? and also i cannot up the temp as i have no heater, so how long will it take to cure? strangely, i have had ick in my tanks some time ago now, and they all had clamped fins etc, these are showing no signs of any distress/itching, but it is definately 100% white spot, on fins and body maybe they are just so glad to be out of the bully fishes grasp they dont care about the itchy spots

ok, ive done a pwc and not added any more salt, but i have added some loach safe ick treatment, it says its good for use with all freshwater fish except elephant noses. so i didnt add any mroe salt, i changed around 70%, added dechlor, and added the treatment, this was 2 days ago, the tank sits at 76/77* at room temp, ive put my tropical tanks thermometer in there for now to keep tabs on it. the white spots on the goldies have completely gone now, the last spots were gone by last night and no more have appeared overnight, its a 2 dose treatment and they need a 2nd dose on wednesday,then i will give it a couple of days and do another pwc. the loaches are still in the tank, and theres maybe 1 or 2 spots on the normal coloured one, and the other one is clear, the fish have stopped flashing completely now, and look much happier. the tank is 36 inches x 12 inches x 18 inches deep. now my question is, can the ick live in the sand/gravel and avoid the water column until theres no more treatment in the water? i mean not actually thinking i will escape this but if a few spores? drop down and get covered over with some sand/gravel and the treatment doesnt work its way down there could they survive? if so should i maybe stir it up in there the next time i add the treatment to make sure its all gone? thanks for the help so far, this site is such a godsend!

thanks flaringshutter,that was a big worry to me, thinking it may be able to 'wait it out' then launch into a nasty 2nd attack, each little ick parasite with a little helmet on leaping and grasping onto a passing fishy with all its strength lol! nah but seriously its all looking much better now,will keep the thread updated as to whether it does all clear up nicely, but thanks for all your help and info x

well still looking good, the goldies are still clear of any more spots, the lighter colour dojo is clear and the other one may possibly have a few but im not sure coz she never stops moving! 2nd dose tomorrow, then i will do a normal 50-60% pwc at the weekend, probably sunday. fingers crossed it all goes well from here on in, they certainly seem happier.

*sigh* was watching the tank last night and one of the goldies flashed in the sand. hopefully it was just a normal itch, but i will keep my eyes peeled for any more.