new fish have ich :(

O.k, so I went to feed my fish today, and noticed that some of them weren't swimming as energetically as usual. I figured that they might be stressed b/c it's a new tank and cycling. I haven't had a huge ammonia spike yet (at least I don't think so), but I do have some in the tank. Ammonia .25, nitrite trace, nitrate nothing. This is after a 50% water change a day or two ago--before that it was ammonia .5, nitrite .25, nitrate nothing. Well, when I looked closer at the fish, I noticed the ones that weren't too energetic were covered with the tiny white spots that looked like grains of salt. That sucks! I have five female cherry barbs in a 37g tank. The filter is an eclipse system that is in the hood with the biowheel. The temp is around 80. (I plan to put an angel fish in this tank, so the temp is on the high side, also, my heater is one that runs high, I have it set to 72 degrees, and it maintains a steady 80 on the tank). I have added aquarium salt to the tank. The container recommended 1tbs per 5gal water, which is what I did, but I think that was a maintenance dose--the dose to use if you wanted to always have some in your water. (I'm not planning on doing that since I want cories, and snails, and neither of them like salt). should I add more salt to cure ich? Also, I leave Wednesday for Thanksgiving, and won't be back until Sunday. Should I use an ich medicine, or can I let the salt do it's thing? I do know that I will be taking the fish food home with me (per my roommates request--so she doesn't feed them the whole bottle while I'm gone!).

Edited to add: these fish have been in there for two weeks now, they are the first fish, and the tank was not seeded or anything

Emily

Thanks. Yeah, I like the heat and salt method too. I only go to harsher chemicals if it doesn't work. I'm just worried b/c I'll be gone for a few days. The tank light just came on (automatic timer) and I've only seen three fish swimming (was only two, but another came out of hiding). When they hide, I can't find them at all, so at least three are still alive, but I think all five are--two are just hiding. Hopefully this clears up soon! I just wish they didn't have the added stress of a cycling tank, but of course it is the added stress that likely caused this.

Emily

So, all day long, I only saw three of my five fish. I looked and looked and could not see the other two. I had one fish that for some odd reason wanted to hang out by the thermometer all day--not the heater, the thermometer. The other two were swimming all over the tank, much more active than they had been since I had gotten them (go figure). So, I finally decided tonight I must get out the net and stir up the plants/decorations and look for the other two as potential bodies. I couldn't find any bodies, and now all five are swimming all over the tank. Even thermometer fish. (I also noticed that much of the salt had landed on the center brace, so I washed it into the tank where it would do some good....)

Emily

I came back from Thanksgiving dreading what I would find in my tank. I saw only two fish swimming, but no dead bodies. The fish looked better. They had much fewer white spots. Then eventually I saw four fish swimming--still haven't seen all five. Some have no spots. YAY!! Some are swimming fine, others still look a little unhappy, but that could be water quality. I tested the water. Was quite surprised that the ammonia was 0-.25. But, the nitrites are off the charts high (over 5ppm), and the nitrates are also off the charts (over 150ppm). So, I guess my tank has had it's ammonia spike, and is experiencing it's nitrite spike and will soon have had it's first cycle. wow. Oh, yeah, and I'm about to do a major water change.

Emily