How long to wait after ICH?

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corry glossop

Registered Member
Jun 10, 2013
1
0
0
Hi all I'm new to this page,
About 2 weeks ago I decided to buy a 50l tropical fish tank. It came with a filter, light and instructions to set it up. I took it home and while i was at the pet store I brought some water conditioner, gravel, a gravel cleaner, heater, thermometer, and a pH test kit with pH UP&DOWN. I followed the instructions and added water to the tank and 3 drops of the water conditioner.

5 days had past with the running water so I decided to get some fish. (And I now know I should of waited at least one more week to add fish.) I went to the same pet store where I got everything else from to add the fish. I was standing there thinking on what I should choose and I said to the worker to get 4 neon tetras, he said "nah mate try the lake malawi cichlids." So I followed his advise thinking he knew about fish and went and chose 1 electric yellow cichlids and these to other cichlids in the same tank but just a different colour (they looked the same just different colours), i then when i got home added them to my tank.

All went well until the third day i woke up to feed them and they were brushing themselves along the ornaments and the gravel. I looked it up on the internet and i had came to a conclusion it was ICH. That day i went to the pet store and brought aquarium salt, white spot aid, anomia test kit, stress zyme+ and a net. I followed the instructions but the next day they had white spots over them. And they were rushing to the surface for oxygen. Then the following day i went back to the store (yesterday) and spoke to a different fish person. I told him everything he said "the guy who served you knows nothing about fish!) He told me the they grow up to 15-20cm and their super aggressive when older. He told me to tack them back tomorrow (today) and he'll give me a refund.

I have just done that and got my 66$ back and i decided to do a 80% water change and add ich cure and salt again and to rise the temperature which ive just done. Im planning on wating at least 2 weeks until i add new fish as there are none in there now and im hoping the ich will be dead by then.

I still need to buy a niterate and nitrite kit (mind the spelling). I would like my tank to be a community tank, what are some good fish to have in there like neon tetras as i love the look of them and they are cheap. Is this a good idea to do? If so what are there pH level, what temp do they live at, are they aggressive, what are other good fish to have with them that get along, ect. Also id like to know how to lower my annomia levels as its around 1. and how to oxygenate my water more? thanks! :)
 

authmal

Pseudonovice
Aug 4, 2011
2,621
62
51
Phoenix, AZ
First, :welcome:.
Second, pH Up and pH Down? Don't use it. You'll just make the hobby more expensive than it needs to be, and you'll stress your fish more trying to achieve a "perfect" pH that seldom has any significant impact. As long as it's not crazy extreme, and is stable, your fish will adapt.
Third, do yourself a huge favor and invest in a liquid test kit, API Freshwater Master Test Kit as an example, to test your water with at your convenience. It's not the most accurate (or granular) test out there, but it's common and pretty easy to use, as long as you follow the directions.
Fourth, your tank is not cycled until you get 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and some reading of nitrate that isn't 0, so you should wait until your tank is cycled to add fish.
Fifth, since you have no fish in your tank, crank the heater up to 85 or as high as you can get it. Ich is a parasite with a very specific life cycle. However, by adding heat, you accelerate the life cycle. Eventually, all of the encysted parasites will become free swimming, and due to lack of hosts, will die.
Sixth, you have learned the hard way the same thing I (and I'm sure many other people on this forum) learned a long time ago: just because a guy works at a fish store doesn't mean you can trust the guy to have a clue, or, if he does, to not steer you wrong in the hopes of getting more sales in spite of knowing better.
Seventh, you have a fairly small tank, so you don't have a ton of flexibility for stocking. I have a new one with a betta I just set up on Friday (it was cycled, I just finally found a betta I want) that's a bit smaller, so I definitely understand the tank size restriction. My recommendation is to use the time you're waiting for your tank to cycle and ich to die viewing as many threads on here as you can, and visiting as many different aquarium shops as you can. That way, you can see more species that are available, and once you have a name, you can do research on that species to see if their care requirements meet the effort you wish to put in, and if it's compatible with other species you're interested in.
Eighth, if you can, find a non-chain aquarium shop. They tend to have staff better trained on aquaria. I still run test questions that I already know the answers to by them, and I google/ask here if the information they provided is accurate. I'm lucky, and have a great shop just a few miles from home.
Ninth, back to the ich, some people will tell you it's always in the water blah blah blah. Goes back to the "definite life cycle" bit I mentioned. Once it dies in your tank, truly dies, it won't be back in your tank until you reintroduce it, be it on a fish, plant or decoration. Heat will expedite the life cycle, and salt will kill it when it's in the free swimming stage.
 

Mamajin

Psychotic Female
Did the medication you purchase instruct you to add salt and turn the heat up? If not, never mix the salt/heat treatment with medications unless the directions are specifically asking you to do so. A lot of ICH meds will lower the oxygen in the water, and if you turn up the heat, which also lowers the oxygen in the water, you'll cause more harm than good. Use one treatment or the other, but never both, along with an air stone or bubble wand to add more oxygen to the water.

If the tank is totally empty, it will take anywhere between 3 to 4 days for the parasite to die off as it cannot live that long without a host. You can actually kill it with 90F temps also. This writeup here by a veterinarian and a biological scientist explain how.
 
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