any ideas on how this happened? could it be stress from the larger barb male bullying?(i havent seen this but it could be happening when im not looking)
It could also be stress from Rearranging the tank so much.
From everything I have read about ick,it has a life cycle and doesn't just appear. If you have not added anything to this tank then maybe its not ick. Do you have any other tanks that have any new stock? Do you share tools,buckets,etc with other tanks that it could have come from?
stick to the high temp (88-89 F) and aquarium salt. I've had luck with the high temp with no aquarium salt. But if I were to have ich again (knock on wood), I'd use some table salt also. You really have to be patient with an ich outbreak. Add an airstone to add extra oxygen to the tank since o2 at those high temps is pretty much depleted. Good luck.