# 2 casualties



## Cliffizme2 (Oct 15, 2005)

I fed my fish yesterday and then went to bed, I come home tonight from work (24 hours of not looking at the tank) and all my fish are covered with ick! My Oto algae eater and my Blue Channel Cat died and my other fish are all covered. The Green Severum has a film over both of his eyes and he looks the worse with the fins being eaten up. The ick is reallllly bad in my tank, it's ALL OVER my fish and little white dots are floating around.
I put the recommended dose of "Ick Guard" in my tank about an hour ago and it turned the tank blue, I took the carbon out before and threw it away. I hope it works. I also turned the light off so the fish would be less stressed, I dunno what else to do...

What causes ick? From now on I will check my fish daily for warning signs of diseases, this is the first time in years that I have had fish that got a disease.


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

its a parasite, and its naturally on fish in controlled populations... fish usually get it from stress. Ich has two lifecycles... one which is free floating (to find another host) and one that attaches itself to fish. I am not quite sure if you really did have ich if you can see the free swimming stage. But i'm not a parasitologist... TOS is... he'll be around hopefully


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## Cliffizme2 (Oct 15, 2005)

The fish guy at Petco said it is ich, plus I looked at pics of it online and that is what's happening to my fish. 
My Green Severum has been doing loops and is now sitting on it's side on the bottom, he will probably die overnight. This is nuts, I think the medicine is hurting the fish more and I put the exact amount it said.


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## Georgia Peach (Sep 23, 2005)

If they have ick bad enough to have film covering thier eyes they have had it for a while and there is probably not alot that the meds will do.


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## craftyflalady (Jan 25, 2006)

I would start doing water changes .....and fast. Sucking up the dirty stuff in the gravel as you go. The ick kinda settles down there inbetween stages. Also the fresh water might help your fish. 

It does sound like they have had it for awhile already, so if you want to save the fish...do water changes...raise the heat, add some salt...and hope for the best. Personally I would do at least 50% water changes, daily until you get it under control. 

Medicating often does seem to stress the fish more than the illness, that is why I always try fresh water first. That way if you have to add meds...it is at least going into good water. 

Reallly....Good luck to you on this one! 
Kathy


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