# Ich killed everyone!



## yankeejenny (Mar 18, 2006)

Around Christmas I started a new 26 gallon tank. I had Gourami's, a Pleco, and an Albino Rainbow shark. I introduced a new Gourami from the pet store, and then I noticed some Ich spots. I treated the water with Ick Gaurd, but then all my fish were covered in it! Every single fish died :rip: My question is, what do I now do with the tank water before I can buy more fish, and how can I avoid this happening again? Do I change all of the water, vaccum the rocks, etc? I am a beginner, so any advice is appreciated. I think I may do chiclids this time, as I have heard they arew hardier? :fish:


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## Mr Aquarium (Jan 18, 2005)

Well, the first thing you should do when you see ick, is a nice w/c, and a good gravel vac, then after that start turnging the heat up to around 86*.
If you know your fish can take the salt treatment without killing them
"some fish don;t do salt very well" this will help kill the ick off faster,
You wanna keep this temp up for at least 5-7 days, 5 if you salt the tank, 7 if you don't.
That is how some people do it, i don;t use meds for my tanks anymore to treat ick, i most times catch it at the one of two spots on a fish stage.
then when the week is up, i do another good gravel vac-w/c and good to go.
this link will help you understand how ick works,
http://www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Misc What is Ich.htm


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Also, leave the tank fishless for a couple of weeks after cleaning it. This will starve any remaining "ickies."

Oh, waitaminute...on second thought just put a double dose of ick medicine in the tank and clean it after a week. By "clean" I mean what Mr. Aquarium said, being a gravel vaccuuming & a massive water change of at least 75%. Then let the tank run fishless for three days before starting all over again. Ick Guard apparently didn't work for you last time, so try something better next time like "Ick Clear" or "Quick Cure."


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## MaryPa (Jan 25, 2006)

Were the new fish quarentined before added to your tank?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

If you have no fish now, you might as well rinse the gravel in the sink, run the ornaments thourgh the dishwasher and change all the water. That way you start clean with 0 nitrate. You won't get rid of ich, though, it seems to materialize from the air whenever fish are cold and stressed. 
You don't mention a heater. This may seem obvious, but many pet stores sell tropical fish setups without heaters and thermometers.


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## Fishboy93 (Jun 11, 2005)

emc7 said:


> If you have no fish now, you might as well rinse the gravel in the sink, run the ornaments thourgh the dishwasher and change all the water. That way you start clean with 0 nitrate. You won't get rid of ich, though, it seems to materialize from the air whenever fish are cold and stressed.
> You don't mention a heater. This may seem obvious, but many pet stores sell tropical fish setups without heaters and thermometers.



Make sure its a dishwasher with NO soap or the new fish might die also...


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## Guest (May 21, 2006)

DO NOT TURN THE HEAT TO 86 DEGREES! Turn it to 81-83 degrees. 86 degrees is way to hot.


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## Guest (May 22, 2006)

86 is fine, it just depends on the type of fish. Some fish can take the heat, some can't. I've raised my temp to 85F when my fish had ich and didn't lose any.

It doesn't sound like the tank was cycled. That probably stressed the fish out, leaving them susceptable to ich. That's also the reason they died. Ich doesn't always kill fish. If they are stressed, it can though.

I would get some hardy fish, like danios, harlequin rasboras, lemon tetras, to cycle the tank. Or, tell us what fish you want to stock the tank with now and we can tell you which ones are the hardiest. That way they will make it through the cycle.

I would do some research to see what types of fish will fit in the tank. I personally think a rainbow shark gets too large for a 26g. They get up to 6 inches and are pretty aggressive. I would only have one in that size tank if it was heavily planted.

Ask around in the cichlid forum if you are interested in keeping them. The only down side is that 26g is a little small for most cichlids. Especially the more aggressive types. You can't really put alot of them together.


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## violet (Mar 17, 2006)

Some strains of Ich are getting very tough. I had to go to 90F+ with a lot of salt last time. The Ich laughed at 87F & a little salt. It was awful. Lost the smallest fry but the rest are great now.

violet


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