# Diagnosis? I'm thinking Ich.. but can you help?



## Korottie (Feb 21, 2013)

Hey guys - we're new here as we only got our tank in the last week. We aren't new to having fish.. but.. we're still learning 

We got an iridescent shark that has been up and down - for a little while he's hiding behind rocks and looking half dead (leaning against the gravel) and other times hes swimming around like crazy through the whole aquarium. We're making sure he's eating. We have a 33gal tank.

Today we noticed that he has white dots all over hits back fin and top fin... and we're thinking Ich, but aren't 100% sure.

Really bummed, because we tried to ensure the whole tank was ready & clean for the fish - but we bought it 2nd hand and the fish came from Pet Cetera...not exactly the most credible of sources.

Here's a pic for visual help...we've put him in a separation tank just in case...


IMG_1865 by dwieclawska, on Flickr


IMG_1864 by dwieclawska, on Flickr


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## Guest (Feb 24, 2013)

It is in fact ich. You will want to treat with ich meds and follow the directions on the bottle. There is Rid-Ich that will get rid of the ich. Make sure you remove any carbon that you have in the filter, as the carbon will make the medicine useless.


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## Korottie (Feb 21, 2013)

Angelclown said:


> It is in fact ich. You will want to treat with ich meds and follow the directions on the bottle. There is Rid-Ich that will get rid of the ich. Make sure you remove any carbon that you have in the filter, as the carbon will make the medicine useless.


Thanks Angelclown! Yeah, we started looking into the boxes of accessories we received along with the tank when we bought it 2nd hand, and we found a few bottles of ich medications in there. We have just administered the 1st dose (but 1/2 strength as we have small fish & the do not have scales - according to bottle). We have to wait 48 hrs before we can do more. 
A lot of the bottles had some "how to tell if you have ich or other parasites" brochures along with them, so we just went full force LOL.

*fingers crossed*  Poor sharkie.


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## Guest (Feb 24, 2013)

Yeah with scaleless fish, like clown loaches, you have to half dose the medicine. I hope the shark gets better. You're welcome


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

did you find any " Aquari Sol " in that box..best ich med i have ever used..i am thinking of making it available again since i found a couple of extra pits i had stashed...


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## Korottie (Feb 21, 2013)

lohachata said:


> did you find any " Aquari Sol " in that box..best ich med i have ever used..i am thinking of making it available again since i found a couple of extra pits i had stashed...


No, unfortunately not. We used: "Ick Guard" by Jungle. It says that it's a one dose treatment but today we're seeing all the fish have spots  So far, this treatment is proving unsuccessful but we're trying to be patient.

We may venture into the pet store today and get some plants & new medication. Potentially administer within 48hrs to make sure the current stuff is filtered out/not harming our guys.


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## Guest (Feb 24, 2013)

Ich meds are dosed every 24 hours. The meds that you are using are probably for fungus or bacteria as they are dosed every 48 hours. Get ich meds, like Rid-Ich Plus.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

kick your temp up to 86-88 degrees...do a 50% water change and treat again..


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## Emily31996 (Nov 4, 2012)

I've always used Tetras ick guard and it works almost overnight.


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## Korottie (Feb 21, 2013)

Wow, great guys - thanks for that feedback. It has been 48 hrs now and the ich is definitely spreading rather than diminishing. 

We were concerned that turning up the heat will hurt the fish in other ways, but maybe we're just paranoid haha. Definitely the most suggested route here, other than a few of the name-brand ich medications.

We will do a 50% water change, re-administer new ich meds & hope that works! If not, then we're moving on to the heat method.

thanks all, will keep you updated!


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## Korottie (Feb 21, 2013)

Angelclown said:


> Ich meds are dosed every 24 hours. The meds that you are using are probably for fungus or bacteria as they are dosed every 48 hours. Get ich meds, like Rid-Ich Plus.


Well, it's called "ick-guard" and specifically mentioned ichs/icks on the bottle. But, I am actually genuinely concerned that it may be old medication and thus, maybe less effective....


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