Help I think my fish have Ick!?

Question

I have purchased Ick away and It says to remove the carbon from the filter. How long can I leave the filter off? The tank is only been running for like 2 weeks so I was under the impression that I needed the filter to be running to help the good bacteria grow. I also have very high ammonia levels which will not go down. I tried the Ammonia neutrilizers and the levels are still reading high. I just don't want another fish to die.

Answer 1

First of all, welcome to the hobby!

Ick is a common parisite in both fresh and salt water environments, infact there are several species of ick in both. In most cases you don't need to treat ick with anything since it will go away on it's own once you find and eliminate the source of stress, in this case a new tank setup. Depending on your aquarium setup your tank should cycle in about 3-4 weeks for freshwater and 3-6 weeks for saltwater. There are ways to shorten those times but that can only be done with careful planning before you set up the tank.

My best advice for you now is to let nature do it's job. Your fish have ick because their environment is in flux and not stable. This flux state causes stress which inhibits a fish's ability to produce it's protective slime coat. It is this slime coat that normally protects fish from getting infected with ick in the first place. The other thing you should look for is aggression between fish. The most common way to spot aggression is to look for a "ratty tail". Most fish have a smooth regular tail, if it looks like it's been cut or torn then you have other fish attacking. This will cause major stress in the fish that is being attacked, in fact I would say aggression between fish is the number 1 killer of fish in the hobby.

Happy, well fed fish just about never get sick.

As for the ammonia neutrilizers stop using them immediately. Like I said, the best course here is to let your tank cycle. I get this question all the time. In my 30+ years of being in this hobby I can tell you that adding chemicals to correct the water quality at this early stage will only cause your tank to cycle longer than it normaly would. I've seen tanks take up to 3 months to cycle just because the person wouldn't leave it alone. 3 months of stress equals a lot of dead fish which just feeds the problem.

Here is a check list for what you should do now:

1. Stop treatments and step back and look at your fish. (look for the ratty tail). If you see a lot of mayhem between your fish you might want to split them up with a tank divider untill you cycle the tank. If you don't want to do that then provide more habitat, ie. more plants to hide in or more under water structures for hiding. Normaly, I tell people to up the amount or frequence of food but in this case that could cause more problems with your cycling.(more uneaten food = waste that gets turned into ammonia)
2.Begin proper feeding of your fish. This may sound funny but there is a right way and a wrong way. This is by far the most common question I get "How do I feed my fish?". The answer is simple, feed fish A LITTLE AT A TIME (they should easily eat all the food you give them) untill ALL fish are done eating. If you do it right most fish will feed for about 5 minutes before they refuse food. You will notice a few fish feed like crazy, not even letting others feed. Those are your dominate fish. If you have ratty tails on any of your fish it was most likely done by one of these dominate fish. The dominate fish always feed first, then they will stop feeding and the others will get their chance. That is why it takes around 5 minutes. A little at a time means a small pinch by the way. Give a pinch, wait for the fish to eat it all or most of it (the idea is to have no waste) then give another pinch and so forth. If anyone ever has high fish loses this is the most likely cause, feeding too much, too fast or not enough. Flake food is great for learning to feed, once you have the hang of it you might switch to a pellet food they have more nutrition per bite. Frozen foods loose most of their nutrition when ice crystals form in the cells and rupture them.

3. If you want to add anything you can try "Stress Coat" it is available at most pet stores and can really help in your situation. Basically it is aloe vera for fish, it replaces the slime coat and prevents ick from getting to the fish's body. It isn't a cure but it is worth using.

4. Raise the tempature of the water to 80 deg F. Ick can only be killed when it is free swimming, and only free swimming ick can infect a fish. Raising the tempature will cause the ick to mature and grow faster and if your using the stress coat your reinfection rate should drop and the existing infection will die faster(increased water temp = increased ick metabolism = shorter ick life span)

5. If your tank is fresh water add some sea salt from the pet store( a handful of sea salt mix per 5 gal of water won't hurt your fish) . Ick is very sensitive to salt concentrations. If you have a salt water tank then lower the tanks salt concentration a bit (take the specific gravity of your salt water tank down to 1.018 untill the ick is gone then bring it back up to normal).

6. DON'T ADD ANY NEW FISH UNTILL YOUR TANK IS DONE CYCLING. They would most likely die shortly after you added them. When you start a tank you add about a third of the fish you would have in the tank once it is well established. For fresh water the average fish being 1 inch, you can have about 1 fish for every gallon of tank water, for salt water the average fish being 3-4 inches you need at least 10 gallons of tank water per fish.

If you follow these instructions you shouldn't have too many problems. You are likely to lose fish while your tank is cycling. It is sad but normal. Stick to only hardy fish untill your tank is done cycling. Most stores will give store credit for returned starter fish, if they are healthy.

Just in case no one explained to you what cycling your tank means:

A new tank must grow bacteria to process tank (fish) waste. The primary waste produced is ammonia which is very toxic to fish. That builds up untill the bacteria reproduce enough to process it all. That is the first part of your cycle.The bacteria reduce ammonia to nitrite which is less toxic to fish but still deadly in high doses. So you will see an ammonia spike that lasts about 10-14 days, then you will see a nitrite spike that lasts about a week to 10 days. A different bacteria process the nitrite to the end product of nitrate which is basically harmless to fish as long as you don't change nitrate levels quickly. The reduction of nitrite to nitrate is the second part of your cycle. After the nitrite levels have come down it is safe to add new fish, but don't add a lot of fish at a time or your tank will cycle again. Water changes will keep your nitrate levels in check. High nitrate levels cause algae to grow in fresh water tanks and high phosphate levels cause algae growth in salt water tanks (with nitrates coming in at a close second in salt tanks). Yes, there are bacteria for breaking down nitrates but that is an advanced hobby skill.

Answer 2

First off, depending on what kind of filter you have, you can remove the carbon filter media and still run your filter. For example some HOB power filter have different types of cartridges, if you have of this type just remove the carbon one.

An ammonia product that has worked for me in the past is SeaChem Prime. These products are usually a temporary solution and usually only detoxify the ammonia, not completely remove it, hence the high readings

Keep using the Ick Away, it's a good product, hope your tank clears up

Answer 3

I had the same ick problem with new tank. I took the filter out for many days, it didn't seem to make things worse. If this particular treatment didn't work try some other treatment. I found that the one that comes on form of dark blue drops works the best. (I forget the name)

Try asking at a pet store what to do with ammonia level being high.

Don't buy expensive fish till the tank is mature and stable. I know I hate to see them die, but sometimes it happens.

Good luck.

Answer 4

Ick looks like salt has been sprinkled on the fish. Sounds like you overstocked on the ammonia part. Don't feel bad, my first tank I did the same thing. Unfortunately I had to kill out sever fish to find how to care for a tank. Does more than 1 fish have it? If not, quarrantine the sick one. Treat the entire tank if more than one has it. Don't add more fish until the tank is clear from ick. Check at the pet store for another ick medication.

In the future look carefully at ALL the fish in the tank when you purchase more. If there is even 1 odd looking fish or dead fish in the tank, DON"T buy any of them. Only buy out of clean tanks. In my area, Walmart has a great fish assortment at affordable prices, but they aren't healthy. I'm not saying all wlmarts are like that, just the ones near me.

Answer 5

I think that you may be out of luck. The best way to treat ich is to add salt. There is aquarium salt for freshwater fish that pet stores sell, it helps the fish heal, kills ich and other parasites, and causes the fish to produce more slime - protecting them from further attacks. Since your tank is new, has too much ammonia (which leaves fish in a weakened state and more prone to problems), and now has been treated (which kills both ich and nitrifying bacteria) there isn't much you can do. Don't treat your tank anymore, add salt, change up to half of the water every other day for a week, don't buy any more fish for a few weeks and be happy if any of your current fish survive.

Answer 6

Oh my gosh, my fish had 'ick' it's aweful! Poor thing, but don't dispair, not matter what you've read or heard it's not a death sentence, fish can survive and many thrive after you get rid of it. My fish lived three years after the whole episode, (sadly he only had one eye, but he was always my favorite!).

I believe if you read the instructions for treating the fish tank you'll find that you only leave the filter off for a period of 24 hours or so. I wish I could recall exactly, but it has been so long. I would definitely consult your local pet store or Petco regarding the amonia levels.

I HOPE YOUR ALL YOUR FISHIES MAKE IT OK!!

Answer 7

to help with the ick you definatly do want to keep the filter running ,but the cabon or foam insert out for while you are treating. also using aquarium salt will help in keeping essential electrolytes in the water just like us taking a daily vitamin while sick. also using stress coat or a dechlorinator with aloe vera will help coat the fish , when you are done treating you need to do a partial water change on the aquarium, so if u have to use it again it will work and the fish wont become immune to it .