My fish might have a disese called "Ick" or something, does this stuff mean she is sick?

Question

One of my fish, a pink kissing gurami, has been getting bit on by other fish. Her name is Cecilia. She has sugar-like crystals on her fins and body. My Mom says this is probably "ick", a disease that fishes get easy. I know I can get medicine for the water, we will do that tommorrow. The fish that we have in our tank are a green spotted puffer, catfish, a little orange fish (not gold fish), and a female guppy. I know, I know. Horrible combination. I've tried to convince my Mom to seperate them, but she won't. We did have a male beta but he got his fin ripped by another fish. We put him in a bowl alone, but soon he died. :( What should I do? Does Cecilia have Ick? Should I just get the medicine and forget about it?

Answer 1

Yes....

this is an advanced form of Ick... take your infected fish out of the tank and put him in another bowl... Hopefully the tank and other fish are not as infected yet. However ask the pet store not only for the meds for the sick fish, but also something to treat your water after you clean it.
In most cases taking all the fish out of a tank is not recommended when cleaning, but now you need to, in order to remove all signs of this infectious/spreading disease. It will be very stressfull on your all of your fish to be removed from their living space, and you might loose the little guys like the guppy, and whatever the little orange fish is.. However they are not expensive to replace!

Step 1: Remove infected fish NOW!!!
Step 2: Get anti-ick meds for sick fish, treat it as recommended.
Step 3: Remove all other fish from your tank, and clean tank throughly. DO NOT USE SOAP. You CAN however use 2 parts water with 1 part vinegar, this helps break the fungus in the tank. Rinse properly, Fish are very fragile creatures.
Step 3 a: When cleaning the gravol, you can use a sieve (the thing you use to drain water from pasta!) Run your gravel under the water, flipping or swilling it around to make sure all the gunk is gone! If your plants are plastic, soak them for a few mins in the water and vinegar solution. (if they are live plants, throw them out and buy new ones. Ick can grow on live plants)
Step 4: Refill tank, the pet store might suggest to treat the fish left in the tank as well, anti-ick meds will not hurt the other fish cause most likely the other fish have some degree of ick too.
Step 5: Hope for the best... and Good Luck, I hope this helps!

P.S - the reason your beta had his fins eaten off, is cause puffer fish are extremly aggresive fish. And in no way should be mixed with other fish. However they can be mixed with other aggresive fish. (I once tried to mix puffers with a black ghost knife) turns out the puffers were not aggresive enough!

You need to find a good pet store, one with people who know what they are talking about. I know sometimes hard to find. Stay way from walmarts. They do not hire fish knowlegdeable people!

Your tank should be fine with the catfish, the orange fish (a name would help!) and the guppy if she survives. However keep in mind that your tank should be at least 10 gallons. You need a liter of water for every fish. (10 gallons = 3.8 liters) I wouldnt buy any more personally. Too many fish also leads to aggresive behaviour. (not enough room for all of them!)

if you have any more questions, please feel free to contact me:
[e-mail]

Best of LUCK!!!

Answer 2

"Ich" is not a disease, it is a parasite that attaches itself to fish and sucks out there body fluids. It shows up as very small white dots on the fish. It will look like sugar or salt has been sprinkled on the fish. These are the adult parasites. They will release eggs into the water and when they hatch, the young parasites will attach to any fish they can get hold of. The life cycle is 7-8 days.

If you have already tried medication without results, there is another way to cure ich. The other approach is to actually destroy the organism with heat, and can be combined with a salt treatment, but not with meds.

The data that was studied (including a report by the Southern Regional Aquaculture Center) suggests that most strains of Ich cannot reproduce at temperatures above 85ºF. To use this temperature treatment approach, slowly (no more than 1 or 2 degrees per hour) raise the temperature to 86ºF, while maintaining strong continuous surface agitation to oxygenate the water. This is extremely important because water holds less O2 at higher temperatures. (This is why meds should not be used in conjunction with high temp – most Ich treatment products also reduce oxygen levels. Less available oxygen, combined with the respiration difficulties an infected fish is already faced with, could be fatal.)

The adjusted temperature should be maintained for approximately 10 days, or a minimum of 3 days after all signs of the parasite have disappeared. Do not discontinue treatment when the spots go away. This is critical, because we know that they are visible only as a white spot (trophont) on the body of the host, and not during the reproductive or free-swimming stage. We also know that trophonts on the gills are impossible to see.

Answer 3

I don't see much wrong with the combo if you like it. To help with the ick have the water temp about 80F and do a 25% water change. Start giving the medicine. The higher water temp will make the fish heal faster. The water change will remove some of the germs from the water. Fish like you have usually get ick when water quality goes bad or the tank temp drops (it's like going out in the snow with a wet head) good luck

Answer 4

Ick is a fish disease that happens when your fish get white dots or spots on his/her body and/or fins. This is pretty contagious and you should separate that fish and your others IMMEDIATELY. Like, put them in separate tanks or containers that have a filter. There IS a solution for Ick. Believe me; I have 25 fish and at least half of Ick but it went away in about a week. You can find either powder or little tablets to resolve Ick at pet shops such as Pet Stop, Petco, Petsmart, or Pets Club!

Good Luck!

Answer 5

Ick is a parasite, there are drops you can buy for ick. Clean your tank out completly and every thing it do up everything fresh and follow the directions to the ick drops to a tee and your fish will be fine in about a week. lots of work but worth it. All the best.

Answer 6

do not dose ur tank. just adjust the heat about 2 degrees higher, turn the lights off for a cpl days. if u quarantine the fish, u run the risk of stresing it out. Ick is caused by stress or temperature change. since it's only one fish, it's probably b-cuz they're picking on it. sometimes turning the lights off will let them stay dormant and heal up

Answer 7

Not sure that it's "ICK" but not good try going to an aquatics store that knows their stuff, Ick can be treated but only if you catch it early and if it's not ick and you treat it you can stress your fish. you'll need to remove your fish from tank and clean it very well, then treat it when you place it back in. also isolate ant other fish from sick ones to prevent disease transfer.

Answer 8

The way you described the symptoms on Cecillia, I'm thinking " ich also. It could be treated. Cecillia needs a hospital tank to her self. She has to be stressed badly considering what she has been through. You will have to clean the tank with the other fish in it and treat them also. Get the best meds for them, treat them and wait.

Answer 9

Sounds like you Mom is right. Here are some links

You do have to quarantine them - separate them (you are right)

http://www.nunnie.com/ick.html

http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/ichparasiticdiseases/ht/treatbrooklynel.htm

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php

Answer 10

ich is always in the water but only attaches to unhealthy fish

put the med in and test your water to make sure its stable