My Goldfish can't seem to get rid of Ick... Help!?

Question

I have a 55 gallon tank, and its only been set up for about 6 weeks. Since then, I've lost numerous fish. The past 2 weeks my fish looked sick, but a friend who is successful with a 65 gallon tank said they looked fine. The white fuzz I thought I saw got worse and worse, and soon the fish were covered with it. I then found out they had Ick. I went out and bought medicine, and have been treating it for 3 days now. In the past couple days I've lost both my baby plecasamus, and 3-4 goldfish, and still my fish are covered in the stuff. I've taken the charcoal out of my filter, checked the PH level, done a water change 3 days ago....and still my fish just sit on the bottom of the tank and don't come up to eat. They look horrible. Why isn't the medicine working? It's turning my water blue, and I'm measuring the medicine right. I thought this was "easy" to get rid of... Please help!
Heather~

Answer 1

Treatment of Freshwater Ich, Ichthyophthirius.
It is believed that ich is present in all aquariums. Fish that have the disease exhibit small white dots about this size of a grain of salt. It is very contagious and it is fatal.
The best protection is a healthy tank with water changes done weekly or every other week with a gravel vac in the amount of 20-25% of the tank volume. A sound practice in fish keeping is to keep new fish in quarantine 4-7 days before adding them to your tank. The stress from being shipped from the wholesale to the retailer, the stress of living in the retailers tanks which may be overcrowded and poorly maintained and the stress of being bagged up and taken to your home can weaken a fish and make it most vulnerable to ich and other ailments. Rather than introduce a sick fish to your aquarium, it is better to quarantine it until you know it is healthy.

When sound fish keeping practices are not enough, fortunately ich is also very easy to cure. Freshwater ich should not be confused with marine ich, Cryptocaryon irritans. Salt will weaken freshwater ich, obviously marine ich, being in salt water already, this is obviously not the same treatment.

First step:
20-25% water change with gravel vac. Most likely your poor water conditions contributed to the outbreak of ich.
Second step:
Raise temperature (no more than 1° per hour) to 85°.
Third step:
Add aquarium salt (not table salt) in the amount of one rounded tablespoon per 5 gallons. If you have scaleless fish such as loaches, catfish and "algae eaters", reduce that to one rounded teaspoon per 5 gallons, as they don't tolerate salt well.
http://www.aquariumpharm.com/en_us/productCategory.asp?categoryname=WaterConditioners
Fourth step:
After 24 hours, a second 20-25% water change. Add more salt. If you took 5 gallons out in the change, put another rounded tablespoon in.
Adjust for your situation.
Fifth step:
Wait 24 hours.
Sixth Step:
A third water change of 20-25% and replace salt removed.

If this does not cure the fish, and no signs of improvement show up yet, you may want to use a commercial ich curative, all of which require removal of the carbon from your filter, or the carbon will filter out the medication. You can continue with the cleaning process and maintain salt levels. Brackish water fish such as mollies need to have some salt in order to maintain good health. Most other fish benefit from a little aquarium salt as well.

One of the most common is copper sulfate medications like Aquarasol http://www.aq-products.com/APpro/aquarisol.htm
In more extreme cases, Malachite Green is very popular.
http://www.aq-products.com/APpro/quickcure.htm
In the case of scaleless fish such as loaches and catfish, a formaldehyde based Formalin
http://www.aq-products.com/APpro/formalin.htm
Be extremely careful with Formalin doses, many are super concentrated containing 37% formaldehyde, as 1 teaspoon treats 90 gallons.
Some are pre-diluted like Formalin-3, where the dosage is 1-2 teaspoons per 10 gallons. Formalin will kill the bacteria in your filter that break down the waste,
http://www.novalek.com/kordon/formalin/index.htm
Some products contain a combination of these medications. Read the labels and know what you are putting in your tank.

Good Luck

Answer 2

here is a step by step guide its quite long 1:VISIT A PET STORE You need to purchase some much needed supplies (if you do not already have them on deck). You need a fish and tap water conditioner in order to remove chlorine from the water, help replace the fish' s slime coat, and encourage tissue regeneration. You also need aquarium salt for freshwater fish. The salt assists in disease recovery and adds vital electrolytes. Finally, purchase a malachite green product that treats fungal and protozoan infections and gets rid of parasites. Read all instructions and warnings on the labels of each of the above mentioned products before using them. 2:STOP BY A HEALTH FOOD STORE Aloe vera is known for its healing properties and also helps get rid of fungus. The use of tea tree oil offers many therapeutic benefits. Purchase a small aloe vera plant and a small bottle of tea tree oil. Never be without these two items again! 3: TAP WATERFIND THE TIME AND GET STARTED Try to handle the situation as soon as possible because goldfish can die very quickly when Ich is left untreated. Gather enough bottles of tap or bottled water to fill almost half of your tank. If it is a ten gallon then you will need about four gallons of water. Be sure to let the water sit for at least twenty-four hours if it is from the tap. This helps to reduce the chlorine levels 4:PROTECT YOUR HANDS Use plastic gloves because you are going to do a partial water change and you don't want to have skin-contact with contaminated water. You will need a pitcher (that will never be used in the kitchen again) and a pail to begin the first step 5:START DIPPING Use the pitcher to begin to remove some of the current water in the tank. Pour it into the pail and use the pail to dump it into the toilet. Be careful about splashing. 6:Once you have removed a little less than half the tank you can stop and put the pitcher and pail to the side 7: ADD FRESH WATERREMOVE CHLORINE / ADD FRESH WATER Following the directions, add the correct amount of fish and tap water conditioner using a measuring spoon. (Please don't use in the kitchen again.) Now you can slowly add the fresh water from your bottles. Your goldfish may begin to panic and swim around frantically a bit, but don't worry. Just add the water using a back and forth motion so as not to displace the gravel too much. 8: I NEED IT!MEDICINE TIME! It is a must that you remove the filter cartridge before adding the anti fungal parasite remover. Follow the instructions very carefully and use your gloves! You can also measure the aquarium salt and add at this time. Your fish may get confused and try to eat it, but will quickly spit out the granules 9: ALOE VERA PLANTALTERNATIVE MEDICINE TO TOP IT OFF Add a few drops of tea tree oil along with an aloe leaf. Aloe vera leaves are long and juicy. Make a slit along the length of the leaf before dropping it into the water. Remove it when begins to look like it is disintegrating. You may also opt to use aloe vera as part of a long term preventative plan for your fish's health. 10: I MADE IT!JUST ABOUT DONE! Make sure that the tank filter is plugged in and then clean up your supplies. Be aware that this procedure (each step) may have to be repeated for up to three consecutive days. The day after the final treatment you must replace about three fourths of the water. This is when you can finally replace the old filter cartridge with a new one. Remember to rinse the new cartridge in cool water first. Congratulations! Hopefully your fish have made a full recovery and are now swimming happily in your home aquarium

Answer 3

White fuzz certainly sounds more like a fungus infection than ich. Ich looks like small grains of salt sprinkled on the fish. If this is the case you are on the right track and it just needs more time to work. If it is really fuzzy looking, then you aren't dealing with ich and ich medication may or may not work to help the problem. If it does look really fuzzy it is one of two things, Columnaris or fungus.

The best way to tell them apart is that columnaris always grows in a very round circular spot while fungus rarely does. Columnaris is also pearly or opalescent white while fungus is a flatter, grayish white.

Columnaris: it can occur anywhere on the fishes body and there have been documented lab cases of it being a systemic, or body wide infection. It's not real easy to treat as it only responds well to a very limited number of antibiotics. The best treatment for columnaris is Furanace. It is the only known antibiotic that will treat both the surface and internal parts of the infection and the only one that will treat it if it becomes systemic. Other treatments are usually very harsh and include copper sulfate, potassium permanganate and Oxolinix acid. Treat with Furanace for 2 weeks to be sure you are rid of the disease.

Fungus - Hopefully this is what you have and odds are good it is. Fungus is easy to treat and responds well to common Malachite green ick medications. There are several fungus medications that also contain Malachite Green and work very well. Treat until you have seen no signs of the disease for 5 days.

Warning: Malachite Green is a known carcinogen so be very careful to keep it off your skin!

Hope this helps

MM

Answer 4

Relax, first of you may not be using the proper medicine for teh type of ich your fish has. If it is cottony not spotty like sugar, you are going to have to treat with an ich medicine that actually cures velvet not ich. The medicine needs to state that it will kill the Oodinium parasite.

Ich takes a while to cure. Usually 7 days or more.

However, your fish could also have a fungual infection. You need to be sure what they have. I would suggest checking what the medicine you have is suposed to cure. I would suggest continue to treat for ich, if the medicine states it cures Oodinium. If not change meds.

Do not change the temp in the tank or use other meds at this time. If you do not see improvement within 3-4 more days, chances are they have a fungus, and/ or a fungus.

You need to be sure what it is your fish have to properly treat them.

Answer 5

There may be several problems going on.
You may have initially gotten ich, then a secondary fungal infection or bacterial infection such as flexibacter.

You also may (and probably do) have water conditions that are inhibiting cure and allowing a secondary infection to flourish.
Water conditions are a major problem in the cure and prevention of ich, I have conducted several experiments in my maintenance business over the years to find what helps prevent and further proper ich cure when ich is present.

Here are a few parameters that are often forgotten:
*GH (a good test for electrolytes you should have at least 80-100 ppm)
*Calcium (VERY important for buffering Malachite Green and maintaining proper osmotic function at a time when fish need it most!)
*KH (again helps buffer MG)
*Even the lesser known Redox Potential helps here.
*Then or coarse the obvious ones are ammonia and nitrates and rapid pH changes.

Finally not all ich medication is equal, Quick cure is very effective. Others of note are Jungles Ich buddies, ParaGuard and Medicated Wonder Shells (which also buffer the water and add electrolytes)

I recommend reading this article about ich (with pics):
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Ich.html

Answer 6

That's strange that the illness won't go away. Bythe way, your fish don't have ich, they have fubgus but it's treated with ich medicine so it should be going well. You should preform another water change and keep treating them. Hope this helps. and hope yopur fish get well soon

Answer 7

hey the water is too cold get a heater and maintain a temperature of 24 to 26 Celsius it will surely work

Answer 8

I hope when you changed the water that you dechlorinated it.

Answer 9

you need to buy a tonic for them. also get some proper advice it sounds like they have a fungus infection