My fish have what I think is Ich and fungus. I gave them one treatment. 3 days later, I gave them another.?

Question

I have lost 6 fish in the meantime. I took out the entire filter. Because the meds state that there should be no carbon filter in the tank. Is this correct? Should I just leave the filters on without the filter in it while I am treating the tank for fungus and ich. I took out the cabon filter and just left the filters on. Do you have any advice. Was this correct. What I assume the carbon filters is the entire filter. So there is nothing to filter the water at this time. The filter is just running the water thru and hopefully just generating more oxgyen. Is this correct? and how long should I leave the filter cartridages out before putting them back in.

Answer 1

You only want to remove the carbon from the filter, not the filter itself if at all possible. If your filter is a cartridge type where all is combined into one unit, you can either make a small hole in the top and shake the carbon out. The carbon will either be what looks like black rocks, or a black pad. You want to let the filter run, because this is what circulates the dissolved oxygen from the surface to the rest of the tank.

You want to treat for the ich at least 3-5 days after you no longer see spots on the fish - if you stop too early, you run the risk of the fish being reinfected, because the parasite is only killed when it's in the water, not on the fish. After the 3-5 days are up, you can add the carbon back after a water change - the change will reduce the concentration of the medication in the water, and the carbon will help remove the rest.

As far as the fungus, you should be positive that fungus is what you're dealing with before treating. There's a bacterial disease called Columnaris which also looks like a fungus. You can tell these apart because the fungus has longer strands, and you should be able to see each strand separately. The border of this type of infection is usually irregular in shape (see photos: http://www.fishjunkies.com/images/fungus-pic2.jpg , http://a1272.g.akamai.net/7/1272/1121/20001218142418/www.peteducation.com/images/articles/tfh_fish_cotton_wool.jpg ) Columnaris strands are shorter, and tend to be matted together. This infection is usually is circular in shape (http://www.fishjunkies.com/images/Columnaris2.jpg ).

Fungus is a relatively minor problem compared to the ich, so make that your primary concern to treat (if you're using malachite green/formalin or salt to treat the ich, this will treat the fungus as well). Columnaris, on the other hand, can be aggressive, and needs to be treated in the same manner. The best medication for this is Furanace.

Answer 2

The carbon must be removed from your filter while you are treating for ich because otherwise it will filter the medication out of the water. It's fine to leave the filter running without the carbon in it while you are treating. This will still help aerate the water by causing surface turbulence and if there is any other sort of filter pad you will still get some filtration. Not all filters use carbon and you might be able to get a non-carbon filter cartridge for yours. Once you have completed the course of treatment recommended on the medication instructions (I can't say how long as they are all different) you can put your carbon back in your filter. Then it will filter the medication out of the water along with all the other crud it's supposed to be filtering out. Be prepared to have a 'mini-cycle' in your tank as medications often kill off either all or most of the beneficial bacteria in your tank. Don't forget to turn up the heat while treating for ich as this will shorten the lifespan of the ich and help kill it more quickly and effectively.

Good luck with your treatment and I hope you save some of your fish.

Answer 3

Following advice that I got here on Y! Answers, I tried this awesome stuff called Melafix. I was concerned that some of my fish would not tolerate the standard ich medication. I bought the Melafix at Wal-Mart & it worked beautifully without harming any fish. Good luck!

Answer 4

Ich medicine is very dangerous to fish. It's kind of a lose/lose situation. Follow the instructions on the medicine. You may want to change out your tank and clean it really well.