my common goldfish have ich and my parents wont buy me meds. what should i do?

Question

i have a 14 gallon tank with 4 gold fish. my parents wont buy me meds and i dont want to add salt to my tank because its a freshwater tank. what should i do to stop the ich?

Answer 1

Hello again, remember what I told you may happen adding the wild fish? I strongly suggest you return the Guppies to where you caught them before you start treating your Goldfish.Anyway-getting rid of Ich is easy-you don't need meds, they only mess with your system

Add 1 Tablespoon (=15 ml, or 0.5 oz) of salt per gallon of water. Add the total amount you need for your tank in two or three additions over a day or two. This is to slowly bring up the salt level. Keep them in the salt 10 days after the last spots are seen. When you do partial water changes only add salt back to the water you replace at the same proportion as above.

After the 10 day period simply stop adding salt & it will gradually be removed by your regular partial water changes. If you have real plants you'll have to remove them to a holding bucket during the period of treatment as the salt will kill them. You can use aquarium/kosher/sea or rock salt but dissolve it in a jug of tank water before adding back to your tank. Never use regular table salt as it contains harmful chemicals.

Once you have got rid of the Ich please think about your size of tank-it is way too small for one Goldfish let alone 4-you will never be able to keep the water quality anywhere near perfect & I'm afraid your fish will suffer & die prematurely. You will need at least a 40 gallon tank that is heavily filtered & has a fitted lid. If this is not possible then advertise them on your local Freecycle Group or Craig's List. Other than that see if your local pet store will take them off you [after you have gotten rid of the Ich!] Keeping that 14 gallon will only end in tears.

Answer 2

Table salt and medicinal salt are quite different from marine salt. Adding plain table salt to the tank to help cure ich will not make it any less of a freshwater tank. Just make sure you don't use salt with iodine or prussate in the ingredients. A big container of plain salt is about 50¢ at the grocery store.

Answer 3

I'm sorry but your parents are still at the stage in your life where they can control you. A twenty gallon fish tank is pretty big. Do you have enough space? Do you have enough time and money to take care of that many fish? I think you need to take a look at a pet store and see what size looks best to you and your family, do not look at the number of gallons, that will offset your judgment and you'll just end up arguing over pointless numbers again. Or I'm sure your parents would be okay with a 30 gallon tank if you presented your reasons in a well-thought-out and mature manner and showed them that you are responsible enough for such a task as that large of a fish tank.

Answer 4

Truthfully that is too many goldfish for your small tank. They will quickly outgrow it and foul the water very quickly. The easiest and quickest way to cure ick is to raise the water temperature to like 81-82 degrees for 3-4 days. The ick cannot survive in hot waters for very long, and that should break down their life cycle. The goldfish will be hurting for a few days, but if they survive they will be ok once the temps are brought back down to a cooler range. A little heat is better than dead. Hope this helps

Answer 5

my neon tetras hav ich, go get the medication yourself and if yuo cant use the aqaurium salt, dont worry it wont harm ur goldfish this special salt just kills of the disease and stops new outbreaks from happening. Get the medicine and salt, i treated my fish this way earlier.

Answer 6

You can buy a tiny bottle of "Nox Ick"(not sure of spelling) for not too much. Do they want you to lose the poor fish? Plead with them to let you get a little bottle, or see if there's a few chores you can do to earn a couple of bucks.

Answer 7

Great answer from army of one. Do that and hope for the best. It is a mite warm for goldfish, but they should be fine, and heat is among the best remedies. Uh...if your tank has a heater.

Answer 8

Don't listen to "Dr. Dope" - his name says it all. That would be cruel.

Are there any chores you can do to earn money, either at home or in the neighborhood? Ick medicine is not that costly.

How sad that your parents are so cheap, irresponsible and cruel. Tell them that Ick can easily be taken care of and it's not costly. You can also add that what they are doing is abuse.

Answer 9

put a note up at the pet store with your tel number, tell your situation, people will help, cause they like kids and pets. Just don't meet someone alone, tell them to leave product with pet store desk My pet store has bullition board

Answer 10

if you won't buy meds or add salt the only thing to do is end it

so put the fish in a plastic bag with some water and smash it with a hammer this ends it swiftly and painlessly and is humane.