Medication advice needed.

[lashalove]

On Saturday while I was at work my boyfriend decided to get a couple new fish. He ended up getting them from a less than desirable store. He also put them in the tank with the water in the bag and all. So... surprise, suprise we have ich.

The tank in question is the 10 gallon in my sig. 1 tetra died, 1 other tetra has a ton of spots and the betta has a couple. I slowly raised the heat to about 85 and added 2T of salt. Upon further research I found out that the salt may not be good for the 2 plants I have in there. Any advice?

I was going to run into town today or tomorrow and see if I can get some ich meds, can I use these with the salt?

Also, the betta's fins are starting to look quite ragged, I don't know if this is in relation to the ich or perhaps the start of finrot... but I'd like to be prepared.

What are some other (common) medications I should have on hand?

[Fishfirst]

plants kind of make things a bit more difficult. I'd say you are on the right path as far as treating ich goes. Try to find an ich med that doesn't affect plants (which may be hard) otherwise treat the worst of the fish with a dip of melcalite green.

[suz33]

will a canister fliter improve my ph

[247Plants]

No a canister filter wont improve your ph, is your ph too high or too low?

Depending on the plant its most likely that they will be ok with a little salt. I have used up to 1tbsp per 5 gallons with my plants and MOST were ok. If you ever plan on keeping any kind of inverts dont use anything with copper in it.

I dont think there is a medication for ich thats safe with plants. Keep the heat and salt and it will be gone soon enough.

[Fishfirst]

how is one pH better than another?

[Damon]

Most plants are hardier than the fish you keep with them.......

[lashalove]

Thanks for the advice thus far...

Originally Posted by lashalove

Also, the betta's fins are starting to look quite ragged, I don't know if this is in relation to the ich or perhaps the start of finrot... but I'd like to be prepared.

What are some other (common) medications I should have on hand?

Still would like these questions answered, thanks.

Also, I've read conflicting advice about vacuuming the tank with ich, a few said vacuum after a week.. some said vacuum everyday, a couple said twice a day. Any thoughts?

[Fishfirst]

the vaccuming of the tank several times a day can help dramatically when treating ich. It removes the free swimming form of ich so they cannot recolonize a fish. However, the temp being at 85*F should kill any free swimming ich as it is, sooooo it just depends on if you want to do the water changes or not.

Also the bettas tail could be from a number of things. A) Finrot - likely to improve with a few water changes and using melafix or B) Someone is picking on him - Bettas are prone to getting picked on or C) He is removing his tail himself - sometimes when a male bettas tail is getting too long he will remove it or D) Plastic plants - these plants can cut a bettas tail up sometimes.

The medications I have on hand include:
Melafix, Methylene Blue, Coppersafe, Malachite Green, and Prazipro

[Giddy012]

The Bettas tail could be looking ragged from stress. You may just be seeing clamped fins.

[lashalove]

Thanks Fishfirst & Giddy

I'm thinking the betta is ripping up his tail in the plastic plant trying to get the ich off. I removed all decorations.. now there's just the 2 real plants.
Should I treat him with Melafix now, or wait until the ich is gone?

Lost another glowlite, 4 left, everyone has spots now.

I've been doing daily vacuumings removing about 30-40% of the water and adding about 1/2T of salt(i put it in the filter to dilute slowly) Temp is around 86.

I was wondering if I need to replace the filter, I would assume ich is getting sucked into there. I'm not sure the brand of the filter.. whisper something I think, it came in the 10gal kit from Walmart It has the bag cartridge and then the other wirey thing, should I replace both?. If I do need to replace it, i assume the tank is going to re-cycle...aargh.. being a newb is stressful.

[Fishfirst]

no don't replace it... I'd try to give them a Malachite Green dip in a seperate container

[lashalove]

Thanks for being so helpful, Fishfirst.

I lost the betta and another glowlite this morning The other 3 are looking ok.

If I do lose the other 3 what should I do before I start re-stocking the tank? Am I going to have to start from scratch?

[mousey]

theoreticaaly if the tank remains empty for a few weeks the ich parasite should die off.
Perhaps you can get some pure ammonia and just keep the bio filter alive and then you would not have to do a complete strip down. however if you are going to do that you may as well strip it down and then recycle fishless and be sure there are no ichs in the tank.
I hear your pain of recycling!

[swordtailbreedr]

raise the temp to 90 for 2 weeks then do a cooler water chjange or let it cool down and restock