ICK

[Angie P]

OK so I have a 10 gal tank. and a 1 gal tank. The 10 gal now has 1 tiger barb, 1 dalmation and 1 male Betta. Have the female in the other tank.

I had lots more fish but lost about 8 of them in about 2 days. is ICK. What exactly causes ick. I have treated the tank with ICK clear tank buddies. then as it requested, the Fugus Clear tank buddies. The fish are much more active and are eating again. However when I looked today the Tiger Barb is covered with those telltale little white dots... However he didn't have them the first time... Just now..
Any suggestions?

[Kim]

Did you do the full recommended treatment? If you did not, it may be that there were still some ick parasites (some of the eggs are not killed by medications) in the water, and when you stopped the meds, the tank became reinfected. Even if you did the recommended treatment, I would do another round if your fish are still showing signs of ick. I have used Quick Cure, and it worked for me, could just be the timing in relation to the parasite's lifecycle.

The fungus clear was probably not necessary if ick was your only concern.

Good luck.

[Little-Fizz]

It's always good to battle ich with salt and an increase in water temperature. Try this method http://www.fishforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=7705

Its probably not a good idea to keep your tiger barb with your betta, adding more tiger barbs may make them less likely to nip but bettas just have to long of fins to risk it.

[Angie P]

I'm working on the 3rd treatment. the barb did not show any spots on him until after the 2nd dose and the fugus stuff. once they started eating properly again, and back up to their normal energy level for about a day or 2 I put in a new filter and it was after that I noticed the barb covered in spots. The first time his Eye was all covered over but no spots that I why I used the fungus cure as well.

[iamntbatman]

Are you using any activated carbon in your filter? If you are, it's stripping any medication you add to the water out essentially right as you add it. It's important to remove all activated carbon from your filter when medicating.

I agree, temperature increases and salt work wonders for curing ich. However, if you're medicating, be careful with the salt as many medications include some salt in them as well. You wouldn't want to overdo it, especially as bettas are sensitive to salt.

Also, once your fish get healthy again, that tiger barb is very likely going to destroy your betta's fins. Increasing the school size of the barbs helps reduce their nippiness, but a suitable school of them would be too much for a 10g tank. Tiger barbs need lots of swimming space.

[Angie P]

I removed the filter from the tank before I started to medicate... I have moved Zohan (Male Betta) to a seperate tank as he is very listless and not eating. Hoping that maybe he would eat. Not yet. Have had to check several times to ensure he is still alive.... Mad at me for that.. but he is definatley alive. I'm not sure if he is going to make it.. but Maria (female betta) is happy and healthy as ever.... I am going to start the salt regimen right away... I do tend to keep aquarium salt in the water about once every 2 weeks or so. So where exactly does ICK come from and what causes it to come forth?

[dramaqueen]

Feeding frozen or live foods can cause ick.

[Angie P]

So it could have been from the bloodworms....

[Flashygrrl]

Originally Posted by dramaqueen

Feeding frozen or live foods can cause ick.

Huh???

Here: http://www.peteducation.com/article....articleid=2421
It'll tell you more than you ever wanted to know about these buggers.

Your 10 gallon was too overstocked in any case. Where do you have your male betta now and how do you plan to stock the 10 gallon in the future?

[dramaqueen]

Thanks, Flashygrrl, for the info on ick. I had read on another site that frozen live food can cause ick. I think I mistakenly wrote frozen OR live food. So its caused mostly from stress?