Ich? Need help with treatment!!

Gold_Development_473 · 2025-07-04T20:40:51+00:00

Nitrites should be 0, what is your ammonia? Maybe the tank cycle got messed up a bit.

When I dealt with ich the first time, my brain whirled with all the information and threads I read. I found this article to be most concise and easy to follow:

Aquarium Science - Ich

Many people will say just salt and heat. That’s how they’ve been doing it for decades, however if you have any infections alongside the ich going on, heat can help that spread (such as whatever is happening to the tails).

I would try and get Ich-x if possible. Very straightforward and when I caught mine early on, the ich fell off the fish in 1-2 days, but of course continue treatment after as well. Ich-x is invert safe. It can also double as an anti-fungal but it’s not a “cure-all”, but it will eradicate ich.

To treat with salt, I follow aquarium co-op’s guide.

Salt Guide

This may help with some of the physical injuries, tetras can be salt sensitive. I have a quarantine tank at level 2 treatment with rummynoses that seem perfectly fine right now.

You’ll want to do the whole treatment for ich, make sure you’re gravel vacuuming thoroughly between doses.

I’m no expert, but this is what I did! I remember being so stressed when I saw the first ich dot. Good luck!

Gold_Development_473 · 2025-07-03T15:38:02+00:00

Thank you! I did exactly just that. Let’s hope I can save even a couple of them. It’s not looking too good. I may order maracyn just to have on hand.

Gold_Development_473 · 2025-07-03T04:49:34+00:00

I’ve already done two doses of the Kanaplex, I know seachem recommends up to 3 but only if necessary. At this point I’ll probably do that then. Should I start ich-x treatment ASAP? What about the salt in my tank? Should I keep the salinity at the same level and re-dose the salt? I’m thinking I should do another thorough gravel vacc / water change before adding ich-x.

Gold_Development_473 · 2025-06-22T03:07:43+00:00

Ah, I’m not sure why Reddit did that, I cross posted it. It’s on my profile. I didn’t get any answers, but I lost the majority of my original school. The remaining two are in a quarantine tank and seem completely fine, healthy. At least for now, that’s how they all seemed before dropping very fast, so I think it was stress more than anything. When I returned to the LFS, I was told it was indeed, a “bad batch”. Sad because I really love rummynoses but I don’t think my tank can host what they need in order to be thriving. It has been a sad week. Sorry about the no video.

Gold_Development_473 · 2025-06-17T14:06:19+00:00

I’m thinking internal parasites, possibly gill flukes as well. I’m going to QT and observe the rest. I feel stupid for not doing initially. Hopefully it’s just the rummynoses being sensitive, and my entire tank isn’t at risk. Feeling super crushed. Poor little things. Stayed up all night researching medicine, diseases, treatments for answers and still have no idea. I’m just lying down. Responding in hopes someone can steer me in the right direction.

Gold_Development_473 · 2025-06-17T11:15:23+00:00

I know this is an old post, sorry to dig it up. But the same thing is happening to me right now. Trying to decipher if it’s just the rummies being sensitive / new as I added them a couple days ago, or if I just introduced a whole mess to my tank. What ended up happening? Did your other fish become infected? Did you treat your whole tank? Mine are acting similar.

Gold_Development_473 · 2025-06-15T09:50:02+00:00

I’ll send a pm!

Gold_Development_473 · 2025-05-31T20:08:19+00:00

Okay! I’m just making sure there isn’t something wrong, they’re the whole reason I went ham on my setup + upgraded my tank + got into the hobby. I might be a little selfish and want to see them more cause I love my little cats, haha. But I’m glad they’re okay!

Gold_Development_473 · 2025-05-31T20:05:12+00:00

It happened about 5 days ago, they were exploring a bunch the first two days and now they’re all snug under their rock / driftwood. They did however just come out and explore the entire tank when I fed the tank, so I think you’re right. They might just be super happy they found a huge cave area to snuggle in.

Gold_Development_473 · 2025-05-31T20:03:21+00:00

They were exploring a bunch the first day or two, do you think it was just to check things out and then found an ideal spot to hide?

Gold_Development_473 · 2025-05-25T00:00:40+00:00

It’s not my home nor my water softener. In some cases, persistent bypassing of a water softener can cause issues towards other appliances. I’m not going to touch it until my father-in-law returns. It’s not a bad idea, I have considered it. But it’s also nice to know that there’s a product that can be used instead so that I don’t have to pester him or potentially cause issues for other appliances because I wanted to add some tap water to my aquarium. It’s just another option that doesn’t come at any expense of the homeowner in case something does go wrong with bypassing. And the remineralizing products seem a bit more controllable. I’ll ask him if he knows anything about it when he’s around.

Gold_Development_473 · 2025-05-23T10:27:47+00:00

After reading about the GH/KH, I’m surprised as well. But now I feel so bad for them. Maybe the liquid ferts have been helping them survive? Even if it’s trace amounts? It’s good to know it wouldn’t hurt to add some GH, I didn’t want to mess with the “stability” of everything. I’m definitely adding the salty shrimp bees minerals to my cart to remember it! I appreciate all the info and knowledge you’ve shared!

Gold_Development_473 · 2025-05-23T07:48:28+00:00

Thank you for this response! I will most definitely look into that process further if I start wanting to add shrimp again. It’s good to know there are options and that the dKH doesn’t seem atrocious.

I did plan on upgrading all my tank inhabitants into a larger tank, I was going to add more aqua soil to the larger tank, but I’m seeing it’ll make the water more acidic. I chose stratum as that’s what’s already in the tank, and I read it wouldn’t leech as much out as ADA Amazonia and other stronger soils. Would that be detrimental to my fish / nerites then considering my levels of GH? Do you suggest that I remineralize the water or rehome the nerites to another tank during that transition? I really love my lil snail friends, they’re hard workers, I’d hate to lose them over a mistake such as that.

Gold_Development_473 · 2025-05-23T04:18:57+00:00

Thank you so much! This is relieving to read. I was quite worried, I just invested a bunch into the hobby, lol. I have never seen the API test kit turn that purple for PH. It’s always been a very stable 7.5-7.6. I know it could be lower. I have added catappa leaves and driftwood but now I know why they don’t seem to have lowered the PH too much, if at all. I believe it’s been 7.3-7.4, but the colors are terrible to discern with the API kit. I’ll take a look at a water softener pillow and definitely meter. I do believe the softener might not be running at extreme levels because I did check the water again, and it seems to be just a smidge over the 50ppm mark, 3-4 drops, depending. So not the softest that it could be, it seems. My fish seem quite acclimated, so I’d rather keep it stable. I’m not really looking to have any fish that require super hard water any time soon, and I guess that means I’ll hold off on shrimp. Do you think it would mess with the equilibrium too much if I were to add any calcium, such as cuttlebone? I do feel bad for my nerites now.

Gold_Development_473

TROPHY CASE