BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Fish swordtail fry with ich-HELP!!!

i went to a local pet store and picked up five red swordtails. it ended up the store was having problems with ich. i decided to treat my 75 gallon aquarium since they were the only ones in there and i didnt want to go to the trouble of catching them and taking them back. plus i thought they were better off with me. the store is one of the chain stores and the help doesnt even know what ich looks like so they didnt catch it in time and are still having what i concider problems. anyway my problem is that one of the swords had fry in this 75 gallon tank before i moved them to the ten gallon hospital, and now a week after me spending hours to catch and try to save teh little guys they have ich too. the only thing i have felt safe to treat them with is coppersafe by mardel. the tank is set at 80F and i have a penn plax filter in it that i used for my guppy fry so the carbon is at least a month old, i dont know if carbon effects copper. oh, and is a five gallon tank with about 20 week old fry in it. i do 25% water change about every 3-4 days think that is everything is there anything else i can do or just watch them waste away?

sorry not 20 week old fry, 20 one week old fry-oops. and by the way thank you for any info you can give me.

Hi Scarlet and welcome to the forum. I'd remove the carbon with the Mardel. Best to use I think is Quick Ich for the fast effects, or you can take a safer but longer route with using Melafix, a more natural medication. The high temps are good and should help. aslo you need aquarium salt to help make the environment less good for ich life stages.

if i remove the carbon then i have no filter at all the cartridge is all one piece. should i buy a different filter? is it ok to not have a filter? and also i have rid ich would that work similarly to quick ich-just because it is what i have. i didnt know if it was alright to use on fry- thay are so tiny. thank you so much for the advice i already put the salt into the tank. hope some of them make it.

welll, yeah, they will suffer without a filter, but you HAVE to take it out. Carbon will just absorb all the meds. You might want to throw a sponge filter in with the fry so they will have something. DO you have an airstone? they will need a bubbler for sure if there is no filter, or they will suffocate.

Just change the water a lot to keep the ammonia down while there is no carbon.

ok, will do. thank you so much <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

i think everything is ok now with just the copper treatment and the salt you recomended. i cnat see any of the little guys with any signs of ich- woohoo!!!! <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> thank you again.

great! nce everything is settled down I don't think you will have another ich problem.

well i goofed. i forgot to plug the heater back after cleaning the fry tank at this point i still have two fry, but they are covered with ich. i wated to thank you for the help, it all would have worked out i thinkif i hadn't been so forgetful. ive cleaned out the 75 gallon tank they were in and refilled it, but no fish yet. Thank you again for your help. maybe they will pull through i still am cleaning and replacing salt just like before.

ooo, i hope they pull thru. I hate it when I forget simple things like that...it happens...