ich and need help fast

Question
3 days ago I introduced two small Plecos into my tank from the fish store.  Today we found one of the Plecos dead and one of 8 neon tetras was missing.  Looking closer, the neons all have white spots that looks like the pictures of Ich. The neons are moving in a strange stabbing motion.  The Pleco also has spots.  I believe I have lost another neon in the last hour.

I have 4 corydoras catfish to complete my inhabitants in a 15 gal tank that is 3 months old.  Water quality is good and is consistent with what it has been.  I do a 25 percent water change each week and vacuum the gravel.

I have read A LOT tonight on the internet and now have some specific questions.   I am in Germany and am not fluent in German, so I will go to the fish store tomorrow but have to educate myself first because of the language problem for me.

I would have immediately started an increased temp/salt treatment in my tank if there were no cories.  And if I had salt. I live in an area of no convenience stores.

My question is, what is my best course of action tomorrow when the store opens.  I have read that the treatment chemicals can be harsh for the healthy and sick fish, so first question, do I need to worry about a Malachite/Formalin treatment?

I don't have a hospital tank, but tonight I went ahead and prepared two tanks as described below. Would it be safe/wise to transfer either my healthy cats or sick fish into these tanks?

Rubbermaid container
7 gallons of water, treated with Stress Coat
To get a bacteria cycle going I heated some main tank water to 95 degrees for awhile and also some gravel.  I was hoping to kill the Ich but not destroy bacteria, I have no idea if this was a good idea. I added about a gallon of heated main tank water and the gravel wrapped up in a bag and also added the prescribed amount of live bacteria to start a chem cycle.

I could buy filter and heat tomorrow.

What is my best course of action now?
a.  Treat the main tank with medicine with plants and all fish.
b.  Remove my healthy appearing cories and treat the main tank with either salt/temp or medicine?
c.  Remove the cories into one tank and sick fish into the other for treatment and treat the main empty tank.

Thank you for your time, I am in the middle of this emergency alone, it's 3 am here and it's hard to go to bed wondering what will be left in the tank when I wake up.  I would appreciate some clarity and experience.

Answer
Hi Sarah;

It is very hard to get what you need in Germany as an English speaking person. I've heard the same concerns from others as well. Do the best you can I guess. Hopefully someone there can figure out what you need.

If you can get a malachite-green/formalin treatment it is actually a good one to use. It will have to be used at a half-dose though. Your neons and cories can't tolerate a full dose. Another option is "CopperSafe". I don't know if it's available there but it's worth a try. Aquarium salt is a good thing to use for ick and I have used it with cories in my tanks for many years. I have given them up to 1 teaspoon per gallon without appearing to be harmful to them. It's only temporary anyway. Once the disease is gone your regular weekly water changes will remove it over time.

Treat the fish all in the original main tank if you can. Even though some fish don't look like they have it they may indeed develop spots in the next 3 days. It can take that long for the spots to visibly appear after being exposed, but not every fish will be infected the first day. Some fish even appear to be immune to ick and will "re-infect" the other fish when you put them back together. Some fish only get it on the gills and they simply suffocate without any outward signs of disease.

I know you went to a lot of trouble to start a quarantine area for some of them but they have all been exposed and all need treatment. The "cycling" process is very complex too and the quarantine container will probably still have toxins even though you added a bacteria product. If you still want to use it, change 25% of the water every day to keep toxins low. Don't put a filter on it. It can remove medication. Use an airstone instead, just to be sure there is oxygen.

Water changes are very good to do regardless of which tank/container you treat them in. It removes some of the free-swimming parasites so they can't re-attach to the fish.

I hope they do okay...

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins