Ich....my new fish i bought for my new aquarium have ich.

Question
I purchased a new 29gallon aquarium Wednesday. I came home set it up
(it was a complete kit). Thursday I returned to the petstore chain and
purchased $122 of fish and a plants.

I purchased 5-angels; 2 turquoise gouramis; 5 neon tetras; one leopard
pleco; 1 dalmatian molly; 1 black molly; 1 red female sword tale; a
snail; and silver dollar; and an albino catfish/shark ( I can't remember
it's name of hand; it's a type of shark pale orange w/ red/orange fins)

When I told the person working the fish dept. I wanted her angels she
said she didn't think I wanted any of them they were sick w/ something
called ich (and showed me the airbubble looking spots on them) I said
ok, she proceeded to take them out to a "sick tank" then took out five
and said they were fine. (this is my first experience with fish other
than a betta i've had for a year as of yesterday). I had no idea what ich
was. I get my fish home set them up and begin to fish watch then....I
noticed 3 out of 5 of my angels have these spots on them. I've done a
partial water change, added salt (not yet to .3 salinity but will be
tonight), turned off the light, and have increased the heat to 81-82
degrees. I woke up this morning to one of my angels floating upside down on
the bottom of my tank...how many more will die? more importantly how
long does it take them to die? how do i quarantine this tank and my live
plants. I'm sure all of my fish are now infected even though they don't
show signs yet. I do have a 14-day warranty but that doesn't change the
fact I want them to survive not die. This sounds cold but I don't want
to nurture them and spend even more $$$ just for them to survive 15-16
day and not qualify for my warranty either, that's why i was wondering
how long it takes for ich to kill; so i can financially prepare for
that. Am i better off to sit back and let it do it's damage and then
start over...they all seem fine (behavior wise).

Thanks, Becky


Answer
Becky,                                                       NO reputable shop or knowledgeable person would have loaded your tank like that since it is new. Especially with angels. They are an extremely sensitive fish. Though once you have them and they get some meat on their bones they tend to rule the roost. Since they were sick already its even worse. Ok lets start at the beginning you have a new tank. You have no established ecosystem. Look up new tank syndrome. What happens when you have a new tank is when you add fish bacteria starts growing this is necessary to cycle down your tank. If you add too many fish right away it overwhelms the bacteria that you are growing and your ammonia ( which is from your fish wastes) spikes and becomes toxic. You should not be doing any water changes right now. I don't think many of your fish are going to make it through this honestly. You should have started with about 6 fish..... and all the same type... your angels are semi aggressive and your neons are tropical community which means they may have become food for your angels. First I am going to explain what your tank is going to go through for the next few weeks and then I am going to tell you what to do to medicate your tank for ich. When you set up a new tank and add a few fish at a time it adds bacteria. You have to let the bacteria grow and settle into your gravel. You add 6 wait a week add a couple a week after that then your bottom feeders(catfish and algae eaters in about 3 weeks) As you add your fish your ammonia will get high...as you bacteria grows it is recycled or eaten by your bacteria and turned into nitrites..( a less toxic form of ammonia).... then it is recycled again by your bacteria and turned into your least toxic form of ammonia nitrates. If your pet shop doesn't do free testing and can't tell you what is going on get test strips and you can see it. Your ammonia will go high then drop and nitrites go high and then drop then nitrates. When your nitrates are high in your new tank you are at the end of your cycle and are establishing a sound eco-system.After that you nitrates should only go up when you do your regular cleanings once a month new fiter cartridge. You clean with a siphon. It takes the solid wastes out of your gravel and does your water change at the same time.As far as the ick is concerned if you don't see anything that looks like salt specks on your fish you are ok. If you do go get coppersafe. Great stuff from Mardel. Cheap and good. If your filter carbon is more than 4 days old you do not have to remove it. 1 tsp per 4 gallons.That will take care of that. So no matter what happens take your time adding fish in the beginning... I know you want it beautiful right away , but it is a living piece of art and no great art is done in a day.Good Luck,Tina