Ulcers

Question
QUESTION: I guess my questions would be, the first being, I have four gouramis in a 10 gallon tank and have noticed 2 of them have little white spots on their fins. I was informed they had ulcers and I needed to drop a tablet into the tank to get rid of these ulcers. I was informed to take the filter out before dropping this tablet, but i wasn't informed how often to drop these tablets. On the package it says after 4 days drop a second dose, but do a water change beforehand. But when i called the fish store was told to drop one everyday. My question is, can I clean and do a water change everyday while doing this treatment or should i just leave it alone. The water is real yucky looking but I suppose its from the tablets plus I'm not using the filter. I did a 30% water change yesterday before dropping a second tablet in (day 2) plus did a gravel wash but it looks like I haven't done a change or wash in about 2 weeks already! I think I may be overfeeding the fish as well, so I'll slack off on food for a day or so, until I can get this under control.
ANSWER: Hey Monica,

Whoever told you to use one jungle Fizzy Tab every day is completely wrong. Call them back and tell them they need to learn how to use medication.

Odds are, the white spots are ich, not ulcers. Ich is a protazoan infection in which small micro organisms attach themselves to the body of a weak fish, and grow into large white slat-grain looking infections. The jungle fizzy tabs are probably not the best solution to this problem. I'd recommend Rid-Ich as a faster, more effective solution. If you stick with the tabs, use them as directed. If you go with rid-ich, same story: follow the directions on the bottle.

On a side note, if your filter media is more then 2 weeks old, you CAN use it with the fizzy tabs. Whomever told you not to, does not know how to read directions. Go ahead and stick the filter back on, and get AmQuel to get rid of the ammonia that's built up from the extra food. AmQuel is safe to use with just about every medication commonly sold at pet stores, and is completely safe for fish. It's highly effective, and will detoxify the water for you quickly.

I hope this sorts things out for you, and gets you back on track! I'd probably do a 30% water change when you put your filter back on because you did add a second tab. Other then that, feed sparingly while your tank adjusts back to normal. I bet'cha if you test the ammonia right now, It'll be off the charts!

Best wishes, and again, i hope this helps straiten things out. Good luck.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Darryl,thanks for the advice, BUT I have a new problem, well after dropping this second tab I noticed hours later my golden gouramis eyes were blood shot red, the water was real cloudy and green from the tabs. I did a 50% water change being really upset, add the filter back and threw those tabs away. Is it ok for me to safely add the ich medication since i've done the water change? I wont know until later on today if my fish made it but they seem to be doing fine right now

Answer
Hey again,

I'd wait at least 2 days between the end of the 4 day treatment, and the start of a new treatment. you cannot visibly see the signs of stress on fish, in some cases. It's dangerous to mix medications, and it's also unhealthy for your fish. Let the water clear out with the filter for a few days, and let the fish have a rest. After a few days, then you can (if you feel need) switch medication. The bloodshot eyes could be from over medicating too, so as the water clears, their eyes could clear too.

Best wishes, and good luck.