After my fish died of ich.....

Question
Hi.  I had been talking to another person on here, but apparently I can't ask him anymore questions?  So this is what we have been talking about.  I hope you can help me, too. Thanks.......I hope you can figure it out.  I just copied and pasted it, so the first conversation starts at the bottom of the page.  Sorry and thank you so much!


Well, I already drained it - oops.  I'm okay with breaking it in again.  That is, if you can tell me exactly how to do it.  I condition the water and let it run for awhile before adding fish - do I need to do anything else?
I got the tank from a friend...so I've had it for about two weeks.  I had three cherry barbs for about 3 or 4 months.  Their old tank leaked, so I had to get a new one. I cleaned it out really well (it had been sitting in the garage awhile). Then I bought another cherry barb, the shrimp, a female beta and an algea eater.  They all did fine for about two weeks, then the beta died and the cherry barbs started getting the white spots on them and slowly dying.
Okay, it's a ten gallon tank, no heater, has a 10 gallon filter pump, I'm not sure what temperature it usually is, I change 1/3 of the water every 3-4 weeks and clean the filter at that time.  
Okay, I think that's it.  Thank you so much for your help.  I really appreciate it.
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Followup To

Question -
Okay, all my fish just died of ICH - I JUST found out that's what it was.  I had 4 cherry barbs and a beta.  I took them all out and now the water is really cloudy.  My shrimp is still alive.  Does this affect shrimp?  i know I have to get the treatment, but will it stay on everything?  I'm changing the water, do I need to boil the rocks/plants?  Please let me know what to do. :)  I have to change the water because my friend's 3 year old dumped a whole thing of fish food in it today! :(
Anyway, please get back to me as soon as possible.  THANK YOU!!!

Shannon

Answer -
Hi Shannon;

Don't panic! It's gonna be okay. Just take the little shrimp out and put him in some tank water in a jar with a plant or something. Put a lid on it with a hole or rubber band holding a piece of cloth to the top so it can ventilate without him crawling out. Set it aside and drain the tank while you vacuum the gravel. Get all of the crud out and rinse the filter pads if you have a filter with pads. If there is still crud in the gravel after vacuuming, refill the tank and do it again. It is best not to drain and overclean everything. You will lose your beneficial bacteria colonies and the tank will have to go through the break-in period all over again.

Once the crud is all out you can put Mr. Shrimp back in the tank. Let it all run for a week to 10 days to be sure the ich is all gone. It can't survive without fish in there. The little shrimp can't get ich so he won't keep the infection going and it won't hurt him to be in contact with it. Ich meds can hurt the shrimp anyway so you don't want to do that.

The thing that's important too is to find out why the fish got ich in the first place. Ich can only infect fish that are stressed or weak. If you could give me a bit more info I might be able to help you figure it out so it doesn't happen again;

How long has the tank been set up?
How long did you have the fish?
What kind of filtration?
Does it have a heater?
What is the water temperature usually?
What were the fishes' symptoms before they died?
How often do you make water changes?
How much water is changed at one time?
How often do you clean the filter?

Let me know as soon as you can.....

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

Answer
Hi Shannon,
Don't be affended by other people that VOULONTER there time to help you. He was probably just really busy as I am. You should wait atleast 24 hours to put more fish in. It sounds like your doing everything alright but just incase I suggest going to the store to get some test strips to make sure the water is alright.
        Sam