Help with Ich, please

Question
QUESTION: Hi Karen,

I have a ~22 gallon tank and currently have 2 adult female mollies (1 dalmation, 1 bubble), 4 small-med molly fry, 2 cory catfish, and 3 red platies (2 female, 1 male). I've had the tank set up since January of this year and do about 10% water change per week. For filtration I use a "Second Nature Whisper Power Filter" with the disposable white pouches with gravel in them. I also have an airstone. The tank is currently ~81F degrees

I had been having trouble with high nitrates for a few weeks and then last week I noticed some white spots on my mollies fins/tails. I lost a molly during the week and upon closer look I realized that a bunch of white grainy spots had appeared on one of the female platies. I read up on it a bit and saw it was likely ich.

I have bought Jungle Labs Ick Clear Tank Buddies at the recommendation of one of the employees of my local fish store (who claims to have used it successfully). I removed the carbon from my filter and administered the first dose yesterday (half dosage due to the young mollies and the catfish). I am going to do 25% water change and administer another half dosage this evening - as per the package, after 24h of first dosage.

I know in some of your posts you have advised to continue dosage for longer than the package advises. My product and the LFS guy said to administer meds until I no longer see white spots on the fish. Is this accurate? How many days do you advise I continue?

Also, I'm a bit nervous about my catfish surviving as I know they are more sensitive...

Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time,
Stephanie

ANSWER: Hi Stephanie,
I've never used Jungle brand Ick buddies but I'm sure it will be effective. I would use the medication for a minimum of 12-14 days. The reason for this is due to the ick's life cycle. There is only a short time-span in their life cycle that the ick are actually susceptible to medication. That is in their "free swimming" stage. First the ick live on the host fish for a while, then drop off down to the bottom to multiply. During this time they "disappear" from the fish and many people think their fish is better and stop medication. But really the parasites are multiplying and in a few days will swarm back into the water to find a new host to repeat the cycle again and again. Its during this 'free-swimming' stage that they are killed off by the medication in the water. So that's why its important to continue medicating for at least two weeks to be sure every last ich parasite is gone.

The medication as far as I know doesn't warn against using it with catfish. Any medication in general is always stressful to any fish even though its necessary of course. All you can do is try your best. If there is any way you could move your catfish into a separate tank that would be great unless he has the ich parasites as well. (Which is likely, depending upon the severity of the infestation.) The half dosage of the med is a good idea!

You are doing great so far and keep up the good work!

I hope all goes well!
Karen~

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

QUESTION: Hi Karen,

Thanks so much for your timely, informative, and reassuring response.

Just wanted to say that after four days everything seems to be looking good so far. The white spots have disappeared off all three fish and the catfish don't seem too worse for wear. I will continue the meds as you directed.

I measured my nitrates again last night and they are still quite high, not sure if it's due to the medication now? Anyways, I bought two live plants on the weekend in the hopes that that would help things out. (Hopefully they survive the ich meds). Any other advice you have for dealing with high nitrates would be appreciated in case the situation persists after the ich treatment.

Thanks again!
Stephanie

Answer
Hi Stephanie,
Perhaps a false reading on the nitrate test? Its always possible the medication might be responsible. Also test your tap water's nitrate level just in case. Sometimes tap water will contain some nitrates and then you'll have to use a water conditioner like Amquel+ or Prime to neutralize it when you do water changes to avoid adding more polluted water back into your aquarium.

One thing to make sure of is that any water conditioners you use that also neutralize nitrates are compatible with the test kit's reagents. Most will say on the label.

There is nothing better you can do for high nitrates than water changes. I do hope all goes well and I'm glad to hear my response has been helpful and reassuring. :)

Its so great that the situation is looking good so far.

Karen~