Ick Prevention

Question
Hello, I have a few questions about ick(ich). First of all, if my fish tank had ich before and it killed two fish and after that happened I cleaned the tank, put clean water in, and washer the gravel with hot water. Now, I added a new fish and an albino frog. Will they get ich? How long does it take for a fish to get ich? If i used the same gravel as the previous tank, will that cause ich? I cleaned the tank about 3 days after the two fish died. I noticed a lot of jelly-like substance on the tank and decor. Is that ich? I scrubbed everything down and I hope my fish doesn't get it. Also, when the fish died I still medicated the water. Thank you very very much!

Answer
Hi Alex,

You're worrying a bit too much about Ich. Since you completely stripped down and cleaned the tank, there's no chance of your new fish/frogs getting Ich, unless they were already sick at the pet store. As long as you picked out healthy stock from the store, there's nothing to worry about.

How long does a fish take to get Ich? well, if Ich is in the tank... instantly. If Ich is not present... never.

Since you cleaned the gravel with hot water, the Ich protozoans are dead. Hot water-washed gravel is as good as new.

Jelly-like substance is not Ich. It's most likely snail eggs.


Good Luck, and happy Fishkeeping!