Is it ick or not?

Question
I recently got rid of ick in my tank(or thought I did) my red wag platy has 2 white spots on the tail. It is acting normal, not scratching and eats fine. I started putting ick meds in again last night but now I'm not so sure that its even ick. The body of the fish doesn't have any
spots on it just the tail do I need to keep on with the meds??

Answer
Hi Nicole,

It does actually sound like the ich is back. There is no need to medicate, though - if you already went through one course of medication, it can be dangerous or at the least, stressful, to administer another course again so soon. If by chance you didn't complete the course of medication, stopping when it looked like the ich was gone, lesson learned! This is just the way ich fools people. It drops off, and the ich parasites (called tomites) multiply in the gravel. After a few days (depending on the water temperature, could be longer) they swim upwards and infest the fish again. The manufacturers of the medication have spent a lot of money and time to figure out just how many rounds of meds are needed to be effective, so don't let that effort go to waste! When you medicate, go through an entire course, otherwise it is probable that the sickness will return. (That advice also goes for anyone else that may read this!)

Now, here's what I would do. Slowly raise the temperature to 84 degrees. I would raise the temperature a couple of degrees per hour so as not to stress the fish out too much. Water is low in oxygen at temperatures this high, so an airstone or a powerhead will help to add more oxygen to the water. Just lowering the level of the water so that the filter makes more splash, will also help.

Determine the gallonage of your tank, and prepare one tablespoon of salt per 5 gallons, ex. 20 gallons, that means 4 tablespoons of salt. Dissolve the salt in a bit of warm water, and then pour it into the tank, don't pour it directly into the aquarium. The salt to use is non-iodized sodium chloride - aquarium salt, sea salt, kosher salt, pickling salt, ice cream salt, etc. It goes by so many names! Table salt is the one to avoid, although if you have nothing else and can't get anything else, then I imagine this would be safe to use.

This article gives a thorough overview of ich:
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php

I hope that helps, good luck. Ich is not life threatening, you certainly could be up against some much worse diseases (for example, Columnaris, or Camallanus worms)...so take heart!

Nicole