sick shark

Question
i have a question about my iridescent shark,
unfortunately i did not let my water cycle before i began to buy fish. so consequently my shark stays at the bottom for most of the time. i have had it for 3 weeks and it is now becoming a little more active. though it seems to have become nocturnal. i have never seen it eat before and now i have seen many little white spots appearing on it, along with a blood-shot eye. i have another tire-track eel with it in a 20 gallon tank. most of the other fish have died, their were a rainbow shark, red-tailed shark, and three green tiger barbs. all but the iridescent shark and eel have died. im worried about it health.  

Answer
Dear Matthew,
What you described sounds to me like you have a huge water quality issue here indeed. Not cycling your tank is a huge mistake, but you can get through it.
In regards to your irdescent shark, the white spots are certainly ICH parasites which are common when a fish is tressed by poor water conditions, and the bloodshot eye is likely a response to poor water quality as well. The ich needs treatment right away. But being a catfish (your iridescent shark) he will need a different medication than your average fish since his scale-less skin is much more delicate to chemicals. I recommend looking for "ICH ATTACK" made by Kordon, it is a organic and safe for catfish medication for treating ICH and fungual diseases. I also recommend raising the water temperature gradually to the mid-upper eighties. This temperature will prevent some of the ich from multiplying so fast and can even destroy it. Increase aeration by airstones and making sure the filter is running smoothly and creating plenty of surface movement since warmer water holds less oxygen.
Preform daily 50% water changes and be sure to redose your medication. The daily water changes help remove excess parasites in the water, and help relieve stress on fish.

Offer nutritous foods to your fish, a high-quality diet is essential and try frozen foods to tempt your shark if he still wont eat.

With these steps in mind, you should be sucessful at treating your Iridescent shark.

I really hope this helps!
Best of luck!!!
Karen~