did it wrong help!

Question
Ive read your new tank artical now, but on christmas we set up a 55gal. The next day we added a 4"goldfish and about three inches of other fish, waited a week added a couple more, waited another week added a few more, waited a week added a few more. Everything is fine.....untill BAM! ick struck. now half of the fish are covered one dead. Ive been treating them with wardlys for a week, did a 25%, 50%, and a 25% water change since then. No sign of let up. I feel horrible to admit Ive never tested my water I just condition it as the bottle says.  I had a 10 gallon for quite a while and never tested it and never had a problem. So looks like I have to buy some test stuff to help my little sickies get better. I read about salt too!sorry if I'm all over the place, not a computer wiz. How much does test stuff run? Am I doing everything i can to fix my ick ridden fishies. Help them please.

Answer
Hi Sarah;

You're doing a good job trying hard to keep them healthy. You just got off to a bad start with too many fish and too soon. Let's see what we can do to help them....

First, make sure it's ich that your fish have. Ich (aka; ick) looks like little salt-specks. It's a parasite that burrows in the skin. Your fish will literally look as if they were sprinkled with salt. If it looks more like white fuzzy stuff or whitish slimy stuff, it may be bacterial or fungal, or could even simply be from toxins in the water from New Tank Syndrome. Let me know if it turns out not to be ich and we can go from there.

Ich spots take a few days to disappear too. The parasites can't be killed while still on the fish. Once they burst out into the tank, drop in the gravel, become free-swimming and then try to get back on the fish, they are weakened by the salt and killed by the medicine. The spots will then begin to heal as long as no new parasites attach.

If it is indeed ich, here's what to do; You might want to switch medicines and also add aquarium salt. I have found Wardley's products to be rather 'tame' so they may need a stronger medicine too. Use a medicine called "Quick Cure". Treat with it using one drop per gallon of water every single day for 10 days. Also use aquarium salt at the rate of one teaspoon per gallon. Make a 25% water change twice a week to help with ammonia and help remove some of the parasites as they swim in the water. Add new salt to treat the new water at every water change. To add salt, dissolve it in some water and slowly pour it in, away from teh fish and away from the filter.

Another good product available at local fish stores is Melafix. It helps soothe the "wounds" made by the parasites as well as aiding in the regeneration of damaged tissues.

Get a deluxe test kit at your local fish store or variety store with a fish supplies department. I really can't say how much they cost. It depends on where you live. You want one that tests the following things; PH, ammonia (NH3), nitrite (NO2), and nitrate (NO3). Avoid the kits that use strips that you dip in the water. I've seen too many incorrect results with them. The liquid drops types are better, and the best are the dry tablet types. You can even buy them online but it would take a few days for them to arrive.

Let me know how things are going...

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins