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I introduced 2 cherry barbs two weeks ago into my 10 gal community tank. They came down with white spots a few days later, so I treated for ich for 3 days (at which point the spots disappeared). I stopped adding the medicine. Then one of the fish died anyway, and the guy at the lfs said it looked like a bacterial infection secondary to ich.

Four days later, the white spots were back on the other barb. I started adding the ich medicine again, this time with melafix at his suggestion to help w/bacterial infection. So after another 4 days of treatment, it looks as if the other barb is about to die also.

Question: Through this all, there have been two cories and 3 ottos in the tank, none of whom have shown any signs of ich. Should I continue to use the medicine like it says, "for 3 days after symptoms are gone"? The stuff I'm using says "safe for scaleless fish" but I still don't want to medicate unneccesarily. These guys have already been exposed to a lot of medication. I'm paranoid about adding other fish to the tank and having them get sick though.

I should add that, through this, I have been doing frequent (2-3x week) water changes and my nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia readings have all been zero.

Thanks in advance!

Beetle,

Ichthyophthirius multifilis or ich or ick is a parasitic protozoan disease that often strikes at new or stressed fish. The basic steps in treating ich are:

o 30 - 50% water change,
o Treat at 1/2 the recommended dose of the ich medicine,
o Raise temps gradually to 82-84F,
o In two days do a 30-50% water change,
o Treat at 1/2 the recommended dose of the ich medicine,
o In two days do a 30-50% water change,
o Treat at 1/2 the recommended dose of the ich medicine,
o In two days do a 30-50% water change,
o Treat at 1/2 the recommended dose of the ich medicine.

Raising the temperature speeds the life cycle of the protozoa to 3 - 5 days. At temps above 82F it has difficulty in completing the cycle. It goes through the following phases: trophont (visible on fish), trophozit, cyst and tomite. The meds target the tomite phase, the only point that the parasite is vulnerable to treatment. Usually all phases of the protozoa are present in the tank at one time.

During treatment pay close attention to tank maintenance. Vacuum the gravel, wipe down the glass. As the lfs mentioned, the disease does expose your fish to secondary infections. It sounds if you are doing this.

You do want the treatment to extend for up to 10 days at the high temps to ensure that you have interrupted the life cycle and killed the tomites. During that period you don't want to mix medications.





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