Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my dad has a 60 gal and I a 30 and we both went and bought some sword tails that was on sale at a local fish store well they had ick untill today I thought it was a bactirea thing but I found out that its more like lice for fish is that right? well the problem that we're having is the ick just doesnt seem to be going away and we are using ick meds for it is there anything that someone here can suggest also my dads fish are dieing and people at the fish store are telling him that fish cant die from ick and I think that is a down right lie please any advice would help alot of these fish we have had over an yr I know thats not long to some but where just starting thanks

In my experience ick has always killed my fishes. Usually by the time you notice your fish has ick it's too late. Ick is a parasite that lodge themselves in the fish's gills. If you notice your fish acting very lathargic and dashing to the surface and banging off of the sides of the tanks add some alka seltzer as the most humane way of killing your fish.
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Phishie

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

so there is really no cure for ick? I never thought it was that bad of a thing till now my dad is really going to be upset he has a 60 and I think all his fish are going to die and he has some really big angle fish in there.my fish I been treating them but its not going away and a couple look a lil sick but not to bad what if anything can we do or do we just lose all of are fish? I was told by one fish store if you turn the heat up it will kill the ick but also the sick fish is that true or not I think it will just make things worse

Fish can survive ick if it is caught in the very early stages. Usually once you start to see white spots it's too late. I'm not saying you should give up on treating them. You can try the ick treatments, maybe you can save a few fish (I hope you save all of them, but in my experience I lost all of my fish). My best friend saved one of I think 5 fish from ick...so that's some good news for you. I would not recommend raising the temperature of the tank.

Some of the ick meds include: Rid-Ick, Ick attack, or Malachite Green to name a few for you. I believe I used rid-ick in my attempts.
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Phishie

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."