Ich and other problems

Ich or Ick is a parasite. It always lives in fish tanks, but is generally harmless. If your fish get stressed out however, you can get an Ich infestation. Fish get stressed out for lots of reasons. Ich infestations oftentimes happen after adding new fish to the tank. The new fish are stressed because they’re in a new home, and the old fish are stressed because there’s new fish in the tank. If one fish gets Ich, they all get Ich.

My fish got Ich.

I first noticed it yesterday morning. It’s relatively easy to treat, so I went to the pet store, got some stuff to cure it, and began administering doses yesterday around lunchtime. Yesterday evening, I noticed Wally looked worse than the others, and was getting chased when he just wanted to rest, so I separated him from the other fish and put him in a bucket with water. All the fish got a second dose of the meds today. The Ich spots are now gone on all of the fish, although it’s recommended to keep treating them for another week or so.

When I got home from work today, Wally was lying on his side at the bottom of the tank, not moving. He was still breathing, just not moving. And of course, lying on his side as opposed to upright (for those that don’t know, fish don’t just lay on their side). I became hysterical, because I thought (still think) he was dying. Someone suggested a salt bath, and I ran out to the store to get non-iodized salt (btw, did you know salt is *reeaalllyy* cheap.. 39 cents). He’s still not really moving much.. sometimes he tries to swim, but just ends up upside down. It almost seems like a swim bladder problem, but the fish i’ve seen before with swim bladder problems still move. Could be he’s worn out from the Ich infection… but who knows. I’m also worried that he might possibly have a secondary bacterial infection (which i’ve read sometimes happens with Ich–the fish’s immune system is weakened, and bacteria can get in, even once the Ich is gone). But I don’t know how I would tell that, or if him lying on his side even would have anything to do with that.

I also noticed today, Bessie was sort of attacking Mashimaru. Mashimaru and Wally both have bleeding sores which I originally thought was from the Ich, but now I wonder if it was inflicted by Bessie (aka: Demon Spawn). I separated Bessie from the main tank for the time being as well, at least until Mashimaru’s sores heal up.

My thing that I’m like beating myself up about right now is that if I’d been happy with only two fish, I probably wouldn’t be having any problems at all right now. I had no problems whatsoever with either Wally or Mashimaru for six months. Carnival fish, tripled in size, perfect health, only minor loss of coloration (which was going to be remedied by a diet change). The thought that I could lose one or both of them because I wanted a little more color in the tank. *sigh*

I’ve calmed down now, no longer hysterical. You may say they’re only fish, but to me, fish are people too.