Please can some one help im on day 3 of treatment for ich, and I have took out my filter as advised and have air going through, but my water is going a little misty.
The meds i am using is protozin. My tank holds 57 litres but cannot tell you any ballances as i am waiting for a kit to arrive. (Naughty pet shop did not tell me all this just wanted to sell me a tank)
Kind regards

Hi Finn

Many medications do turn the water milky; this is usually quite harmless. The mistiness will disappear when you run the filter again, especially if you put activated carbon in.

I am not sure exactly what the active ingredients of Protozin are - can you list them Finn?

How are the fish looking? And what have you done with the filter while the Protozin is in the tank? Have you checked the ammonia and nitrite levels recently?

Hi Finn - i'll see if i can answer some of your questions then hopefully someone will be along later to fill in the gaps.

Unfortunately you're hit with a double whammy - ich and the start of a cycle. You'll need your filter up and running for the cycle to complete successfully so that the good bacteria can start to inhabit your filter media.

The cloudiness you mention sounds as if the ammonia level in your tank is starting to rise. In the short term and until you get your tests, start to do daily water changes - this will relieve your fish and hopefully stave off any problems that can arise. To explain a little further - if your ammonia goes above 2 (and here's where your test kit will be crucial) - and it will - you will need to control the levels with daily water changes of roughly 20%. If these levels aren't monitored closely, your fish may die from blood poisoning... then after about 10 days - your nitrites will start to rise- this is what your ammonia is converted into. Again very toxic and if not kept under 2.0, could cause all sorts of illness in your fish.

Then after about 20-30 days, you should start to see your nitrate level (as opposed to nitrites) start to rise, then you will know your tank is near cycling completion. Then once your ammonia and nitrites are at 0 - your cycle is finished.

All you'll need is patience , lots of water changes and getting your filter up and running - oh and of course, your test kit. Another key thing that helped when cycling my tanks was the addition of salt. I salted to .1% which helps protect fish during the entire process + the addition of ammonia inhibitors - like ammo-lock, prime etc.

A bit to take in but first off - i think you will need to do a water change and add back the meds to the total of the water you replace and continue doing this until you've finished medicating then add the filter back to the tank and start the cycle... How long do you have to continue with the ich treatment?

Hope this helps some

Oops - replied at the same time as emmahj

Thanks for getting back to me, Firstly ive got a 2 day break now from meds then i have 1 more day to add meds (so another 3 days in total before finishing) so should I start the water changes now and add filter back on when meds are finised
(active carbon filter) sorry call me thick if you like but im really worried as this is all new to me.
Kind regards Angie

opps!! and the testing kit should be here in the next few days

How long have you had the tank running? And is it still original water? I think based on your other post you've had the tank running for about a week and a half - almost 2 weeks? If so then yes, I'd do a water change pretty quickly as your ammonia will be climbing now. And until you can get your test kits, continue to do water changes daily. Then when you remedicate, continue with the water changes while adding the meds back only to the amount you replace. This should see you through... You can start to clock the cycle of your tank once your filter is returned but until then, your ammonia will rise daily and will continue to rise with the amount of fish waste that will accumulate in your tank and daily water changes will be necessary.

Just as another suggestion, and hopefully someone can confirm this, but another way to keep your ammonia down until you can start to cycle your filter is feeding a little less and less often. I fed my fish every second day while cycling to keep the waste to a less than deadly level.

Don't worry - once you have your test kits, you'll feel more in control because you'll have the water readings in your hand and that's when you know you'll be able to take appropriate action...

Thanks again, ill start that then and cross my fingers and everything else...lol

Sorry angie - forgot to ask, do you have a good water dechlorinator? As you prolly already know, water from the tap harbours harmful chlorine so a good dechlorinator will not only be handy, but essential

And don't worry - it's stressful at first but once you get into the swing of things, you'll breeze through ...

PS - my fingers are crossed that all goes well and if you notice your fish behaving differently or become sluggish before you get your test kits, then water changes should help to relieve them

Yes i have got all the water treatments thanks though cause I might not have it was just things I read that made me get all these things.....Thanks Angie x