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What do I do to cure my goldfish of ick2007-11-24 23:40:45

I bought some super ick cure liquid and I think my tank is a 50 gallon. On the directions for use it says to remove activated carbon from filter. Forgive me I know nothing about this. So I took the filter completely out. Was I supposed to? If not, then how do you get the carbon out of the filter?! How do I know if I need a new filter? The tank was given to me and I have no clue how old it is (& it was put together- not by me). Do you buy a whole new filter or is it something you take apart and buy parts to? Anyone please help! I'm fish stupid. I thought goldfish were supposed to be easy to take care of. Thankyou for any advice you can give me.

Answers:

Medications will kill off the beneficial bacteria in your tank. It turns the fish waste (ammonia) into harmless nitrates. Buy some salt for freshwater aquariums and add it to your tank according to the directions on the box. It will kill the ich, promote healing and stop further infections of ich.

Your filter contains a large amount of this beneficial bacteria and it stresses your tank when you remove it. The Activated Carbon is the charcoal part of your filter system. It is very porous and traps various pollutants in your tank. It needs to be replaced more often then the rest of your filter parts. If you haven't added any fish recently (which can introduce ich into your tank) you probably have been feeding too much which caused a spike in the water levels from the breakdown of the extra food. This stresses the fish leaving them prone to problems.

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some filters are easier to remove the carbon from then others. What kind is it? Does it attach to the back of the tank and hang over the edge into the water, or does the container itself sit on the floor and 2 hoses are run into the tank??

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Talk to someone at a pet store they normally know

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May be you can use your filter without the carbon. Some cartridge filters comes with the carbon integrated and you can't remove it without damaging the cartridge. You can install instead cheap filters (see link below) using only the filtering media to trap the dirt. Provide air to the tank using small air pumps and air stones. The important thing is oxygenation. Filtering is not critical during the treatment. Reduce fish feeding.