ich and more

[cheezysquirrelz]

I just bought a bunch of new fish to put in my nearly empty (except for a pleco and goby) tank. I got around 25 cardinal tetras, 2 small praecox rainbowfish, 2 german blue rams, and 2 gold rams. Everything was alright the first 2 days, and now about 1/2 of the cardinals have died off (they didn't show signs of ich) and all the rest have ich. I have the temperature up to about 79 F now to try to help.

I have ParaGuard to treat the ich, but I need to know if this will be safe for the other fish (mainly concerned about the rams) and my sword plants. What else can I do to save my fish?

[Judge]

Well ..first you have provided no info at all. How long has the tank been set up? How big is the tank? Why would you put that many new fish at one time into any size tank? I don't suppose you have a quarantine tank? What about water parameters..you've not mentioned anything really helpful.

[cheezysquirrelz]

Oh I'm sorry....I was totally in a hurry because I'm so worried...
It's a 29 gallon tank that's been running for several years but the fish have been changed out. I can't provide water parameters unfortunately, but I do keep up with water changes/gravel vacuuming. It has a bunch of amazon sword plants as well. I know it was stupid to put so many in at once, but I can't get to the aquarium store as often as I'd like to. I also lack the space to set up a quarantine tank. All the other fish are currently doing well, but the cardinals are looking rough.

I feel awful that I've done this all wrong, it's hard to keep up with everything while in college.

[ZeroSystem]

Yikes that is a lot to add all at once. Although it may take longer than you'd like, try to stock your tank slower to help avoid potential problems in the future!

There is a video tutorial that has great info about ich and how to treat it. Here's the link: http://www.fishtankforums.com/16-sit...tutorials.html