I think my fish have the Ich

Ich can come out of nowhere. Any stressor in a tank can bring it on. Alot of times, it is introduced by adding new fish, but not always. I've had heater malfunctions to cause ich in my tanks before.

Are the white areas salt like in appearance? They aren't patchy and fuzzy looking, are they?

Any fin deterioration?

There is an excellent article on ich, the treatment and life cycle, below my signature.

I prefer using meds (Quick Cure is my pick), but depending on what you have in the tank, you might rather use salt and heat. You want to make sure it's ich you're dealing with, though, before you raise the temp.

Kim

The tank is really new, I've had a **** of a time getting this ich out. I got rid ich and been treating it every twelve to twenty four hours. I raised the temp and added some salt. One **** of a parasite though. I ran out of a bottle on Sunday and didn't get a full dose in the tank. The next day was like it had exploded the pleco has it really bad so i've been doing regular water changes and i hope to whip it before a loose any more fish. One more thing, I am such an amateur in this field never had a tank before this one. Thought you could mix some fish with others boy was i wrong. The best advice you can give someone for starting a african cichlid tank is pick a lake and go with it. Lost one mbuna a kenji to malawi bloat already. Going to go with lake tanganyika. Love the Front i have and calvus are cool too. Thanks for the advice

Okay, let's start all over...You've got way too many problems...

What size tank is this?

What type test kits are you using? (dipstick or liquid reagent) How old are they?

How long has the tank been set up?

What is your tank maintenance routine on the tank?

What is the full stock list?

A high stress tank is going to lead to illness after illness. Add the fact that the fish are having to go through the cycling of the tank on top of that, and you may be doing long term internal damage to the fish you already have.

We need alot more information...

Also, it would be helpful if you could post a pic of one of the fish affected by ich...It may not be ich at all...

Kim

How did you cycle the tank? Did you use fish to cycle it? Did you use these fish to cycle it?

Have you lost any fish?

Are the white spots salt like in appearance and spread out over the body? Or are they more concentrated in certain areas and cottony or fuzzy in apperance?

Ich isn't usually that hard to get a grip on.

I've never used Rid Ich, but I can tell you from experience that the package recommendations that come with the meds never cover the full life cycle of the parasite, so you always have to treat longer than the medication states, but you should be seeing some improvement after a couple of treatments.

I would go with meds OR salt/heat, not both, since it can be too stressful on the fish, and both aren't necessary. You're going to need to squeeze in as many water changes as possible, since they will aid in removing the parasites from the water in various life cycle stages. Keep the tank darkened and as stress free as possible, and continue to treat the tank for 4 days after you see the last parasite fall off the body.

Are you aware that these two fish won't work in this tank long term? Bumblebees need a 75G minimum - they are one of the larger and more nasty mbuna, and frontosas need a 6 ft tank long term, and will eventually grow large enough to eat your mbuna if you add more.

Stock choices play a huge part in the stress level of the tank, although in this particular case, I think you're dealing with typical new tank problems, but it's something to give serious consideration to as you stock the tank in the future.

I'd be willing to bet that improper stocking leads to over half the frustration for new hobbyist.

Kim

Already I can agree with you on improper stocking is common and will most certainly result in some deaths. So the first fish I got was a OB peacock, the guy at the LFS told me he would get along with other African Cichlids......Not. He was prolly half to 3 quarters full grown when I got him. After a week or two I added three more smaller fish. A bumble bee a kenji and the Frontosa. I then got a Calvus on the smaller side. The Kenji died from Malawi Bloat cause I was feeding all the fish a flake food high in Fish meal. So thats that. Then one morning I woke up to find the Calvus all wrangled and dead on the bottom with his mouth wide oped and gills all bit and ripped. I blamed the OB peacock and said to myself if anything else happens to any of the fish he is gettin the flush. The next night or two I came home to see the Frontosa super pale almost grey and really bummed out. And the bumble bee was a little rough on the fins and pale also. I flushed the OB peacock. Did some reading on them and found that they are the nastiest of the bunch and a hybrid. I never planned on getting hybrids. So yes I lost some fish and hopefully no more. The spots both fish look ok now no spots. But the pleco however doesn't seem to be getting any better and its been like three days already. Around his eyes its worse and it is a little fuzzy almost fungus like. Thanks again kim