CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

im not sure what it is but most of the lighter color fish in the aquarium look dirty. ive seen fish in the store that looked worse but since i dont know what it is or if it can hurt them i am very worried. having water problems with the nitrites being high and 2 fish have ich, i am still cycling. can anyone please tell me what it is and what i need to do to make it better

If you don't want to use chemicals and don't like the idea of raised temps, Kordon makes Ich-Attack which is organic, it worked for me.

Might have some nitrite poisoning going on ...  how much water are you changing?

hope the best for you

You have a couple of things going on, and need to deal with both.  First, your high nitrite reading indicates your tank is still cycling.  Is it a relatively new setup?  First, do a 50% water change, then add a teaspoon or two of salt per gallon of water, and bring the water temp up to about 82 degrees F.  The salt will help detoxify the nitrites, as well as helping with the ich.  The temperature increase will speed of the life cycle of the ich, making them more vulnerable to the salt, and at the same time help speed up the increase of nitrobacteria, thus moving the cycling process along.  Keep doing the water changes every two or three days until your nitrite readings go away.  As you replace the old water, keep the salt percentage about the same.  You can slowly build up to about 3 teaspoons per gallon.  Once the nitrites and ich are gone, let the salt content go away slowly through your normal water changes.

Here is a link to some info on ich:

http://oscarsfishtank.com/discuss/index ... ic=23013.0


Keep us posted!