I have a mild to moderate out brake of Ick in my moderately planted Rainbowfish tank.

This is my highest-tech tank so far. I will post most details, and expect your input as for dealing with this properly. I must do treatment in this tank because of temperature restrictions: My Rainbowfish die at room temp in Santo Domingo, that's why I have a chiller for this tank (pull down of 5C is all I need)

Tank dimensions; water volume; age:
(48"Lx12"Wx18"H); 45USgal + 10 USgal sump: 55USgal; 3+ months old tank (seeded fishless cycle in mid July 2008 -if my recollection is right.

Filtration:
Wet/Dry Pro Aquatic Systems mod 75, powerhead at 370GPH +
AquaClear 70 (2 sponges+ 1 Activated Charcoal bag)

Lighting; WPG; on/off cycle:
one 48" 40W standard aquarium fluorescent lamp +
two 6" 9W Compact Fluorescent (middle of the tank).
Note: this gives me around 2.5WPG at the middle zone of the tank, where the Black Swords are planted and 1WPG at other areas; 12hrs on/12hrs off.

DIY CO2 injection; dissolved CO2:
DIY CO2 generator ( 3 x 2L -2cups sugar +1/2teaspoon yeast +1/4teaspoon baking soda) + DIY powerhead reactor +DIY CO2 monitor (modified drop checker); 20-30ppm of CO2

Airpump: NONE (Thinking about adding one, at least for treatment duration)

UV sterilization: NONE (a 7W or 11W UV unit pending installation)

Chiller:
one Resun CL-650 (1/4HP; 650W) in-line mini chiller

Temp:
usual temp: 25-26C
Treatment temp: 27-28C

Substrate:
Eco-Complete (50 lbs; 2.5 bags)

Decor:
two small size driftwood

Plants:
10 bundles of Vallisneria
1 Anubias barteri
6 Anubias afzelii
2 Black (amazon) sword
2 not identified tropical plants

Stocking; total sum of fish+invert inch per gallon
a) fish
6 Glossolepis incisus ( 2 at 3.5", 4 at 2.75" ); around 18" of fish
12 Melanotaenia lacustris (all at 1.5" ); around 9" of fish
12 Melanotaenia boesemani (all at 2" ) around 24" of fish
9 Neon Tetras ( all at 1" ); around 9" of fish
3 Fancy Guppies ( 1 Male 1.5"; 1 Females at 2" + 1 Female at 1.5" ) around 5" fish
b) inverts
2 Apple Snails (at 2" diameter); around 5" of inverts
Total sum of inch per gallon around 70"/55USgal

Regular maintenance:
40 to 50% water change with half tank substrate vacuum every 5 to 7 days.

16 days intended treatment:
Tank conditions:
a)Temp up from 25-26C to 27-28C: This is the upper safe limit my Rainbowfish will tolerate.
b) partial 50% water changes; wall scrapping; substrate vacuum before adding meds on days 1,3,5,7,9,11 and 13.


In tank treatment meds:
API's Super Ick Cure at day 1, 3, 9, 11
Jungle's Ich Guard at day 5, 7, 13, 15

Hospital tank daily baths:
30 minutes in Methylene blue solution +
5 minutes in saline solution.

Questions:
1) I found mixed reports on keeping or not the plants in the tank. What would you do?
2) Should I replace the Sponge media in the AquaClear 70?
3) Should I over-clean all filtration systems?
4) Since I would likely loose my cycle, do you have any suggestions as for shortening the re-cycling of this tank?
5) Would this be a good moment to add the UV sterilizer?
7) Should I keep the lights off 24/7 or adding the "silicon staining prone meds" early at night and reduce to 6-8 hours lights on?
8) Is complementary aeration (airpump + airstones) recommended to use even at 27-28C?
9) Is it safe to use Seachem's Prime as water conditioner with this type of medication? I use this to protect my fish from likely presence of ammonia and nitrites if my cycle is lost or affected.

Water parameters (as yesterday):
pH 7.4 (7.7 before CO2 injection)
Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0; Nitrates <10ppm
GH 11 dGH (12 before CO2 injection and mixed drinking R/O processed 1:4 tap water)
KH 5 dKH (8 before)


Thank you
Pepe
Santo Domingo

PS sorry for the lengthy post