Last week I bought a pleco to put in my tank, and of course I looked for Ick when I bought him, didn't see any so brought him home and put him in my tank and low and behold he had Ick. I am treating it with meds, malachite green to be specific. It says to remove carbon filter, do the treatment and do a 50% water change in 24 hours, all of which I have done. It says on the third day to medicate again which will be tomorrow, my question is do you think I should put the carbon filter back in until I medicate again tomorrow or leave it out until the Ick is gone?

If you put the carbon back in the filters, it will just remove any medication that is in the water. Carbon should only be used a few days after the specified medication period. However, a large water change is normally enough to remove any left over medication.

How bad is the ick? In many cases, simply raising the water temperature to 30°C and leaving it like that for 10 days is enough to clear ick.

Please don't increase the temperature of the water whilst you are medicating. Medication often causes oxygen depletion. coupling this with hot water which also can deplete oxygen in the water is not a good idea.

It isn't really all that bad as far as the ammount he just has a few on his tail and fins, but the poor baby has it on his eyes too I didn't raise the temp. I went with the meds because I am in the process of moving so I wanted to go the quicker route. It should be all gone before the move (crossing fingers) lol I have like two weeks.

Ick is extremely contagious so make sure it is all gone. Good luck

Oh believe me I will make sure its gone lol. I feel so sorry for him. Thank you OFL

raise the temp to 86 degrees old money and add one tsb of pure salt per 5 gals and your ick will be gone in 2-3 days .........