So I've made mistakes so far. I feel pretty guily and I hope you can give me some advice on the best way out of my mess.

Six days ago I started a 5 gallon tank with 1 female betta. No heater. Room temp is at least 75F. Two real plants. When I set up the tank I used a product called "live gravel."

On day 3 ammonia went to 0.02 ppm. I've been doing small water changes daily and it hasn't gone above 0.05 ppm.

Yesterday night I noticed my fish was acting weird. She looked like she had 8 to 10 grains of salt on her body - my diagnosis was Ich.

This morning I bought Tetra Ick Guard (active ingredients are Victoria Green, and Acriflavine). I dropped in half a tablet and then I left to go to work. I didn't remove my filter because the internet suggested it wasn't necessary, and I was worried about ammonia/cycling.

I came home 8 hours later. My water is clear and my ammonia levels read zero. My fish still has 2 specs on her.

(not sure what happened, do the drugs get rid of ammonia? Did my filter clear the meds too fast?)

My plan now is this:

- forget about cycling the tank for the moment
- pull out the filter with carbon but put some foam in its place
- treat with Ick Guard for 4-5 days
- put in a new filter and proceed with cycling the tank.

Good plan or bad? Thanks.

this should work but dont worry about the foam.
the carbon did remove the ICH treatment instead though the treatment gathered the ammonia and removed it as well. you next step sound correct but treat only as long as needed look at the fish several times a day when the ICH is gone replace old filter for a day or two then put new filters

Sounds like you are on the right track,
I would follow the directions on the medication.
Do you have any kind of aeration.

You also need to add a heater to it. It will help in the long run

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Agreed on the heater. Bettas need heat in the 80's. The heat will also help speed up the Ich Parasite's life span.

Usually with Ich it's recommended to treat for a few days after the last speck is seen, just to make sure it's gone - kind of like when the doctor says to take ALL of your antibiotics, even if you are feeling better.

The carbon will take out the medication - not sure about the ammonia. Just take the carbon out of the filter, leave all the other media in it (biomax/sponge/etc...)

Good luck and keep us posted.

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