Putting him in a new tank won't make the ich worse or better. It's a parasite that is burrowing into his skin. You can heal it by increasing the temperature and adding aquarium salt.
"Ich Life Cycle
To better understand how it can be treated, a basic understanding of Ich is helpful:
1. Parasitic Stage - The first stage (trophozoite) is embedded in the skin of the fish, and feeds on fluids and tissue cells. The fish tries to protect itself by producing more cells around the trophozoite, which leads to the formation of the tiny white spots.
2. Intermediate Stage - Eventually the trophozoite morphs into a trophont, detaches from the host leaving an open wound, and swims freely until it locates a suitable place to settle.
3. Reproductive Stage - Once the trophont settles, it forms a sticky wall around itself and becomes a cyst (tomont). Inside, the tomont divides into many hundreds or even thousands of tomites.
4. Infectious Stage - The tomites are released into the water column and swim freely until they attach to a host, starting the cycle over again. If a tomite doesn't find a host within a short period of time, it will die.
The Ich life cycle is temperature dependent. Higher temperatures within its livable range speed up every stage of the life cycle, while the lower temperatures will slow it down. At 18°C/64°F the cycle takes 10-12 days to complete.
It has been found that Ich does not infect new fish at 29.4°C/85°F (Johnson, 1976), stops reproducing at 30°C/86°F (Dr. Nick St. Erne, DVM, pers. comm.), and dies at 32°C/89.5°F (Meyer, 1984), [1]
Treatment
Now that we know a little more about Ich, we can develop a safe and effective natural treatment plan to eradicate it. A multi-pronged treatment plan offers the most assurance of complete eradication of Ich and TLC for the fishes in your aquarium. As with any treatment, carefully observe the reaction of your fish to any changes you make in their environment. If an adverse reaction occurs, discontinue and try another approach.
1. Increase temperature to 30°C/86°F. With tropical fish, an increase in temperature to 30°C/86°F is usually very well-tolerated. Since this temperature prevents reproduction of Ich, it can theoretically cure the problem by itself. So the first step would be to increase the temperature slowly, 1°C/2°F per hour until the correct temperature is reached. This temperature should be maintained for 10 days, and then slowly returned to normal. Some fish can tolerate higher temperatures. If your fish are more heat tolerant, try increasing the temperature to 32°C/89.5°F for the first 3-4 days to kill the Ich. Then reduce temperature slowly to 30°C/86°F, and hold it there for an additional 6-7 days, or until a total of 10 days have passed. Gauge the heat tolerance of your fish by observing their reaction.
2. Increase aeration. Increased temperature leads to increased metabolism, which enhances the fish’s immune response but also increases oxygen demand. Oxygen is lower in warmer water, so it is very important to increase surface agitation during the treatment to increase oxygenation. In planted tanks with CO2 injection, the CO2 should be turned off and extra aeration should be provided. Carefully observe your fish, watching for signs that they are not getting enough oxygen. If fish are gasping at the surface, you need to provide more aeration. Aeration can be increased by reducing the water level so the filter return makes more of a waterfall and splash, and/or use an airstone placed close to the surface of the water.
3. Do daily partial water changes. 25% daily partial water changes will provide several benefits: It will keep the water very clean, which will help fish cope with the stress of the disease. It will remove some of the trophonts and tomites. It will add oxygen. This author also recommends the use of NovAqua+ to condition the change water. This product is a dechlorinator and has several additional benefits that help fish under stress, including sealing of the wounds caused by the Ich. If the water changes seem to stress the fish, reduce the size and/or frequency of the water changes.
4. Use a Micron Filter. The Aqua Clear Quick Filter used with a power head is an easy and inexpensive way to capture both free-swimming stages and the cysts of Ich in water that passes through the filter. A diatom filter can also be used. Both of these filters trap particles as small as one micron in size. The smallest stage of Ich, the free-swimming, swarming tomite, is approximately 30 microns, large enough to be trapped in this type of filter. Change the filter daily with the water changes. The Quick Filter cartridge can be cleaned and reused. Rinse thoroughly in very hot water, or boil for a few minutes to kill any stage of Ich that may be trapped inside. Or use a fresh cartridge. Make sure your fish are comfortable with the current caused by the additional filter.
The following optional procedures where
