Help my fish is sick!

[JoshuaERoberts]

Hi guys,

I am a new member(see introductions thread) and I have a beta who has white spot at the moment. I have taken the filters out and put the medicine as per instructions on the bottle. It's been one day and my fishy is acting like he's really poorly, not wanting to swim much, hiding a lot, lying on ornaments a lot, I'm worried it might be too late for him , I'm also worried my fry who has inconviently popped up recently, as well as the thee fish . Someone help!

 

[UABsleeperSRNA]

how large is your tank? and you took the filter's out? What is your Water parameters?
What is Your Temp in the tank? What medication did you Use??

First immediately put the filter back in the tank you don't need to remove your entire filter from the tank that alone could be enough to kill your fish not circulating water+ decreased oxygen carrying capacity due to medication added = dead fish.. you need to be circulating the water.. what the medication is suggesting is just taking out The carbon in your filter not your entire filter..
- if he looks like he is about to die i would immediately change the water 20-30% making sure you add water conditioner and maybe a ammonia neutralizer? likely the water docent have enough oxygen with the meds.. can you post a pic?

 

[JoshuaERoberts]

Hi , that what I meant I took the carbon screens out to prevent it from removing Any of the medicine . It's a 64L tank , I used a pet store medication for white spot and parasites. It's a japanease fighting fish . He's got a bit more movement now although he still doesn't seem 100% a noticeable improvement in white spot it has cleared a lot. Just having a Barney with one of the baloon mollies now she's fat and there is one stray fry in the floating hatchery with her. We found it yesterday but don't know wether the others have died or she had only had one.

 

[UABsleeperSRNA]

Their are many Articles.. out there on ich treatment.. i would recommend reading one or two of them! many medications depending on what you used can be deadly to fry! i would recommend changing your water about 30% before adding the medication again vacuuming out well yes depending on your temp slowly that will speed up the lifecycle of ich.. above 85 and ich cannot reproduce and will die.. but this decreases oxygen and probably would not recommend with medications also but turning your temp up to around 82 will speed up the lifecycle.. ich is only affected by medication when it's not on your fish and in the free floating stage of its lifecycle..

-its lifecycle is about 10-14 days depending on your water temp it is usually on the fish about 3-5 days once it falls off.. is the only time treatment is effective and you need to keep treating your tank for a at least 10 days after the last white spot falls off to insure you killed it all.. remember it only takes on 1 parasite to cause to cause the whole process to start over again.. and it's likely the med you used killed your fry another reason you want to change the water and vacuums gravel decaying fish = higher ammonia

i would also recommend checking your ammonia level often times fish get sick with stuff such as ich when they are stressed.. which ammonia will cause.. cycling with fish in your tank requires that you change your water very frequently especially with your stocking load i would be changing 20-30% of my water daily..

 

[JoshuaERoberts]

Right so I need to be changing my water daily? I cycled my tank with fish in and it's been fine up to now. They are disappearing slowly off him. I've already turned my tank up to 28 degrees c roughly mid 70 degrees F ? 74-76? Anyway I've turned the temp up to that and medicated the tank. Not to sound too cruel but I wasn't particularly thrilled to find fry. My girlfriend wanted to "save it" because my beta was chasing it around licking it's lips. I also felt bad not giving it a fair shot at life.

 

[JoshuaERoberts]

As regards to the ammonia levels I have a testing kit which my local fish store uses and they say they always use it.it shows the levels of most properties . I used to have more plants in to help with the nitrite levels but my balloon mollies won't leave it alone . So I removed it and this is when I found our little fry.

 

[UABsleeperSRNA]

ha yes very likely that the beta ate the other fry.. nice source of protein if he's sick and you had no use for the fry! but i would not turn it all the way up to that right now that could likely kill your fish i would do it over like a day i usually will turn it up a Few Degrees F. every couple of hours as not to shock the fish.. How long have you had the tank?

I if it is a brand-new setup it takes a while for the tank to fully cycle usually 4-7 weeks.. and any ammonia in the water can stress fish to the point of death.. or illness.. also water changes and vacuuming the the gravel not only help relieve stress decreasing the ammonia nitrite, and nitrate in your fish tank but will help remove the free floating parasites reducing the number in your tank.. plus the ich treating medication is not as effective if you have a lot of organics in your tank
-another thing can you post what your ammonia nitrite and nitrate are now?

 

[JoshuaERoberts]

Unfortunately it's half ten at night and in up early so I'm in bed bud I can post in a couple of days , my tank is 4 weeks old now and I have removed most plants now as they where making a mess all over my tank. I have been cleaning my gravel once a week with a cleaner vac. Have been keeping the new water treated with chlorine treatment and stuff to make good bacteria if you get my meaning I have followed everything by the book and have been successful so far.

 

[UABsleeperSRNA]

haha yeah i understand still 430 pm over here in the states but yeah don't worry about it i would however recommend some Seachem Prime it neutralizes ammonia nitrite, and nitrate as for your water changes until you have no ammonia or nitrie and while fish are sick maybe changing the water daily 20% or so to every other day good luck

 

[JoshuaERoberts]

Hi , my beta has improved, I have replaced he media in my filter and have done a 30% water change, I've also cleaned my gravel, I checked the nitrites and nitrate level and they where high before. I still need to medicate the tank for white spot for a second time to kill the remaining . I will dose tomorrow.! My water always had grass floating around because my mollies won't leave the veg alone! Any advice on cleaning that strainer on my water filter? Thanks.

 

[UABsleeperSRNA]

Hi , my beta has improved, I have replaced he media in my filter and have done a 30% water change, I've also cleaned my gravel, I checked the nitrites and nitrate level and they where high before. I still need to medicate the tank for white spot for a second time to kill the remaining . I will dose tomorrow.! My water always had grass floating around because my mollies won't leave the veg alone! Any advice on cleaning that strainer on my water filter? Thanks. View attachment 239541

Yeah i would keep a watch on your nitrite levels and ammonia level for sure nitrite is what's toxic to fish.. nitrate they say keep less than 40ppm preferable less than 20ppm and no ammonia.. when you have nitrite probably need to change your water.. Another thing that may be elevating your nitrite ammonia ext is the grass that's floating in your tank anything decomposing such as dead leaves in your tank is going to release ammonia.. cleaning the intake filter i would do when changing your water just disconnect and clean in the tank water you have removed from your tank i wouldn't clean in regular tap water as it will kill any beneficial bacteria.. if it won't come out easily Old tooth brushes work well as loog as they have washed thoroughly in warm water no soap!!

Glad to hear you fish are doing better!