help plz

[joannabailey]

i am treating my 55 gal tank for ick and have been the past 5 (and still seeing signs) days and the people at the LPS gave me a product that i should not be using seeing how its a new tank :censor:; but its too late to turn back now. and i have lost all my sharks but one and i need to get my nitrates down. can any one tell me how to do that?

also they are pooping white/clear poop and im feeding them an anti- bacterial food. am i doing right there?

 

[James10797]

I'm not sure. I'm going through that terrible disease too. I lost over half my tank. I just put meds in. The poop may just be the food, but i cant be possitive.

 

[dkpate]

Keep up the food if they are eating it. White stringy poo can be caused by parasties. It can also be caused by stress, but the meds won't hurt.
How big is your tank? What are the water parameters? What other fish do you have in there?
If you want, you can finish the meds, or stop using them, replace the carbon in your filter, turn the heat up to 86*, and add an air stone. The heat will speed up the life cycle of the ich, and it can't reproduce in that temp. You need an air stone or lower water level to create more oxygen, since hotter water has less oxygen.
You can get the nitrates down by doing pwc's and a gravel vac. You can also rinse your filter in old tank water.

 

[joannabailey]

Keep up the food if they are eating it. White stringy poo can be caused by parasties. It can also be caused by stress, but the meds won't hurt.
How big is your tank? What are the water parameters? What other fish do you have in there?
If you want, you can finish the meds, or stop using them, replace the carbon in your filter, turn the heat up to 86*, and add an air stone. The heat will speed up the life cycle of the ich, and it can't reproduce in that temp. You need an air stone or lower water level to create more oxygen, since hotter water has less oxygen.
You can get the nitrates down by doing pwc's and a gravel vac. You can also rinse your filter in old tank water.

my tank is a 55 gal not sure on the water parameters, the fish i have a left are a hi-fin shark, 2 albino Cory catfish, 3 rosy barbs, one red rainbow, 5 zebra danios.

i have an air stone in the tank and my temp is at 80 and i fear putting it up any higher with already having high nitrates.. i checked today and i did not see ick on the fish and i did not see any flashing but the poop is now an ashy gray

 

[dkpate]

Well, the ich could be in the cyst stage right now, so you wouldn't see it. It falls off the fish into the substrate, forms a cyst, and explodes into hundreds more parasites. Ich can only be killed in it's free swimming stage, so make sure you use the whole dose of meds.
You should find out what your water parameters are, since the fish have a harder time healing if there is ammonia or nitrites. 99% of the people on here recommend a liquid test kit, which you can get online or in a pet store. If you buy it in the store, it is usually around $30, and you can find it online for cheaper. I like the API Master Freshwater Liquid Test Kit.
The meds you are using will probably kill your good bacteria, so that is another good reason to have the test kit.

 

[joannabailey]

i did a 20% wc today and did a test my nitrites were only .25 (not bad for a 2 week old tank being treated i think) i am doing whole dose of meds. i am on day 2 right now. poor fish.

 

[dkpate]

.25 is pretty good! Sounds like you are on your way!

 

[joannabailey]

.25 is pretty good! Sounds like you are on your way!

that may be, but i am not so sure about my hi-fin shark. i have my temp at 82* right now and last night before going to bed i found his face, tail and his eyes (all but the irs) all white. i was soo scared he was going to die i left the light on all night. on top of that he looks REALLY skinny. i dont know if i can keep him going unill the 6th day of ick treatment (friday) on top of that i have not seen him poop at all.. that cant be a good sign for the big guy.

what can i do?

 

[meegosh]

Keep increasing the temp slowly until you hit 86*F. Keep the temps up for two weeks after you see the last white dot on any fish. After that do a very thorough gravel vacuuming and slowly drop the temp back to normal.

 

[dkpate]

All white? Like fungus patches, not ich? Have you googled columnaris and looked at pics? Do any of the other fish have patches of white? If so, the high heat is going to make it worse. And you will need to get meds for that too.

 

[joannabailey]

no like a color change, he was back to normal when i woke up this morning. but still not doing very well, he keeps sucking at the glass, not sure but i dont think he is getting much food. the other fish keep eatting all the medicated food before i can get any to him and i dont want to keep adding more to the tank.(i have posted a picture of him a old one before all the ick.) i tryed to put in a seperater and give him his own food but it is too small for my 55 gal. (odd that was) my barbs kept slipping in some how between the glass and the plastic and ate all the food i give him X_X. and if i put any food in the tank they all eat it before it gets to the bottom... i dont know what else to do... i feel hes staring to death and not getting the meds he need for the white poop.