How good can go bad.. quickly~!

[asudavew]

Got home last night.

The new 70 gallon I had set up.... cloudy. Worse this morning...

My 55 gallon Oscar tank... ick everywhere .. fins.. mouth..
Most of the fish.
Ugh...

Sad to see my fish sick.

My first time ever dealing with ick.

My fault. My FAULT.. MY FAULT.

I understand the whole feeder thing now. And a the isolation tank too.

<<<<<<stupid
<<<<<<stupid
<<<<<<stupid


Sorry for not taking everyone's MUCH more experienced advice to heart.

I will in the future. Trust me on that one!



I did bump up the temperature of my tank last night.
It was at 81f this morning.
I'm not sure if I can get it to go higher.. it is maxed out.

I may have to buy another today.
I'm also going to buy aquarium salt and probably some medication.

Any advice would be welcomed and appreciated.

Thanks for letting me rant.

dave

 

[jim692]

Sorry to hear about the ick problem.
We've all been in the same situation so don't feel bad.
I had to learn to qt the hard way too.
What method are you going to use to treat the ick?
Make sure you get enough o2 in the water if you take the heat up.

 

[Zagz]

You will have to get the heat up past 87 F, at 81 it will speed up the ich but not kill it. Sorry for the ich troubles. We've all been there.

 

[asudavew]

Well the cloudiness issue in the 70 gallon tank is gone. I guess the bacteria caught up. It looks awesome. I never saw an ammonia or nitrite spike.

I upped the temperature in my 55 gallon tank with ich. The max I reached was 82f.
The "salt grains" on my fish have disappeared. I used no salt or medications.

The ich has been "gone" for over 5 days.... am I in the clear?

 

[Zagz]

No wait another week. The heat needs to stay up for 2 weeks AFTER the last spot of ich is gone. Glad to hear things have improved.

 

[asudavew]

No wait another week. The heat needs to stay up for 2 weeks AFTER the last spot of ich is gone. Glad to hear things have improved.

Thanks Zagz!

So do you think 82f was warm enough?

I know my fish seem to like the higher temperature.
They are much more active and colorful.

I did have the tank about 77-78f. Any harm in keeping the temperature at 82f?

 

[Zagz]

Temp to kill ich is 86 or above. It is possible your thermostat is not reading correctly? No harm keeping the temps up for a couple of weeks.

 

[asudavew]

Temp to kill ich is 86 or above. It is possible your thermostat is not reading correctly? No harm keeping the temps up for a couple of weeks.

I use a digital kitchen thermometer that I just bought.
(my old one died)

But I will grab another one, just to verify the reading.

Thanks for your help.

I appreciate it.

 

[An t-iasg]

I don't have oscars but I did some searching and a good temperature range for oscars is between 74-81 degrees, with 77 degrees being ideal. I would second Zagz's recommendation to verify your temperatures. So if you think your oscars are happier with the temperature a little warmer, I would say to try it at 78 or 79 degrees and see how they are. Increase or decrease temps gradually - one degree every 12 hours.

If you had active ich you could increase temps a little faster, every 6-8 hours, to get out of that zone from 84-85 degrees that causes the ich to reproduce rapidly but doesn't kill them. After the ich is gone (keep the temps up for a few weeks to make sure) then you can decide what temps the oscar likes. I wouldn't keep the temperature at 80 or 81 because that increases their metabolism - they were more active. If their metabolism - all their body processes - are constantly kept in high gear, that could shorten their life. So I think you could find a balance of activity and good colors while not keeping the temperature too warm.

 

[asudavew]

Thanks An ti-iasg

I'll keep the temperature up for another week, and then lower back down (slowly) to 78-79


I appreciate the help, and I love this site.

 

[An t-iasg]

You're welcome!