I don't think it's ich

[i3k]

Lately I have been having problems with two of my fish. Let me start off with my tank setup...its a 35 gallon long tank...with 300 AquaClear filter. I have tested the water and ammonia levels are down 0 and so are nitrate/nitrite levels. Two of the fish (1 Banded Leporinus and 1 botia) have been flashing against gravel more and more every day, this has been going on for about two weeks now...and ever since I have been changing about 20-30% of the water every 3-4 days...along with medicating them with RidIch+...i have taken the carbon out of the filter and also have raised the temp to 86 degrees. Nothing seems to help the botia is getting worse as its been flashing against the gravel more and more. The thing is I dont ever see any white spots on the fish so now I dont think its ich. What other parasites can cause the fish to flash against the gravel? I switched medications to Aquarisol, maybe it will work better then RidIch+...I'll see whats happening in the next few days.

 

[i3k]

I want to add some salt to the tank...just double checking if the following fish can tolerate some salt...In the tank I have some Banded Leporinus, 1 candy pleco, 1 Hammers Cobalt Blue Lobster, few Head and Tail Light Tetras and a few danios...will these fish tolerate salt? thanks.

 

[Menagerie]

I'm not sure about the Banded Leporinus, candy pleco, or Hammers Cobalt Blue Lobster handling salt.
I will say that the botia may be doing poorly due to the meds. Scaleless fish have a harder time with meds in the water.

 

[i3k]

Actually I have had the Banded Leporinus in my other tank which is a brackish tank and it was doing good there but it kept nipping on the fins of the white tip catfish sharks so I had to transfer it back to this 35 gal tank.

 

[Menagerie]

I have found that my common pleco has done okay with salt, but some of the more unique ones may not tolerate any salt. I just don't know what to tell you.

 

[i3k]

I was wondering, if this is not ich but some other parasites, will having the temp around 86 help kill off other parasites as well or will the heat help parasites other then ich multiply faster? I know the heat worked for me many times before against ich...but not sure if the fish have ich this time as I dont see any white spots or anything unusual on the body at all.

 

[Menagerie]

I would try to find out what parasite it is. I tried treating something that I thought was ich, then I thought it was velvet. Months later I realized it was bacterial and turning up the heat was counter productive. I lost fish that originally looked healthy.
Try looking through these sites and see if any of these diseases have symptoms that match what your fish are going through:
http://www.aquatronicsonline.com/hobbyist/hobbyist3.htm
http://www.aqualink.com/disease/sdisease.html#ich
http://fish.mongabay.com/diseases.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/AqBizSubWebIndex/fishdisho.htm
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/health.htm

 

[i3k]

Thanks for the links Menagerie...I checked them out and I am still not sure. The websites only talk about two possible infections ich and velvet but both describe either salt like grains on the body which is ich and yellowish powder on the body which is velvet. I checked out my fish up close and none of them have anything on their bodies or fins. It seems that they only scratch their front/mouth/nose against the gravel and not their whole body. I did a 40% water change today and my temp is at 86 degrees right now. I thought RidIch+ should have helped since it controls wide range of external protozoan and fungal disease...but it doesn't look like it helped at all...should I try clout or other antibiotics in tabs form? any more help is always appreciated.

 

[i3k]

I forgot to say that when the banded Leporinus looks like its shaking its head left and right like trying to knock something off. I keep observing him and I still see nothing on his scales or fins, tail, gills,...he still scratches/flashes against gravel and the medication isnt helping any. I do 20% water change before each dose of medication. Temp. is currently around 86/87 degrees...still haven't put salt in the tank not sure if all fish can tolerate it. I ordered some more meds: clout, coppersafe and parasite clear, hopefully one of those will work...I will separate that fish and treat it alone in a 10 gal bucket.