ich

[Sake]

All ich cures are toxic in some way, but it's unlikely to leave the toxins forever. The carbon alone will remove most toxins from the water.

Almost 100% positive there is one that will stain your clear airline tubing/silicone and leech into the water from those for a long time. Maybe not forever but carbon won't remove it from those surfaces, only the water column.

 

[Barakis]

Almost 100% positive there is one that will stain your clear airline tubing/silicone and leech into the water from those for a long time. Maybe not forever but carbon won't remove it from those surfaces, only the water column.

Ok I agree with that part, not sure what though

 

[smomus]

I will double check for any copper. I think I will just remove the snails to an empty 3g until the ich is gone regardless. Keep going with the salt and add meds too. The short time frame threw me too, but at this point I think I will just dose every 48 hrs and go from there...?
my son let me know that another fish had died when he got home and a snail was munching on it. Poor things.

 

[smomus]

3 fish down...

 

[Barakis]

3 fish down...

bad news bro - keep my fingers crosssed!!

 

[Sake]

sorry man that sucks

 

[smomus]

Added the med last night. my son had set up a little 3g for the snails. Removed another this morning we are down to 3 left from 7. 2 are still pretty active but I'm not holding out much hope at this point. I didn't realize ich was so harsh! Maybe I miss-diagnosed it, but it was like i've read, and seen in pics, looked like they had salt poured over them.

 

[Sake]

It can be pretty harsh depending on how advanced it is. I'm sorry you have to go through all this, I know when I had ich it was horrid, I felt so bad for my fish. Just don't give up hope, you are working to correct it now so hopefully we can save what you have left. Have you looked into giving your fish salt baths? I didn't have to do it myself but maybe it could help your fish? I don't know the specifics maybe someone can comment on it more.

 

[smomus]

Thanks so much for your responses sake! The fish look different today tho. Instead of the salty/sugary look, its almost like their slime coat is sloughing off..? Is this the results of the meds or is something else going on? This is the same fish the other 2 are lighter so it doesn't show up as well in pics.

 

[Sake]

Oh wow I haven't seen anything like that. If it was me I would do a few large water changes to make sure all the meds are out of the water, keep the water as clean as possible and wait for someone more knowledgeable than me to comment. Like you said there is no Ich on them that I can see. I don't know if the meds burned them or what. I'm going to message mumma of two to get her input on this she's pretty good with all this. Hopefully she responds fairly quickly!

 

[smomus]

Thank you yesterday alone we did a 50% wc in the am then a 75% wc in the pm. Added the med at midnight last night. I will go do another wc now and put carbon in..

 

[smomus]

I just tested my water and I'm floored!
My temp is around 78
Ph 8.2
Ammo .5
Nitrite 2
nitrate is between 80 and 160!
How is this possible with all the water changed in the last few days? And a 50% change just 2 hrs ago! Last night it was .25, .5, and 5. Is it the med I put in? If so, how on earth can something live for 48 hrs in that!?
I'm going to do another wc as I type...

 

[Sake]

The chemicals may be reacting with the test kit? Throwing out false numbers? That's the only thing I can think of.

 

[Sake]

I just remembered that you had salt in your tank. If you use the api test kit, there is a salt water and freshwater card, I believe if you use any salt in your tank that you're suppose to use the salt water card.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Hi, I'm sorry to hear your having such a tough time. How much salt do you have in the tank and what size is it? Could you get some clearer pictures if the fish? I agree you need to get all the meds out ASAP.

I highly doubt the salt in the tank is throwing the numbers out or giving false readings. My guess is the medication has killed of some of the biofilter.

 

[smomus]

Thank you for coming to help mumma!
It shouldn't have that much salt any more. Is it supposed to be 1tsp/gal or 1Tbsp? I followed the instructions you gave on another thread, but only got up to 5. Its a 10g. There has been several wc since I added any salt.
However, I had an epiphany! Would trace amounts of soap do this?
I took the remaining 2 fish and put them in with the snails because I've had to leave for work. when I left they seemed more active and happy. I think soap would explain why its just this one tank and the other 3 are unaffected.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Thank you for coming to help mumma!
It shouldn't have that much salt any more. Is it supposed to be 1tsp/gal or 1Tbsp? I followed the instructions you gave on another thread, but only got up to 5. Its a 10g. There has been several wc since I added any salt.
However, I had an epiphany! Would trace amounts of soap do this?
I took the remaining 2 fish and put them in with the snails because I've had to leave for work. when I left they seemed more active and happy. I think soap would explain why its just this one tank and the other 3 are unaffected.

No problem. Hope I can help out.
The standard dosage is 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of water. I'm pretty sure this dosage alone won't kill ich without the high temps but I've never tried it.
Soap could definitely kill fish! If you think any got into the tank it could be contributing to the deaths. Ich meds are nasty and can do more harm than good IMO which is why I advise against them unless absolutely necessary. Are the fish ich free now? Unless very infected, especially in the gills, ich usually doesn't kill fish but secondary infections caused by stress, open wounds (where the ich leaves the body) and dirty water can.
What do the fish look like? Open red sores, fuzz, white tufts, etc? Can you get some closer, clearer pictures when you get home?
What are your water parameters like? You need to keep ammonia and nitrite as close to 0 as you can.

 

[smomus]

So I just got home and the 2 remaining fish look better then they have for a few days! They were swimming around and even interacted with me when I put my finger up to the glass.

It reminds me of dead skin flaking off after being sunburned and has gotten wet. I don't know how else to explain it. I've got some pics but not great ones, they wouldn't hold still!

This first pic you can kind if see it around his 'waist'. (The spot behind his eye near the top fin is a water spot on the tank)



On this pic look at the very end of his tail. Has that peeling skin kind of look.



And this one I just had to add because it had both surviving fish



In just the 10 or so hours since i've seen them, I can definitely see a huge improvement. Hopefully, doing regular wc and deeply cleaning their normal tank will aid in their improving. I've talked to my son and we both believe soap was accidentally introduced into the tank. It makes sense because I've read that soap harms the slime coat and kills them. Also, no other tank has been affected and the siphon and other things are shared among all 4. I feel so bad for the ones we lost. We have worked our butts off tho trying to save them the best we could.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Good to hear they are improving! Keep up what your doing because it sound like its working. Clean water does wonders keep us posted!

 

[smomus]

They are looking really good now! I've been working a ton lately and haven't been able to really clean the tank. Got it clean today though. I'm going to have to cycle the tank again because I washed EVERYTHING in hot water but will use some seeded media from another tank. My son has named the 2 surviving fish 'bubbles' and 'suds' haha!

PS my son is 14 going on 21 so he is very much capable of caring for his aquarium. I just wanted to throw that out there that this was an unfortunate mistake and not that I've left the care to a small child.