Ich showed up the day before vacation!

[RightTurnClyde]

Finished up the whole box of General Cure on Wednesday. Tonight I did a PWC and put in carbon again. Fish are looking OK, although I'm pretty sure there are still a few tiny spots. I'm going to let the carbon run a good 48 hours and not put anything else into the tank so I can observe. I got some Seachem Paraguard in the mail today, which I've heard recommended from a source I trust. So if the spots come back again, I'll start that treatment.

 

[UABsleeperSRNA]

Finished up the whole box of General Cure on Wednesday. Tonight I did a PWC and put in carbon again. Fish are looking OK, although I'm pretty sure there are still a few tiny spots. I'm going to let the carbon run a good 48 hours and not put anything else into the tank so I can observe. I got some Seachem Paraguard in the mail today, which I've heard recommended from a source I trust. So if the spots come back again, I'll start that treatment.

Maybe that last treatment will cure it up! Sure seems like a pretty tough bug you have

 

[RightTurnClyde]

I'm starting to think the bug isn't actually all that bad. It's just that my Cardinal Tetras were just so weak to begin with. They are the only ones with any symptoms.

 

[Coryluv]

I have had similar bad luck with neons and rummys. I have, in the past, had great success with cardinals. I think it has a lot to do with the source of the fish and our particular tank conditions.

Some of the smaller, delicate tetras like neons have been said to be overbred and may be weak even though they are tank bred. In other cases, some fish may be wild caught and suffer from both the stress of being caught, shipping, and also adjusting to the many different water conditions our tanks present.

Frankly though I love them, because I love them, I'm not getting any more rummys. I just have far more losses than I find acceptable. And believe me, I transport and acclimate very carefully. I do everything I can to ensure a proper environment. Those that survive do have a long life and seem quite hardy. But not enough survive. I have no such losses or problems with my other fishes.

So yes, some of us just have trouble with certain fishes from certain sources and probably should look to keeping other fishes or fishes from different sources if possible. Live, happy fish are so much more fun.

 

[RightTurnClyde]

Today's update:

The fish were looking decent last night but the Cardinals still had some spots and the leading edge of a couple fins were starting to turn white, which I know is an early stage of fin rot.

So... I started treatment with Seachem's Paraguard last night. I started with about a 1/3 dose to get them acclimated as suggested by their website. Hopefully this will do it. At least with this, I have a big bottle so I can treat for multiple weeks if necessary.

 

[Coryluv]

It has been along journey for you and for your fish. I hope that this is the magic bullet you need.

 

[dcutl002]

Yes, you have been through a lot.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RightTurnClyde]

Glad to hear this is considered a lot and not the usual way things go. If things don't improve in the next couple weeks, I might have to just give up on those Cardinals. I don't want to keep dumping all these chemicals in my tank.

 

[UABsleeperSRNA]

Sometimes the best thing for the fish and all of the other fish in the tank is euthanasia.. thats the only way i have been able to cure it sometimes.. they get so weak from illness and medications.. and the stress of everything involved no matter what you treat with they are so prone to infection that anything present in the tank will infect them.. rather than make the fish keep suffering and stressing all of the other fish in the tank.. putting them more at risk of catching it it is best to put the fish down and cut your losses.. even if they do recover.. it will be a long time if ever that they are back to 100% most likely they will catch something else.. just my opinion though

 

[RightTurnClyde]

Sometimes the best thing for the fish and all of the other fish in the tank is euthanasia.. thats the only way i have been able to cure it sometimes.. they get so weak from illness and medications.. and the stress of everything involved no matter what you treat with they are so prone to infection that anything present in the tank will infect them.. rather than make the fish keep suffering and stressing all of the other fish in the tank.. putting them more at risk of catching it it is best to put the fish down and cut your losses.. even if they do recover.. it will be a long time if ever that they are back to 100% most likely they will catch something else.. just my opinion though

Wow. Yeah... I've actually been leaning that direction more and more. Maybe I just needed someone else to say it. I guess I was unwilling to give up after putting so much effort into it. Like you said, I'm pretty sure they just happen to be a batch of weak fish and I'm certain they will just catch something else even if I can cure this Ich/Velvet/wasting that they have.

 

[RightTurnClyde]

Well... I managed to cull 3 out of the 7 remaining 7 Cardinals tonight. Too difficult to get the rest for now. They were too spooked and I didn't want to stress out the whole tank. Although... the Zebras are hilarious, they just swim right up to the net to "peck" at it and check it out.

I did a ~35% water change too. I think I'll keep dosing a 2/3 dose of the Paraguard until I can get the rest out.

 

[UABsleeperSRNA]

yep sounds like your probably making the right decision.. if your putting them down a good way can be to freeze water to slushy almost break up water and put in there it's a lot more humane than flushing ect.. the shock will cause them to pass almost instantly

 

[RightTurnClyde]

Yeah, I try to do a double whammy for a quick death. I drop them into a cup of freezing vodka. So they get the freezing cold shock along with the alcohol. So far, it's working well. They pass within a single second. I feel bad, but I truly did everything I could for these guys.

 

[RightTurnClyde]

OK, it's done. All of them are gone now.

Even though the outcome was pretty much the worst case scenario, this was a great learning experience in dealing with disease in the tank. I'll be able to act quicker and more decisively if something happens again. And hopefully I won't be out of town for a week next time when it hits.

Thank you to everyone who followed this thread and helped me out along the way. You guys and gals are great. I hope to see you again soon in a happier thread.

 

[Ulrichsd]

Wow, this was such a sad thread... sorry for your fish loss. This convinced me to go out and buy a qt tank tomorrow!

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Aquarium Advice mobile app