itchy fishy??

[pixieprincess]

i have been having a lot of problems....i seemed to have everything under control but now i have noticed that the fish are scratching themselves on the bottom, i have done a water change and added salt, about a week ago i added parasite clear, i have also used melafix.....please some one give me some advice this is driving me nuts...

 

[jsoong]

I'll take a stab at this.

First, we need more info - what kind of fish, size of tank, and most important, your water parameters - temp. NH3, NO2, pH. How long had the tank been set up, what problems you had before, etc.

Also, how long have you been using parasite clear? How many doses? Also, how much salt have you added?

Notice anything on the fish? spots, dots? fins clamped? breathing fast or gulping for air?

Itchy fishy is most likely an external parasite, and commonest is ich. If you haven't read Allivmar's article on ich, you can find it in the articles section.

Most common prob with treating ich is not treating it for long enough. Ich goes through a complex lifecycle, and to treat sucessfully, you need to maintain treatment for 2+ weeks (depends on temperature). A single dose of parasite clear is not going to do much. (I suspect the package instructions will say "treat once & forget" like the Ich-clear I once used before I knew better. Don't believe it! You cannot treat ich with a single dose of anything..)

 

[pixieprincess]

i have 4 goldfish, 2 mollys, 1 glassfish, 4 tetras, 3 sword tails, and plecostomus.
The first problem i had was ich, i sucessfully treat it, then afterwards some of the goldfish started to turn black i went to the petstore and they told me to buy melafix because it was some sort of parasite....i used melafix to the extent of using it.....then it didn't go away needless to say the sick fished died....then everything was looking normal and i noticed one scratching at the bottom, and i added parasite clear to the extent of it i used 2 boxes of it....i thought everything was fine i did a water change added the needed chemicals, did everything like i was suppose to and now i was watching my fish this morning while i was feeding them and they are scratching at the bottom, no white spot nothing visable on the body....the ph is at 7.0 and the ammonia level is at 0 last i checked which was yesterday....i have a 30 aquarium, and it has been set up for 4 months, i added 1 table spoon of salt of every 5 gallons of water, i don't know what else to do it seems like once i get rid of something, i get something else i need some advice...

 

[Menagerie]

Keep up the treatments and try to find the source of the problem. There is something in the tank that is distressing your fish.

 

[QTOFFER]

There are a few things that you will have to address for the long term if you want to avoid dealing with diseases all the time.

First, goldfish prefer cool water while your other fish are tropical and like temps of 78 - 80oF. So, whatever temp you have now, someone in that tank is not comfortable=stressed. If you are running a low temp for the benefit of the goldies, you risk ich flareups on your tropicals, since ich is often associated with chilly temps. Long term solution is to get another tank just for the tropicals and run it at the higher temp.

Second, you can get away with four goldies in the 30 gal if you are pretty good about gravel vacs and water changes. Goldies are really messy poo and pee factories. That brings me to the black stuff on them - they might have neen suffering from ammonia burns. I would bring a sample of tank water to your lfs and have them confirm your test result - test kits can become outdated and the strip tests can give inaccurate readings. Also pick up test kits for nitrite and nitrate. These are just as toxic as ammonia at high concentrations. Also, are you using a tap water conditioner that removes chlorine AND chloramine? Unconditioned tapwater could cause burns too.

Finally, MelaFix is great for promoting healing and PREVENTING infections of MINOR wounds. However, it really does nothing to CURE bacterial infections, nor does it have any effect on internal or external parasites.

 

[pixieprincess]

do you think i should continue adding salt or parasite clear or should i change the water, what should i do

 

[pixieprincess]

the temp. is at 76F, do you think i should get another tank and put the gold fish in another tank or should i leave them all in one tank until this whatever it is clears up...i just don't know what to do i just don't want to lose my fish

 

[Menagerie]

Yes, separate the fish and continue treating (at proper temps) until everyone is well.

 

[QTOFFER]

That temp is perfect for the goldfish, but a bit chilly for the tropicals. You could pick up a 10 gal hospital tank and lid, small HOB filter, and 50 W heater for about $40 - probably even less if you order the filter and heater online and have it FedExed. The tropicals could go in there to be treated and to live short term at their preferred temp of 78 - 80oF. Eventually, tho, your tropicals would really need a 20 gal of their own. The pleco can grow to over a foot in length and the other tropicals get to be 2 inches.

I would stop adding the salt for now since it may only be adding to the fishs' osmotic stress. Besides, I'm not sure how well goldies and plecos tolerate salt.
Certainly, a water change could only be helpful - reduces wastes and freeswimming parasites.
Since you have already started treatment, I would continue with another course of the Parasite clear. It's a broad spectrum antiparasite agent - which is really what you want right now since you haven't been able to make a specific diagnosis (ie no white spots, only scratching).

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[scoach1999]

My latest wonderful aquarium heater discovery:



Speaking of heaters...

Ever wonder why such a small and simple thing costs so much at the LFS?

So did I, and wasn't too happy whenever I accidentally broke the glass on one. I am not clumsy (REALLY!), but that glass is so amazingly fragile.

Anyway, I found a wonderful 150 watt (completely adequate for my 40-gallon tank) name-brand (ViaAqua, model VA150S) double-walled fully submersible stainless-steel heater with a separate submersible suction-cup placeable temp sensor, and exterior adjustment for only $15.15! The 200 watt was only $15.75. I was shocked at the low price. I've been using it for about 6 weeks now, and couldn't be happier. I paid an additional $6.00 for UPS shipping, and $1.10 for tax for a whopping $22.25 (about half what my LFS wanted for a regular glass one). Now I don't have to worry about the glass breaking any more. I found it at (in browser window - all on one line, no breaks): http://amekaaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=HEATERS_SS

No, I don't work for these people. I am just truly enthusiastic about sharing a very great deal.

 

[Menagerie]

[center:9cbce3bd42] Welcome to AA, scoach1999 [/center:9cbce3bd42]

Another great place for deals is eBay (I used to buy often while in the states, but with shipping, it's not such a deal anymore).

 

[jsoong]

I would stop adding the salt for now since it may only be adding to the fishs' osmotic stress. Besides, I'm not sure how well goldies and plecos tolerate salt.

I keep goldies & know that they can tolerate quite a bit of salt. I have used salt at 0.3% to treat ich, & have read that some people use up to 0.5%.

However, salt at 1 tablespoon per 5 gal is too little to do anything. That is about 0.1% & will do nothing to rid parasites. I personally do not believe in mixed treatment. Better to stick with one good treatment for the appropriate dose & time. Since you started the parasite clear, I would just continue that & see what happens.

 

[oscarbreeder]

I also use the stainless heaters they are GREAT!!!!!!!

 

[pixieprincess]

i few more of my fish died it seems like all the fish that i have bought from walmart dies but all the ones that i bought from the lfs lived...i am continuing the use of parasite clear and hoping for the best...i really hope this does the trick....i have seprated the goldfish and the tropicals....i am currently treating both but they don't seem like they are getting any better

 

[jsoong]

That seems to be the general observation here - Walmart fish are not well looked after & often sick/weak when you get them. I avoid Walmart for fish even tho the prices may be good (at times).

It's been a few days since your prob first started. Any new signs - spots, etc? If this is ich, I would be expecting to see some spots now. Maybe this is something else.

Also, the dead fish, have a good look at them. Any thing on the fins, bodies, gills? Abdomen bloated? Doing a careful exam of the dead fish may help in diagnosis & correct treatment.

If you goldies are big enough, you may consider doing a physical. Info & diagnostic techniques here:

http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/home.html

Quite a bit of info there to help you pin down the cause.

 

[pixieprincess]

there aren't any signs of ich or velvet i finished my parasite clear and i haven't seen them scratching yet but i am just going to give them a while before i add anything i am going to put some methalane blue in the tank and that is going to be it for a while.....the dead fish look normal i didn't see any signs of anything being wrong except they were dead....

 

[pixieprincess]

i seprated the goldfish from the tropicals, i added methalane blue to both tanks, i completed the parasite clear and the fish are still scratching... i don't know what to do....will it ever stop