Pictus Cat with Ich! help!

[apollo6626]

Hey every one, i just added two pictus cats into my 55 gal. last week. The largest one ive noticed has ich now. It's a serious condition and i know its too late for him. I'm lost though as to what i should do now. Should i treat the tank? i know Pictus' cannot live with Ich for very long...so i don't know if its worth treating. I have 4 angels in the tank that have all had Ich twice and have healed before, so they are nearly immune, should i just remove the infected pictus now and see what happens? Please let me know! FYI i have raised the tank temp. to 82 right now.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Yes you will need to treat the entire tank. Ich is a parasite so fish can not become immune. It is in the tank now so there is no point isolating the infected unless if makes you feel better.
To treat:
Increase temp slowly to 86-88F
Increase aeration
Increase water changes and gravel vacs
Leave temp up for at least one week after last spot is seen
Slowly decrease temp to normal
You can add a little salt if you like. It can help avoid infection in the sites where the ich leaves the body of the fish. Plenty of clean water helps a avoid this also.
http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_ich2.php

 

[apollo6626]

So i can save the fish though? I mean it is severe.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Certainly give it a try! If its too advanced it could be in the gills of the fish. One this happens the mortality rate increases but its not impossible to recover.

 

[apollo6626]

ALright cool, thanks alot. I'm using high amounts of metholyene blue, thats the best right?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

You don't need the medication. Just the heat method I posted above. If you want to try a half dose along side the heat treatment in a QT with the cat you can but I don't see the point exposing your other fish to unneeded chemicals.

 

[GNarnian]

Really the best treatment is what was mentioned above. The heat treatment is safest for the fish, and doesn't add any chemicals to the tank.

Doesn't the Metholyene blue stain the silicone?

 

[apollo6626]

It stains it, but heres the thing, all the fish have it. I dont know whats with my fish but everytime i add new fish, i get ich. I think my fish are just of poor quality.

 

[GNarnian]

Most LFS's will have fish that have ich. When a fish is stressed, it can get it much more easily, so there is that. Don't be discouraged! It can be fixed by following the heat method and frequent water changes.

 

[apollo6626]

I know it's stressed, but it's just aggravating you know? Like you try so hard to establish fish and one little mistake screws it up, i just hope they pull through this.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

It's a good idea to have a quarantine tank to quarantine new fish for a few weeks. That way if the new fish are infected with something you can treat them before exposing your old fish to them.

 

[apollo6626]

Alright so now the latest thing i noticed is it looks like my angels are getting velvet. any ideas...?

 

[apollo6626]

And a quarantine tank is essentially what? just a smaller tank with high salt concentration?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

A quarantine tank is like a holding tank. It's just a normal tank, usually smaller than your main tank but is still big enough for your biggest fish to be kept in for a short time. It's used to observe new and sick fish and to treat them in. It's usually got no substrate and minimal decor. Usually plastic plants and/or ornaments that are easy to disinfect if need be. It doesn't even need to be a tank. It could be a plastic storage bin with a sponge filter and cheep heater.

 

[apollo6626]

Huh well now every fish in the tank has fin rot and will probably die in about two days I have no idea how they got it but they did. All my angels are skeletal and I have no idea what to do

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Ok. What are the water parameters? When was the last water change done? What are you doing to treat? Fin rot can be brought in by stress. It can usually be cured with clean water and some salt. Bad cases may need antibiotics.
This is good site for fish disease identification.
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/fish_palace/tropicalfish_disease_identification.html#ERM
(It has two pages)
How is the ich looking? Worse? The same?
Do the fish have any growths? Are they eating?