URGENT help with Ich

[Mumma.of.two]

Here's one of my threads. There might be some helpful info in there if your willing to read it all. And I apologize in advance. I just read some if it and I sound like a real ditz.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f17/cry-for-help-septicemia-goldfish-189343.html

 

[Princess1982]

and is the Lactobacillus Acidophilus essential? I have no idea where i willget this from at such short notice!

 

[Princess1982]

OK I wont be able to get the ingredients to make the gel food until at least tomorrow and I would rather not wait to start treatment. How else can I add the antibiotics? Do the tablets break down in water or do I need to break them up?? There are no instructions on how to do this. Aaargh

 

[jlk]

I would crush them very fine & dissolve them in bit water before adding. The lacto bacillus can be found in any human 'probiotic' vitamin-type supplement in the vitamin section of your pharmacy/drugstore.

 

[Princess1982]

thanks for all of your help. for now I have just done 10%water change as I only have enough salt for that and I will check my local drug store first thing tomorrow morning and set up the hospital tank then. the moor is a lot more active today than she was yesterday and she is no longer clamping her fins. the pom pom is still clamping her fins and is still very sluggish though. it's so weird that she is still covered in spots while the others were barely affected.

I have done a 50% water change in the pleco tank and the good news is that he is eating again

 

[jlk]

Thats great news about your pleco!! It sounds like your moor is heading in the right direction, too! Keep us posted!!!

 

[Princess1982]

I have not been able to get hold of the lacto bacteria or the peas or the gelatine. so this is turning into a nightmare. what I was thinking is that when I was adding vitamins to my tank last year I soaked the flakes or pellets in the vitamin water. could I not dissolve the tetra in water and then soak normal pellets in in until it all absorbs? it's either that or add it to the tank directly. and if I soak food in tetra, do I add 250g per 100g of food like in the gel food instructions? and then feed twice a day every day. if so for how long?

sorry for all the questions but I want to make sure I do this correctly! all the fish seem to be a bit perkier today and the pleco has been cleaning his tank all morning. I'm so relieved!

 

[jlk]

Hmm... I havent personally tried doing this (soaking food in meds) but I dont see why it wouldnt work unless your fish decide to not eat it. I would only soak the food in meds prior to feeding- the food likely wont hold up to long term soaking & will probably completely dissolve. I would stick to the 250/100g but you will need to divide this into meals to fed so meds are not wasted. I would feed for a minimum of 7 days and then assess how everyone is doing and go from there. Glad to hear the pleco is doing well and the goldies are perking up!!!

 

[Princess1982]

hmmm 100g of fish pellets is a lot! lol I'm trying to work out how to do this. just done 50% water changes on both tanks including full gravel vacuum and have finished setting up the hospital tank for the moor. just waiting for temp to match and for all the salt to dissolve then I will move her over. I've also just taken out all of the ornaments and am drying them out in front of the radiator. someone told me that ich cannot survive outside the water so if there are any parasites on the ornaments they will soon be gone. I will not let ich defeat me!

 

[jlk]

I'm not at home so I don't have calculator so I'm making guesses here. Ok 250mg/100g food. So, 25mgs per 10g. 4 grams @1tsp (based on wt of sugar). So, let's say for 2tsps/25mg because only portion of med will get into food. I would take 250mg tablet & crush it into fine powder & divide it into 10 piles (25mgs each). Or add it to 10mls of water & dissolve- then 1 ml will contain approximately 25ml med (I think...I despise math!!!). Does this make any sense??

 

[Mumma.of.two]

1ml will contain 25mg of med not 25ml

 

[Princess1982]

this is getting confusing! I'm terrified of overdosing the food so I have just followed the instructions on the bottle and dosed the water. I'd rather be safe than sorry. but thank you so much for trying to work it out for me.
apparently I should see improvement in 48hrs and if not I should redose. it doesn't say how much to redose though, is it the full treatment again or just what was taken out in the water change?

 

[jlk]

Big water change & redose the same every 48hrs.

 

[Princess1982]

ok perfect. thanks so much for your help and advice. fingers crossed this works!