Oh NO (again)- I feel so stupid.

[fishygurl]

OK, if you read my other thread my female gourami and two cherry barbs are in my quarantine tank (I think the have an internal parasite.) . Well, stupid me, i thought the heater was on but it was not. Last night the water was 29, it dropped 10 degrees!!! I was afraid that would have killed the fish. I am slowly bringing up the temperature now. I hope theyll be ok!

 

[TCTFish]

Offer them some food soaked in garlic about twice a week for the next couple of weeks to help boost their immune system and just in case there are any external parasites in the system, the garlic makes the fish taste and smell bad, so they are unlikely to latch onto a fish that eats garlic. Ich is very common right after a sudden temp. flux.

 

[fishygurl]

How do you soak food in garlic? boil the garlic first or somthing?
Now ive tested the water and there ammonia! Im starting to think these poor fish would be better in the main tank! I should do a water change right?

 

[TCTFish]

http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/GarlicGuard.html

http://www.kentmarine.com/foods/garlicxtreme.html

They can be used with both FW and marine fish. Use exactly as directed.

You can make a garlic soak, but the problem with that is dosing. Unless you have scientific data that can help you precisely calculate the amount of garlic to add, you run the risk of overdosing or improper use. FW fish are more likely to suffer from burns whereas SW fish are more likely to become dependent on it (prolonged use may induce the immune system to rely on it).

 

[fishygurl]

I think mabye i should put them in the main tank, because the quarintine isnt cycled and i think that even with tons of PWC this isnt too good for the sick fishies. Then i could treat the whole tank just incase too. But now that i think about it, i should make sure they dont have ich first. How long should it take before i will know if they have ich or not?

 

[jsoong]

I would NOT return the fish to the main tank, unless as a last resort.

You can generally bring up the temp back to normal quite quickly (say a few hrs ... some would do it even faster). <That is as opposed to bring the temp down - fishies need far more time to acclimatize to cold then to heat.>

Depending on what filters/media you have in the tank, try transfering some bacteria to the QT. Eg. If you have 2 filters, put one in the QT. At the very least, seed your QT's filter with gunk from the main's filter. You should have at most a mini cycle if you seed enough.

I keep my QT's filter in my main tank all the time. That way, any time I need the QT, I have a fully cycled tank.

BTW - regarding ich .... how soon the spots show up depends on temp. At 80's, ich should go through one life cycle in 4-5 days.

 

[fishygurl]

Well, i got the medicated food, i didnt actaully see them eat any, so im hoping that they will eat least atleast a little. I dont have two filters, and i would have no where to put filter gunk since i have a sponge filter in the QT. The quarintne is new or i would have run the filter in there. But, there is gravel and driftwood from the main tank, so well see.

 

[TCTFish]

QT are generally hard to maintain any significant amount of bacteria. I opt for the barebottom tank with just a heater, thermometer, sponge filter and something for the fish to hide in. Frequent water changes are needed to beat the ammonia levels more so than seeding it for bio. A QT tank that's suppose to be cycled loses it's bio when there's no fish in it. Also, if the fish in the QT has parasites, then you have to deal with the substrate if you have any. Barebottom tanks make it more difficult for parasites to hide and shield themselves from any chemical onslaughts with medication. You just have to do extra water changes to beat ammonia levels when the QT is in use.