so i go to petco yesterday to pic up 6 albino tiger barbs for my wife. i get them home and start the process of acclimating the to the water. bout an hour after releasing them to the tank i notice that they are swimming kinda wierd.
i dont think much of it, but still decide to keep an eye on them. so i decide to do a 25% water change, just because.
later on last night, my wife came home from work and noticed lil white specs on a couple of the albino's. i instantly jump up and grab the net and begin fishing them out of the tank. it didnt click until she saw the dots that these fish were showing signs of having ich!!
i immediatley research ich, and i find that there are 3 methods of treatment.
1)medications
2)high water temps
3)salt
Im not sure if any of my other fish are infected but im sure that its safe to assume that my noob move of putting new fish into my tank without quarantining them for abservation, and having ich, has infected my tank.
now im pretty much ruling out medications because the medications will kill my crabs and possibly kill my sharks.
raising the tempurature of the water to 86 degrees seems like risky business, but seems very sound in the fact if properly carried out it can be a highly efective treatment.
using salt seems like a good treatment also but seems very complicated to carry out.
then on top of whatever treatment i choose, i can also do frequent water changes to combat parasites in the gravel and water.
SO HERE IS MY FIRST QUESTION
can i combine temp and salt treatment together with water changes for a few weeks?
now.... today i brought those infected albinos back to petco and informed them about the infestation. the lady, nonchalantley, stated,"yeah a bunch of our tanks have ich"!
i was floored at the fact that i wasnt informed of this before i purchased the fish and at the fact that infected fish were being sold....KNOWINGLY!!!
I did return them for a store credit and she did inform me that they would be getting in a new cshipment of fish in on this thursday.
MY SECOND QUESTION
if they bring new fish in and dump them into infected taks....WONT THEY BECOME INFECTED???
Im scared to buy fish from them now.
my fish are not showing signs of infection but im sure i didnt dodge that bullet.
THIRD QUESTION
how do i know its safe to buy their fish? quarantine method only??
any comments are welcome
i dont think much of it, but still decide to keep an eye on them. so i decide to do a 25% water change, just because.
later on last night, my wife came home from work and noticed lil white specs on a couple of the albino's. i instantly jump up and grab the net and begin fishing them out of the tank. it didnt click until she saw the dots that these fish were showing signs of having ich!!
i immediatley research ich, and i find that there are 3 methods of treatment.
1)medications
2)high water temps
3)salt
Im not sure if any of my other fish are infected but im sure that its safe to assume that my noob move of putting new fish into my tank without quarantining them for abservation, and having ich, has infected my tank.
now im pretty much ruling out medications because the medications will kill my crabs and possibly kill my sharks.
raising the tempurature of the water to 86 degrees seems like risky business, but seems very sound in the fact if properly carried out it can be a highly efective treatment.
using salt seems like a good treatment also but seems very complicated to carry out.
then on top of whatever treatment i choose, i can also do frequent water changes to combat parasites in the gravel and water.
SO HERE IS MY FIRST QUESTION
can i combine temp and salt treatment together with water changes for a few weeks?
now.... today i brought those infected albinos back to petco and informed them about the infestation. the lady, nonchalantley, stated,"yeah a bunch of our tanks have ich"!
i was floored at the fact that i wasnt informed of this before i purchased the fish and at the fact that infected fish were being sold....KNOWINGLY!!!
I did return them for a store credit and she did inform me that they would be getting in a new cshipment of fish in on this thursday.
MY SECOND QUESTION
if they bring new fish in and dump them into infected taks....WONT THEY BECOME INFECTED???
Im scared to buy fish from them now.
my fish are not showing signs of infection but im sure i didnt dodge that bullet.
THIRD QUESTION
how do i know its safe to buy their fish? quarantine method only??
any comments are welcome