jphendren
Aquarium Advice Activist
I have a two week old 10 gallon aquarium with two Comet Goldfish and one Black Moore Goldfish. On Saturday I placed some Anacharis plants in the tank that I purchased from Petco; this Monday I noticed that my largest Comet Goldfish was sitting under his rock and only coming out to feed. His fins are also clamped against his body. My wife said that it could be Ick, so I looked it up on the internet, and I tell you it sure looks like it. He had small white spots on his fins, and a few on his body. I immediately went to Petco and purchased Mardel Coppersafe, and dosed the tank carefully as directed on the box. I also put in one tablespoon of aquarium salts, as a Petco employee said that could help. I had also read that the Ick parasite's cycle is sped up by raising the temperature of the tank. I have been trying to keep the water below 74º F, but installed my heater and heated the tank to 78º F, as that is as high as my heater will heat. I did this thinking that the warmer water would speed up the Ick cycle and allow the Coppersafe to kill the parasite, but so far I am seeing little results. Now my other two Goldfish are also covered in white spots
Last night I went to my LFS and they told me that Ick takes advantage of a weakened fish, and that I should NOT have raised the tank temp, that Goldfish become weakened in anything over 72-73º F or so. So I came home and removed the heater, and this morning my tank is 72º again.
Now the first Comet (Lightning McQueen) that contracted the Ick has bloodshot fins, and scales falling off, I'm afraid that he is dying. He still eats when food is available, but hides most of the day. The other two, despite all of the spots, are still behaving normally as before.
Water:
Nitrate - 10 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
Total Hardness - 300 ppm very hard
Chlorine - 0
Total alkalinity - 120 ppm
pH - 7.8
Ammonia - 0
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Jared
Last night I went to my LFS and they told me that Ick takes advantage of a weakened fish, and that I should NOT have raised the tank temp, that Goldfish become weakened in anything over 72-73º F or so. So I came home and removed the heater, and this morning my tank is 72º again.
Now the first Comet (Lightning McQueen) that contracted the Ick has bloodshot fins, and scales falling off, I'm afraid that he is dying. He still eats when food is available, but hides most of the day. The other two, despite all of the spots, are still behaving normally as before.
Water:
Nitrate - 10 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
Total Hardness - 300 ppm very hard
Chlorine - 0
Total alkalinity - 120 ppm
pH - 7.8
Ammonia - 0
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Jared