I apologize for the length of this. The short summary is we have fish dying from an apparent ich outbreak that came right after a major fungal infection ended up killing a fish.
We have a 10 gallon, standard dimensions tank with a Penguin 100 Biowheel filter. I am not sure of the gph, however I built a DIY baffle from a water bottle to reduce current in the tank. The tank was a gift for my 4 year old son. No chemicals or food are ever left where he could get at them nor can he reach the top of the tank, so there is no reason to suspect that he may have tried to "help" by adding anything.
We have standard aquarium gravel, a scattering of small rounded rocks, a yellow submarine decoration, and silk plants.
We use API freshwater master test kit and the API liquid test for KH and GH. We use Prime water conditioner. Until I got used to the right amount, I tested water before watch changes with a liquid chlorine test kit.
I performed a fishless cycle using pure ammonia over a course of 7 weeks. I did use Tetra Safe Start Plus at the beginning. This had the odd effect of completely skipping the Nitrite spike. To this day, we have never detected nitrite. I have verified that our nitrite test is working by having our water tested with other kits and using our kit to test other water. It seems like the Safe Start Plus built up the second stage of bacteria much quicker than the first stage and it has been happily consuming every bit of nitrite.
Current tank parameters are:
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 10ppm
PH: 7.8
dKH: 6 (107.4ppm)
GH: 161.1 ppm
Temperature is currently at 88 degrees. Until this week, it had been at 78 degrees. Temp is measured by a glass thermometer in tank.
6 weeks ago we purchased 4 guppies (two blue and two orange) from PetsMart. We decided to go with them after multiple trips over a 2 week period to them, PetCo, and a LFS. The PetsMart fish seemed healthier and their tanks seemed cleaner.
The fish were introduced by floating the bags for 20 minutes, then over a course of another half hour slowly replacing bag water with aquarium water. At the end of this, the fish were netted and placed in the tank. None of the bag water was put into the aquarium. 3 of the fish seemed to settle in quickly, and they even ate some flake food later than day when I added a small amount. The 4th fish hid in the plants.
2 days later, the fish that never seemed to settle in died and was discovered in the morning. We took the fish back to PetsMart and got a replacement from the same tank that the blue fish had been in (this time a yellow guppy).
We have been feeding a rotation of Tetra Min tropical crisps, tetra min tropicle granules, Omega freeze dried blood worms, and blanched vegetables.
Everything seemed to be going well, until the 1 month mark. The remaining blue fish had been hiding in the plants for a few days and not eating. I finally reached in and gently moved some plants and he pretty much floated to the top. He was covered in white cotton like growths all over his body. The other 3 fish were not happy with him and were pushing him around and nipping at him. I removed him to a clear container to observe him. He was breathing laborously, couldn't keep upright, and was barely moving. The process of moving him seemed to make things considerably worse. As I did not have any medication on hand or the ability to set up a quarantine tank to keep him away from the other fish who had seemed intent on attacking him, I made the decision to euthanize him in a ice bath with salt added to reduce the temperature even further.
I took the fish to LFS and they said it was a fungal infection. They recommended a full course of Pimafix for the tank as a prophalaxis for the other fish, especially since they had been nipping at him. I cut the top of my filter cartridge to remove the carbon before starting treatment. Before each of the 7 daily doses of medication, I did a 30% water change. At the end of the course of treatment, I did a 50% water change.
As that course was ending up, the yellow and one of the orange guppies appeared to develop ich. Tiny white dots on their bodies and fins. The dots are especially noticable when shining a bright light on the fish.
I slowly raised the temp to 88 over a few days and slowly added about a tablespoon and a half of freshwater aquarium salt. I also added some carbon for a few days to get any remaining Pimafix out. Then I removed the carbon and have been dosing Ick Attack for 4 days. I added a second air stone and lowered the water level a bit to increase aeration when raising temp.
Yesterday, the orange fish that appears to have ich was clenching his fins and shimmying near the back right corner of the tank. One of his eyes was completely black. I believe it was swollen (pop eye). I did multiple water changes throughout the day in the hope that if it was the Ick Attack or the salt that was causing the problem I might be able to dilute it enough without doing a massive water change all at once and shocking the fish. About 11pm, however, I checked on the tank and he was dead. I had figured the yellow fish would die first if any because he was the first to show signs of the infection, and he had quite a few more of the dots all over his body.
Today, the yellow fish appears to have his fins semi-clenched and is spending a large amount of time near the top of the tank. He does not look as listless as the orange one that died did yesterday, but he is considerably less active than usual.
The other orange fish seems fine, however I am now noticing some dots forming on him as well.
What should I do? It seems like I may not have the time necessary for Ick Attack to work before losing more fish. I really don't want to do copper in the tank as I don't have access to a test kit at this time and am concerned about the possibility of toxicity since I use Prime water conditioner. I am considering SeaChem ParaGuard or AAPs Quick Cure after reading Aquarium Ich Disease | Ichthyophthirius Multifilis & Cryptocaryon.
Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this and offer any guidance.
We have a 10 gallon, standard dimensions tank with a Penguin 100 Biowheel filter. I am not sure of the gph, however I built a DIY baffle from a water bottle to reduce current in the tank. The tank was a gift for my 4 year old son. No chemicals or food are ever left where he could get at them nor can he reach the top of the tank, so there is no reason to suspect that he may have tried to "help" by adding anything.
We have standard aquarium gravel, a scattering of small rounded rocks, a yellow submarine decoration, and silk plants.
We use API freshwater master test kit and the API liquid test for KH and GH. We use Prime water conditioner. Until I got used to the right amount, I tested water before watch changes with a liquid chlorine test kit.
I performed a fishless cycle using pure ammonia over a course of 7 weeks. I did use Tetra Safe Start Plus at the beginning. This had the odd effect of completely skipping the Nitrite spike. To this day, we have never detected nitrite. I have verified that our nitrite test is working by having our water tested with other kits and using our kit to test other water. It seems like the Safe Start Plus built up the second stage of bacteria much quicker than the first stage and it has been happily consuming every bit of nitrite.
Current tank parameters are:
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 10ppm
PH: 7.8
dKH: 6 (107.4ppm)
GH: 161.1 ppm
Temperature is currently at 88 degrees. Until this week, it had been at 78 degrees. Temp is measured by a glass thermometer in tank.
6 weeks ago we purchased 4 guppies (two blue and two orange) from PetsMart. We decided to go with them after multiple trips over a 2 week period to them, PetCo, and a LFS. The PetsMart fish seemed healthier and their tanks seemed cleaner.
The fish were introduced by floating the bags for 20 minutes, then over a course of another half hour slowly replacing bag water with aquarium water. At the end of this, the fish were netted and placed in the tank. None of the bag water was put into the aquarium. 3 of the fish seemed to settle in quickly, and they even ate some flake food later than day when I added a small amount. The 4th fish hid in the plants.
2 days later, the fish that never seemed to settle in died and was discovered in the morning. We took the fish back to PetsMart and got a replacement from the same tank that the blue fish had been in (this time a yellow guppy).
We have been feeding a rotation of Tetra Min tropical crisps, tetra min tropicle granules, Omega freeze dried blood worms, and blanched vegetables.
Everything seemed to be going well, until the 1 month mark. The remaining blue fish had been hiding in the plants for a few days and not eating. I finally reached in and gently moved some plants and he pretty much floated to the top. He was covered in white cotton like growths all over his body. The other 3 fish were not happy with him and were pushing him around and nipping at him. I removed him to a clear container to observe him. He was breathing laborously, couldn't keep upright, and was barely moving. The process of moving him seemed to make things considerably worse. As I did not have any medication on hand or the ability to set up a quarantine tank to keep him away from the other fish who had seemed intent on attacking him, I made the decision to euthanize him in a ice bath with salt added to reduce the temperature even further.
I took the fish to LFS and they said it was a fungal infection. They recommended a full course of Pimafix for the tank as a prophalaxis for the other fish, especially since they had been nipping at him. I cut the top of my filter cartridge to remove the carbon before starting treatment. Before each of the 7 daily doses of medication, I did a 30% water change. At the end of the course of treatment, I did a 50% water change.
As that course was ending up, the yellow and one of the orange guppies appeared to develop ich. Tiny white dots on their bodies and fins. The dots are especially noticable when shining a bright light on the fish.
I slowly raised the temp to 88 over a few days and slowly added about a tablespoon and a half of freshwater aquarium salt. I also added some carbon for a few days to get any remaining Pimafix out. Then I removed the carbon and have been dosing Ick Attack for 4 days. I added a second air stone and lowered the water level a bit to increase aeration when raising temp.
Yesterday, the orange fish that appears to have ich was clenching his fins and shimmying near the back right corner of the tank. One of his eyes was completely black. I believe it was swollen (pop eye). I did multiple water changes throughout the day in the hope that if it was the Ick Attack or the salt that was causing the problem I might be able to dilute it enough without doing a massive water change all at once and shocking the fish. About 11pm, however, I checked on the tank and he was dead. I had figured the yellow fish would die first if any because he was the first to show signs of the infection, and he had quite a few more of the dots all over his body.
Today, the yellow fish appears to have his fins semi-clenched and is spending a large amount of time near the top of the tank. He does not look as listless as the orange one that died did yesterday, but he is considerably less active than usual.
The other orange fish seems fine, however I am now noticing some dots forming on him as well.
What should I do? It seems like I may not have the time necessary for Ick Attack to work before losing more fish. I really don't want to do copper in the tank as I don't have access to a test kit at this time and am concerned about the possibility of toxicity since I use Prime water conditioner. I am considering SeaChem ParaGuard or AAPs Quick Cure after reading Aquarium Ich Disease | Ichthyophthirius Multifilis & Cryptocaryon.
Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this and offer any guidance.
