Ich treatment advice

[MaggstAa]

My sarasa comet has suddenly come down with what appears to me to be ich. On one side he has little white salt-like spots, two tiny ones on his dorsal fin, two tiny ones on his side, and a big clump of them on his face. I haven't noticed too much change in his personality, but I just noticed the spots today. I have been researching treatment and wanted to make absolutely sure I am doing everything correctly and not causing more damage. Some info: my water parameters are perfect, tank is about 20 liters, and has the comet, a small algae eater, and a small snail. We have aquarium salts as well as an antibacterial/antifungal treatment, but I haven't put anything in yet. I read that raising the heat in the tank is not advised. Do I just treat with salts and should I put some of the medicine in also? Also, for a 20ish liter tank, how many grams of salt should I add, and how often/how much at a time? Thanks for the help!

 

[bettalife]

Ok so I had ich with my oscar and pleco. I don't believe that the medicine Is worth it. I used the medicine but it didn't help and It just made the water cloudy. So what I recommend is raising the temp to about 80 all this does is make the life cycle of the ich speed up. When the ich is attached to your fish it is a adult and is breeding to make babies then they will fall off when they are done. But I would recommend adding aquarium salt as soon as possible. Once the ich falls off then the salt should kill the babies before they can attach back on to your fish. I would also recommend leaving salt in your aquarium all the time to help prevent it. I suggest that you buy some aquarium salt because all of the other salt has additives and stuff that could harm your fish. It's not really that expensive and it is good to have all of the time. But remember that it doesn't evaporate with the water so don't add more unless you actually did a water change. Hope this helps and good luck

 

[MaggstAa]

Yes like I said above I already have aquarium salts and keep the recommended dosage in always. I need to know how much more to add (for my 20 liter tank how many grams) and how often and if there are any more periodic wc's or anything I need to do.

 

[MaggstAa]

UPDATE: now I'm worried something else is wrong. Some of the spots have disappeared, one or two are left and where they are he is missing 3 or so scales. In addition, his upper tail fin is now ripped. This happened with my last goldfish who passed away a couple weeks ago (the torn fin I mean). Since she has been gone, now the comet has been chased around the tank by the algae eater. Is this ich or something else?? I've started adding salts periodically throughout the day. Should I also add some medication now? Is it possible fin rot?

 

[bettalife]

What kind of algea eater is it? I hope it isn't a chinese algea eater. They grow to be huge and suck the slim off the other fish and eventually killing them. I would deprecate the two because he is going to cause him to have stress and weaken his immune system which you really don't need right now. I would raise the temp but don't add anymore salt unless you haven't put the recommended dosage in. And about the fin rot I would probably add some anti fungal for a few days just in case. And also I would do water changes more often but not to often to where it will stress your fish. Ich is something that takes a while to treat usually but I would defiantly steppe rate the algea eater for now.

 

[jlk]

Do you have liquid tests for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph? Can you please post a picture?

Unfortunately, 20 liters is barely 5g. This honestly is not suitable for any goldfish and has extremely limited stocking options for other creatures. Comets grow well over a foot in length in a very short period of time and are best suited to very large tanks or preferably ponds.

The wide array of symptoms your describing are likely the result of unhealthy water. Adding a variety of chemicals will only exacerbate his health issues and further contribute to his stress. Salt, in particular, should be treated and respected as a medicine as goldfish have a limited salt tolerance.

The best 'medicine' for him would be to purchase a much larger tank and perform daily wcs as healthy water is a priority here before any type of other treatment is considered. Please ask any questions!

 

[bettalife]

Finally someone who bows liters and goldfish I didn't know that it was only a 5 gallon tank he needs at least a 55 or better. That is why they keep dying. I would try to get a bigger tank or find a better home for the fish.

 

[MaggstAa]

They don't "keep dying" or need to find a "better home." As mentioned above in my first post, the water parameters I test at least once a week and make sure they are perfect, as they are now, so I am positive it is not an issue of water quality. When we first started keeping fish, unfortunately we learned the hard way about water quality issues so since then have made it a priority that the water is constantly healthy. I'm aware the tank is too small, I've heard plenty about it, but they've been in there and smaller for a long time and have otherwise been healthy and happy, so until we can afford a bigger one it is fine. We have learned a lot through trial and error since we first started our aquarium and are not ignorant about the care for our pets. It has been clear as to why we have had losses in the past and have gone to great lengths to make sure these things don't happen again. In this particular case I am near sure he has an illness and am asking for help on treatment, reason being I already researched it and wanted to make doubly sure I had the right idea instead of just dumping stuff into the tank and hoping for the best.

That being said. According to other sources I've read that the tank needs to be at a .3% salinity to cure ich. That seemed a bit high to me but I didn't want to wait too long so went with a lower amount of what I'd researched and added 15 grams predissolved in tank water over the course of about 12 hours. According to what I've read it should have been much more but I wanted to hold off before adding too much. All of the spots have disappeared now and his behavior hasn't changed from normal, however his top tail fin is still slightly torn and he is missing a couple scales where the spots were, although they look to have started healing a bit. Seeing this I think the ich assumption was correct and don't think it is fin rot seeing as it is a small single tear in one fin. Should I add any more salts today or do you think he is in a good healing process now?

 

[Delapool]

Increased water changes will always help. Especially for ich wounds to prevent secondary infection. What are parameters now? Also have you checked ph? Just in case the bb have been knocked around.

I'd also keep an eye on the algae eater as mentioned above as my neighbour had trouble with these and pleco's attacking fish. Ditto on tank size - good news you are looking to upgrade.

 

[bettalife]

I wasn't meaning that you are bad at taking care of fish. I was just saying that the tank was to small . But if you can keep perfect water conditions and are looking to upgrade then you are doing better then me. I can't keep perfect water conditions when I'm under stocked. But trust me I've made my mistakes too. I got an oscar and thought that I could keep it in a ten gallon. Then I learned that he would be bigger then the tank. So I think that you are on the right track and good luck!