My Goldfish and Ich

[Priest]

Hello I am new to this site and decided to post this message because of the problem my goldfish are having with Ich. I have a 10 gallon tank with 8 goldfish (I will upgrade tank size accordingly), I had 3 of those goldfish for 5 months now and the rest for 3 months. Everything was fine until last Friday I noticed some of them had Ich. First thing I did was remove the carbon from the filter and began using the Ich medicine. It has already been 4 days and there is no sign of improvement as they are getting worse. Please help me in this problem as much as you can because I do not want to lose the little guys as they have helped me with anger problems and whatnot in the past. What can I do more to help them with this problem besides just adding the drops and waiting because I don't mind heading out and buying things to help. Thank you.

EDIT: I have been using QuICK Cure (I won't put a link to it because I don't know if that is allowed but you can find it easy if you google it) and I have been using 5 drops every 24 hours. On the back it says to put 1 drop per gallon, 1 drop per 2 gallons if tetra and 1 drop per gallon with bare aquarium for marine. I read someone's post that used this medicine and only used 5 drops and treated it like his goldfish were tetras, so I have been doing the same. Can someone that uses this medicine please inform me on it because the directions are pretty bare. I have been playing it a bit safe because I don't want to overdose but also feel that not enough isn't doing the job.

 

[Dwohlge1]

I too am also fighting ICH on my new quarantined goldfish. There is another thread in this forum check it out. I am using salt to fight it I don't know much about meds. All the online reading i did talked about heat and salt.


8 goldfish in a ten is not a good situation. 4 goldfish in a ten would have outgrown that tank in 5months so waiting for an upgrade has past, you need a bigger tank. My Oranda grew from 1.5 inches to 4.5 inches in 8 months. I would test your water for ammo,nitrites, and nitrates. If you don't have a kit, take a sample to your lfs. I would guess your water parameters are very poor and attributed to your fish getting sick.

You should research goldfish using google they require allot of gallons/ fish.

I have 2 in a 44g and I only have room for one more.

 

[jlk]

8 goldfish in a 10gal tank??? The minimum standard for goldfish is 20gal for the first fish, 10gal for each fish there after. You would need a 90gal tank (minimum) for your fish! I suspect you are dealing with water quality issues and that is the primary reason for your fish getting sick. It may not even be ich that your fish are getting sick from but rather your water. What are your water parameters (amm/nitrite/nitrate)???

 

[Priest]

It was never a water quality issue for the last 3 months that I had them and 5 of them are almost babies. Now on the bad new, I lost 2 of them yesterday and as I'm typing this I probably will lose my chocolate one.

 

[jlk]

Unless you are doing 100% water changes every day, there is no way to avoid water quality issues with 8 goldfish in a ten gal tank. It doesnt matter if they babies-it is simply too many fish in too small of a tank. What are you water parameters (amm/nitrite/nitrate)? You will most likely will to continue to experience deaths until you are able to resolve your situation with a larger tank or rehoming some fish. Realistically, not even one goldfish (especially a common goldfish which grows to be 12-18in) can live comfortably & healthy in a ten gallon tank. Im sorry to have to inform you about this. Once again, 20gal is the minimum for one fish, with ten gal for each fish there after.

 

[Priest]

How about helping me with this problem because if this continue I won't have any fish to put in a 10 gallon (But I guess that is better than 8 goldfish in a 10 gallon). I don't want to see them suffer the way they are now but also don't want to put them out of their misery, so what am I to do. If they recover from this (Or atleast the ones that haven't died already), I'll just give away the ones I have and keep an appropriate amount.

EDIT: Well it seems as I was typing this another chocolate goldfish died, so now they are 5 left, I guess from what I am hearing 4 more need to die and then I'll have a good amount.

 

[absolutangel04]

Hello, welcome to the site. I am not familiar with that product, but I have treated ich in other ways. Anyways, you said you have been treating it for 4 days. Sometimes it takes a bit for the treatment to seem to be working. You should treat ich for at least a week after all the visible sign disappear.
Does the medicine say to also do water changes in addition to re-dosing it?

 

[Priest]

No it does not say to change the water, all it says was to treat until cured which is why I find the direction so vague. I saw the problem on Friday, on Saturday night I did a complete clean of the tank and yesterday (Monday) I did a 25% water change. I don't know if I did the right thing for them but I just did what was suggested to other people. Today I ended up just transferring all of them to a smaller environment (All I have) and filled it up with 100% filtered water. I don't want to keep them in the same place that is killing them, so if they died in the filtered water then at least I did all I could for them.

EDIT: Well it seems I lost another one, 4 dead and 4 living, by morning I expect all of them to be dead and that will be my last time having any fish pets.

 

[jlk]

You made a mistake and thats ok. We all have done dumb things when learning about fish. So, just so i understand, you now have 4 goldfish in a 10gal tank. Im not familiar with the ich meds you are using but obviously they are not working. Its REALLY important that we find out what your water parameters (amm/nitrite/nitrate) are and how you are testing them (strips or liquid). The second thing is i would treat the ich with aquarium salt (read the sticky on ich in this forum) and lots of pwcs (50% daily). 2 weeks of dosing with aquarium salt should kill the ich. I suspect your fish are suffering from ammonia and/or nitrite posioning as well which is why your water parameters are so important. Please give the aquarium salt a try and dont give up on your fish just yet!!!

 

[Priest]

Well they all are dead now and that is it. My decision were not dumb so don't even say that because they were the decisions of someone that is inexperienced and that is a big difference. So since they all are dead now let me get out of this site because most of you are just snoobs and expect everyone to have the knowledge that you have.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

That's a little bit harsh. People were just trying to help you. Take a browse through the getting started section and you will see how helpful everybody really is. If you decide to try keeping fish again in the future, we will still be here, willing to help.

 

[absolutangel04]

Well they all are dead now and that is it. My decision were not dumb so don't even say that because they were the decisions of someone that is inexperienced and that is a big difference. So since they all are dead now let me get out of this site because most of you are just snoobs and expect everyone to have the knowledge that you have.

Sorry about your loss. Some of those meds do not come with good directions. Sorry I couldn't answer faster. But, I am sorry your little guys didn't make it.

 

[jlk]

Im sorry about your loss!!! Everyone here tries to help everyone else and no one wants to see fish die-we all want whats best for our fish! Im truly sorry

 

[Sssea]

I did the same thing when I had 3 goldfish in a three gallon tank, it happens. It's definitely something you can bounce back from. I now have 2 very happy and huge fancy goldfish living successfully in a 29 gallon tank. Just start over with the knowledge you've gained and have a happy, successful tank you and your fish can enjoy. Don't give up! Even if you fall off the bike your first try, you gotta try again.

 

[Priest]

If I ever decide to get fishes again what type should I get and how many for a 10 gallon? By the way sorry for my reaction I was just very upset, I went to some other site, the response I got was to let them die and get new ones since goldfish are cheap. I kind of need to let you know how I feel otherwise it would seem like I didn't care about them. I'm a man that haven't shed a tear since I was a youngster but I will say that watching them die 1 by 1 almost put me to tears (I think I did), it was like watching someone slowly die in the hospital, so the thought of me going through this again isn't something I will jump head first into again.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

If I ever decide to get fishes again what type should I get and how many for a 10 gallon? By the way sorry for my reaction I was just very upset, I went to some other site, the response I got was to let them die and get new ones since goldfish are cheap. I kind of need to let you know how I feel otherwise it would seem like I didn't care about them. I'm a man that haven't shed a tear since I was a youngster but I will say that watching them die 1 by 1 almost put me to tears (I think I did), it was like watching someone slowly die in the hospital, so the thought of me going through this again isn't something I will jump head first into again.

It looks like you are in the right spot we are very passionate about our fish here. A 10g has lots of possibilities for fish. There are bettas, dwarf gouramis, some of the smaller types of tetras, guppies, shrimp and snails just to mention a few. Unfortunately gold fish can not be housed correctly in a 10g for two reasons. They get quite large and their waste output is too high for such a small tank.
If you wish to give a fish keeping another try you will need to learn to cycle a tank. This is where you grow bacteria in your tanks filter to process the waste your fish produce. I will attach some links for you to read about cycling.
To be continued............

 

[Mumma.of.two]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...guide-and-faq-to-fishless-cycling-148283.html
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...g-but-I-already-have-fish-What-now/Page2.html
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/fish-in-cycling-step-over-into-the-dark-side-176446.html
Have a read through these. Then, if you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask. There is no such thing as a silly question! We where all beginners in the world of fish keeping at one time or another.

 

[absolutangel04]

If I ever decide to get fishes again what type should I get and how many for a 10 gallon? By the way sorry for my reaction I was just very upset, I went to some other site, the response I got was to let them die and get new ones since goldfish are cheap. I kind of need to let you know how I feel otherwise it would seem like I didn't care about them. I'm a man that haven't shed a tear since I was a youngster but I will say that watching them die 1 by 1 almost put me to tears (I think I did), it was like watching someone slowly die in the hospital, so the thought of me going through this again isn't something I will jump head first into again.

Its ok. I know its really sad to watch things die that you care about.
It good that you care about your fish. I also understand what you were talking about earlier with the fish helping you through problems.
The articles mumma posted are good, so you should read up on those. My best advice for picking new fish sometime when you are ready is to research, research, research. That way, you can made an educated decision about the fish which would do well in your tank and not have to watch them die, because that is just aweful.
Heres a brief list of species: celestial pearl danios, gold-ringed danios, scarlet badis, dwarf puffer, dwarf gourami, chili rasbora, betta, ember tetra, clown killifish, least killifish, neon tetras, chocolate gourami, Asian stone catfish, pygmy corydora, and micro rasbora. You should reesearch these species, they are not all compatable, and some very have different needs.