only ich or something else? (newly cycled tank)

[pugmom]

sigh. I want to make sure I am doing everything I need to be for my little guys.

Tank stats -
29 gallon
fishless cycle - 7 weeks, cleared 2-4 ppm (probably closer to 2) ammonia in 24 hours.

added 6 zebra danios/glofish and 6 neon tetras friday. Possibly a bit much, but I intended to stay on top of parameters to see if anything spiked and pwc as necessary.

what I should have done better -
got them at petsmart (swayed by proximity to my home and $3 glofish and $1 neons (problem 1))- apparently the shipment came in thurs and I got them friday (problem 2).

Got them home and drip acclimated the little guys for 1 hour (doubled volume 2x)

Right off I notice one neon not schooling with others. Friday evening hangs out in the upper back corner of tank, dead by AM.

A green glofish didn't really swim as well as the others friday, by saturday hung out at surface, not moving much unless startled. Noticed one side fin was clamped or possibly damaged/deformed? Really hard to tell. Dead this AM (sunday)

This morning (sunday) I notice ich on 1 of my neons (2 dots) now later in the day I notice at least one spot on most if not all of the neons.

Everyone seems to be fairly active today, 5 remaining neons schooling mostly. One does break away and chill at the bottom of the tank about 40% of the time. Kind of worried about this one

Slowly cranked temp throughout the day - now to 86. Added aquarium salt (spread out, I have added 2/3 the recommended dosage as of right now, will add more tomorrow.

ph ~7.6
ammonia - 0 ppm (checked everything several times since got fish)
nitrites - 0 ppm
nitrates - 5 ppm

I would think I added things to much, but I have not seen any evidence of ammonia or nitrite spikes.

Took dead fish back to store. Noticed ich on the neons in the tank (still for sale mind you....)

soooooo......am I doing everything I can here? should I prep my kids for more deaths? do you think the first 2 were ich deaths before I could see spots? stress? something else???

Thanks for your input!!!

 

[Chronos313]

Your doing what needs to be done just keep in mind aquarium salt doesn't help with ich. I believe it's non iodized that does but I think the majority of us here use the heat treatment over all else.

When I had an ich outbreak I lost some neons also. Just the way she goes sometimes. My 3 year old thinks fishy heaven is in the toilet cuz that's where the wife disposed of the casualties when I had ich. I think just explaining to the kids they were suck and you did what the fishy doctor said should keep them calm.

You may get more casualties. I am not certain but keep your heat at 86 until you see no more ich then continue for another 5 days.

The white spots you see on fish are the wounds caused by ich. That's a sign that the ich parasite has exited the body and into the water where the high heat will kill it. So keep temp at 86 and increase pwc's to at least every two to three days and get into the gravel nicely so you can suck up any ich spores in the substrate

 

[pugmom]

thank you for the reply. I don't have any corys or anything yet, so I am guessing even if the salt may not help, it shouldn't hurt?

I have a sand substrate, will that be easier or harder than gravel to clean I wonder, ie. will the parasite borrow in the sand or just stay on top so I can clean it easier.....hmmmm....

 

[Chronos313]

Just vacuum as normal, maintain heat feed once a day, just treat it like a normal routine. The aquarium salt can help fish heal any wounds and helps with the slime coat so I would add some. Just don't if you have snails

 

[nacho1cheese]

Actually i beg to differ on the salt part. I treated my aquarium with aquarium salt and worked perfect. My temperature was at a steady 82. What you really need to know is that treating this should be taken slowly and with patience. With the temperature at 86 you don't need the salt but it helps. i think you did it to fast though, 12 hours for 6+ degrees is bit much i think. you might Getty more deaths if you don't slow down. Good luck.

 

[pugmom]

Hi everyone! Thanks for the comments. I am on the beginning of the 5th day of treatment and I see some white still (I thought they were gone yesterday?) any way, at what point should I be concerned that the heat and salt are not working?

 

[jlk]

I have to disagree on the aq salt as well- its a very effective means for treating ich as long as its dosed properly & added gradually. Goldfish do not tolerate high temps well- salt is the most effective means for treatment. It also doesn't matter if it's aq salt, kosher salt, canning salt or rock salt- as long as NaCl is the ONLY ingredient.

I am sorry your having such a hard time, Pugmom! Hang in there! Ich will get worse before its gets better & it's possible that you still may lose some fish. These fish have been through a lot in very short amount of time being shipped all over & we have no idea how long they have been infested with ich. Hopefully, they will all pull through! Good luck!

 

[TangoTank]

Aww... I'm prayin for your fish!! I don't have any suggestions but I'm hoping for the best, they're in good hands!

 

[pugmom]

thanks everyone. I am just so sad for these little guys, I want them to be able to relax (and I do too!) A couple of the neons have been breathing heavier (mouth moving fast?) so I am worried....one is hanging around the bottom and one at the top....

No issues with water parameters, I may do another pwc (did one tues) just to make sure there is some oxygen in the tank. (have a bubble and lowered the water level to get more agitation off the filter already....

I am torn though, they seemed a little stressed during the last pwc.

 

[TangoTank]

If the params are good, I'd leave the water alone. Let's see what the Pros say. Good luck.

 

[jlk]

I agree with Tango- if your parameters are fine & you did a wc on tues, you should be ok for today. Your doing everything right- hopefully, these guys will pull through!

 

[pugmom]

thanks to you both for your support - I really appreciate it. I thought I was so prepared after fishless cycling. Now when I test my water I almost hope there is ammonia or nitrite, because then I would know what to do to fix it

my bottom dwelling neon's red stripe is paling a bit, but he is hanging in there....

Trying to look on the positive side, it has been almost 48 hours since I lost a fish (I was losing about one a day).

In total I lost 3 glofish and one neon. The neon I get, he seemed off from the get go, the glofish are strange, they never had ich spots, and I thought they should have been hardy given they are danios. one had a slight whitish tinge on its back so I am not sure if it was bacterial or what. I had some medicated fish food that I have been feeding the last couple days incase it was....

 

[pugmom]

ack! the ich definitely looks worse today!! I knew it was supposed to get worse before better, but 5 days in??

I may add more salt - I just have the dosage on the carton (1 rounded tbs/5 gallons) but I think for ich the dosage is higher? Temp still is at 86.....

 

[jlk]

Hang in there!!! Yes, ich will get worse before it gets better though I have only ever treated with salt (no heat). If you want to increase the salt dose, .3% salinity is what is used to treat ich. This equals 11.4grams/g. Spoons are not a real accurate way to measure but its @2.5-3teaspoons (not tablespoons) per gallon depending on the grain size of the salt. If you want to add more salt, predissolve it in container of treated water & add it gradually over the course of 24hrs. Good luck!!

 

[pugmom]

my last glofish is now laying on the bottom of the tank! I am so confused on the glofish deaths. They never showed ich spots.

Just tested water (again!)
amm = 0
nitrites = 0
nitrates = 5

what else can i do here? I dumped in some prime, even though I have no idea why. just to feel like I am doing something

 

[nacho1cheese]

Go to YouTube.com/cheetos404 and look for getting rid of salt part one. It should be one of the top videos

 

[nacho1cheese]

that's how i did it.o and if you don't already have one get an airstone. Ich gets in their gills and is probably why they are breathing hard

 

[pugmom]

thank you, I have a volcano bubbler thing and I dropped the water level down to get more surface agitation. I am going to look for the video - thank you....

Day 7 and I still see white spots.

 

[nacho1cheese]

No problem and its actually my own video

 

[pugmom]

I couldn't really tell from the video what dosage you used? I am about 1 tsp per gallon right now. I know I should probably add more since my ich isn't moving, but my glofish looked bad after my last dose....

temp is at 86....