PLEASE HELP wit ICH!

[liz3marie]

i know this is going to be a long story and i apologize in adavance. ive delt with ich before and withing days lost all my fish, im terrified of losing these babies. i bought a new tank wich came with a baby black moor, i didnt notice any signs of illness when we got him but aparently i was wrong, i did quarentine him right away wich im glad i did considering he had ich. but i must have somehow cross contaminated the water he was in with my healthy tank. ive been treating one of my 40 gallons for 11 days now starting on 12-21-12. started treating with quick cure, didnt see any results for days in fact it looked worse, never had luck with it before either. So 5 days in i bought coopersafe, and dosed as directions say. bought a heater and raised my tank to aroud 84 where its been for 5 days. my fish still have spots and lots of them expecially on one certain fishy. hes is completley covered including his eyes and this has only gotten worse over the last couple days for him. i do have to say that a couple of the fish are swimming around a bit, whereas they were all just bottom sitting. im just so worried because they keep getting new spots 11 days into treatment. i dont want to lose them and i dont know what to do. i took the carbon out at the very beggining of the treatments, my temps stayed at 84, ive done a couple water changes with gravel vaccum within the 11 days of treatments, which btw the bottle of coppersafe says no water changes needed. not sure if i should or not then. all my fish will eat still, two of them are more active but the rest just bottom sit. any advice? why would my fish be getting more spots after so many days of heat and meds? also my fish are all fancy goldfish, black moor, oranda, lionhead, and telescope

 

[jlk]

Welcome to AA, Liz!!! Ok, we need a bit more info in order to be able to help. You mention a 40g- are all these fish in the 40g? Or are there fish in different tanks? If its different tanks, can please tell us the tank size, the fish in it & the exact numbers for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate & ph? If its only one tank, can you please give us these numbers as well & number fish/type in tank?

Next, can I ask why you are using coppersafe? Do you also have a copper test? What does this read? What brand water conditioner are you using?

Last, can you possibly post pics of your sick fish? If you are not sure how to do this, let us know if you are on a cell or computer & we can explain (its pretty easy).

For right now, start GRADUALLY reducing the temp. I am not sure why you have it this high or who told you to do this, but this needs to be addressed asap. Do not reduce it more than 1 degree every 2-3hrs (or 6 degrees in 1 day). We can better help once we have some more info!

 

[liz3marie]

omg i know this is terrible, i started doing research when i bought the quick cure, which im thinking i shoulda just stuck with . i have all goldies, one calico oranda, one black moor, one telescope and my lionhead in the tank thats being treated. i think i was misinformed, i feel terrible because i dont know what my levels are i dont have any test, went to buy some at walmart (all there is where i live to buy things like this) but they were out of the packs that test for everything, all there was was ph test strips. i didnt know i needed a copper test kit, dosent mention it on the coppersafe box. what happend with the coppersafe was i went to the pet store 20 miles from where i lived and talked to the owner who i assumed knew what he was talking about considering they have several tank there. he said coppersafe was a great brand to treat them with and to raise the temp up to 83 and keep it there because my fish are dying. so i did. most seem better (moving around) while my moor dosent have any spots just sits at the bottom and my lionhead is completly covered. the others have spots on their tails but are active.

 

[liz3marie]

also my fish have been growing and completly heathly until now, i change 10% water weekly before this, they never seemed stressed, sick, or had clamped fins until now.

 

[Mrscbennett]

I've been told by many of the pros on here to treat with salt and raise the temp to 86, also to do frequent wc's with thorough vacuuming. The only reason that this may not apply to your fish is because the are goldfish. I'd wait for more replies.

 

[Mrscbennett]

Go to the main page, with the list of forums. Search at the top for treating ich.

 

[Mrscbennett]

Jik has goldfish, her advice should be great! I suspected that maybe goldfish should be treated differently.

 

[jlk]

Thank you ms Bennett!! Ok, first don't panic Liz!! We will do our best to help you get your guys healthy! Do you have a decent water conditioner that detoxes heavy metals? Next, do you have aq salt or kosher salt/canning salt?

Just so I am clear, you have 4 fish in a 40g that need to be treated? And you are positive it's ich?

In respect to a test kit, the best deal you will find on an API fw master test kit is on amazon right now- they are running $16 & change. Most lfs charge $32++. Walmart really carries little for fish & their strip tests simply are not worth spending any money on.

I would like for you to start with a 25% water change (wc) right now if possible. Make sure you temp match & properly condition all new water. I'm on my cell so I am not sure where your from/time zone your in but if it's possible, do another 25% tonight. Same tomorrow morning then you can work on some bigger water changes to get your tank in order before switching treatments. Let us know how everyone is doing after wcs & if you can answer above questions it will help too!

 

[liz3marie]

yes i have water conditioner, api, jungle, and another brand. i can do a water change as soon as my husbands out the shower. its 1031 here so id have to do another tomarrow morning. i have some jungle aquarium salt also. im pretty sure its ich, dont really have reason to belive anything else, unless theres something like it i dont know about . should i go ahead and continue with the coppersafe or go back to the quick cure (malachite green/formalin)? some people say it gets worse before better and that being said a couple are a lil better its just mainly one fish whos getting worse and worse by day. the others pretty much just have it on their tails.

 

[jlk]

Check to see if any of your conditioners detox heavy metals. Use whatever one does. No meds needed & please do not add anything yet. Do you have a new carbon filter/new carbon? Keep your old media in a container of treated water & run new carbon for a few hours to remove any meds. Then replace your old media. Tomorrow, you work on some bigger water changes then I can explain how to use salt as a med for goldies- it should be all you need other than LOTS of healthy water.

 

[liz3marie]

okay, i did a 10% wc last night, i did however lose my lionhead , he was the one who was covered in it. now its just mainly my black moor whos only got visable spots on his tail...but a bunch of it. and a few spots on the tails of the others. why mainly the tails? expecially with the heat id imagine it be off him by now. but all are swimming around and acting ALOT better! just wish this stuff will get off my fish! i dont want them all to turn into my lionhead.

 

[jlk]

I am sorry about your guy

You really need to increase your water changes. 10% simply is not sufficient on any tank, especially a heavily stocked goldfish tank and I suspect the lack of sufficient water changes/issues with water quality are making the situation worse and likely the main contributing factor here in your fish issues. As I already mentioned, the copper should be removed from the tank before changing course of treatment. The water should also be in healthy state as well- NO treatment will work if your water is unhealthy. I would do atleast two 25%wcs today and increase them to two 50% tomorrow plus running new carbon for a few hours. Make sure you temp match and properly condition all new water using a conditioner that states it detoxes heavy metals. You then can start salt treatment as follows once you have healthy water:

Measure out 11.4grams of salt per gallon water (.3% salinity). Put this in closed container & fill with conditioned water. Shake until ALL of the salt is dissolved. Add the salt solution SLOWLY over 48hrs. Then proceed to do 50%wcs with gravel vacs atleast every other day. When you do the wc, add back only the salt you have removed- so, for a 50%wc, add back 1/2 of the original dose predissolved in conditioned water along with the new water. Maintain the salinity for one week AFTER the last spot is gone then just dont add more salt with future wcs and the salinity will gradually return to normal. Please ask if you have any questions!