Possible Ich?

[sharkiegirl94]

I've been watching my Comet Goldfish for the past few days...he's been darting around like he's twitching or something...not only that, but he has a few small white dots on his tail. He doesn't appear to be itching at all. He kinda pauses and floats and swims slowly, then he's fine again...? Is somethin wrong with him? He is a feeder fish...*shrugs* He eats alright too.

 

[missie]

sounds like Ich to me.

 

[sharkiegirl94]

Are you sure? I don't really have the money for ich treatment, plus, will this affect the water at all?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Can you post some clear pictures? Ich can be cured on goldfish with a 0.3% salt concentration.

 

[ArtesiaWells]

Are you sure? I don't really have the money for ich treatment, plus, will this affect the water at all?

The Ich medication isn't that expensive, Sharkie. I used the blue stuff that dyes your tank a blue/green the last time I thought one of my goldies had Ich (ended up being a Wen rupture, which usually indicates growth spurt) but I wouldn't recommend that because it really stains everything in the tank and is a pain to clear out. But the remedies aren't that pricey at like Petsmart, etc.

It was also suggested to me to raise the water temperature, gradually, to like almost 90 degrees (with a heater, even though this isn't recommended for cold water fish like goldies) and do a salt treatment to take care of Ich. After I burned the carpeting with the heater I thought was off, but wasn't (don't ask) and some other ridiculous antics, I just forgot about doing the heat/salt thing...

 

[George9]

No meds or salt needed
Increse temp slowly to 86
Leave the temp up for a week after the last spot is seen.
Increase aeration and do gravel vacs regularly

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Alright. This is a goldfish. High temps are NOT good. 0.3% salt in the tank will kill the ich. This is about twice as much as tropicals can handle. Goldfish have a thicker skin so can handle higher salt.

 

[George9]

Alright. This is a goldfish. High temps are NOT good. 0.3% salt in the tank will kill the ich. This is about twice as much as tropicals can handle. Goldfish have a thicker skin so can handle higher salt.

Oops. I keep forgetting goldfish are not tropicals lol

 

[ArtesiaWells]

Some serious hobbyists swear by the heat/salt procedure, but when they do recommend the heat, they recommend raising it in a goldfish tank very, very slowly -- from what was suggested to me, getting it to nearly 90 degrees to kill the Ich parasites is okay, even with goldies, but it has to be a slow procedure and should not be treated this way for very long.

As I said, I am uncertain if this works because I gave up on the heat thing due to complications with getting the whole thing set up right; salt, as recommended, will probably work by itself, or as I said, over the counter medicines that can be bought at the LFS (though some of these dye the tank which is a pain to look at and clean out).

 

[jlk]

As Mumma already correctly stated, salt at .3% salinity is the best route for treating ich in goldies (its also very inexpensive). They do not fair well with high temps. If you need further advice on how to do this, please ask & we can help!

 

[malfist]

As Mumma already correctly stated, salt at .3% salinity is the best route for treating ich in goldies (its also very inexpensive). They do not fair well with high temps. If you need further advice on how to do this, please ask & we can help!

I had amazing results with salt and no heat for my goldfish. Just keep treating for several days (I did 7) after the spots disappear.

For my tropicals who couldn't stand salt, I used heat (up to 82), and the meds.

 

[sharkiegirl94]

Wow thanks for all the replies. It definatly ich and i suspect he got it from my tank or the feeder tank he came from. I'm deciding against messing with temp because they all (both comets and my algae eater) are behaving fine at 72-74 degrees fahrenheit. I bought some Ich meds (quick cure) and added 30 drops (1 drop per gallon it says and daily until ich is gone) Did turn my tank water a lil blue but not that bad. My other goldfish and algae eater have not been affected by his ich at all. I have ordered a gravel vac and a master test kit like you guys suggested, it wont be delivered till Thursday or Friday---hope they will survive till then...? Thanks again~

 

[sharkiegirl94]

If the ich does not clear up, I'll remove the meds and try salt--will this affect my algae eater? He's the only tropic fish in my tank

 

[Mumma.of.two]

What kind of fish is he? Some can and some can't handle salt. It's a toss up whether he can handle it at the level the Goldies can or not. 0.3% is very high for tropicals.

 

[sharkiegirl94]

He's a silver Comet goldfish from a feeder tank.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Sorry I meant what kind of algae eater.

 

[sharkiegirl94]

Chinese.

 

[sharkiegirl94]

I think I'm going to quaratine him in a fish bowl with salt until he gets better....

 

[malfist]

Ich is a tank wide infestation. Not an individual fish infection. If you don't treat the tank, and all contaminated fish you will have recurrent outbreaks until you do. Healthy fish can usually survive a few bouts of ich, but more and more will die until you treat it properly.

 

[sharkiegirl94]

Thank you for telling me, I treated the whole tank today with quick cure second day and I'll do a complete water change and vac. That ok?