This is getting frustrating

[tanz8anz]

I first thought my fish may have ich but they r scratchng along things but there is no obvisious white spots and this has been.going on for a week. They r actng ok but onr of the fish just hides by the heater and most of the.time wont school with the other barbs,
Im.not.sure what is causing this water is fine have been.getting it tested regularly havr been doing water changes 2 a week the temp has been.increased but no improvement. The local fish store said to treat with white spot but im confused as there isnt any ehite spots on them

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[Berylla]

Do you have a hospital tank? Body scratching can mean parasites, or some other type of infection.

 

[tanz8anz]

No i dont.. everyone suggested white spot but there has been no sign of ehite spots and i moticed the scratching a week ago and ive got the temp up and its not making a different other than the water being warmer but with how hot my house gets its getting up pretty high so im.wondering weather im causing more harm by the temp being up.. im not sure what to do wit these fish

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[Berylla]

I would not raise the temps since you don't know what it is yet. If your fish is small, you can get away with a 5G plastic Sterlite container for your QT tank. You can buy then at Walmart. You will need a heater, airpump and airstone. Treat with methylene blue which is a non-drug treatment that is a mild bactericide and fungicide. If he is still scratching after a few days, then he probably has a parasite. Quick cure treats ich and has some affect on flukes. Although used widely, it's actually quite a harsh drug. Scaleless fish cannot tolerate it.

 

[tanz8anz]

Our fish aint small we havr got barbs angels kirbensis cichlids clown louches and bristlenoses and the barbs amd kirbs have neen scratching and this morning i noticed one of the louches sctraching :0 so we have scaleless fish so the quick cure is off the cards how do u treat them.if they have something

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[Berylla]

Our fish aint small we havr got barbs angels kirbensis cichlids clown louches and bristlenoses and the barbs amd kirbs have neen scratching and this morning i noticed one of the louches sctraching :0 so we have scaleless fish so the quick cure is off the cards how do u treat them.if they have something

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If they are all scratching, it sounds like a parasite. I 'm just hesitant to advise using heat treatment when you don't know if it's ich.

There is ich medication that is specifically for scaleless fish called Ick Guard II by Jungle.

It still contains the formalin, and victoria green nitormersol, and acriflavine

Jehmco sells Ick Guard II:

Medications

It says to treat every 24 hours until the ick clears. It does not recommend increasing temps. I would perform a 50% water change and substrate vacuum before every daily redose to decrease organics in tank.

 

[Caliban07]

Our fish aint small we havr got barbs angels kirbensis cichlids clown louches and bristlenoses and the barbs amd kirbs have neen scratching and this morning i noticed one of the louches sctraching :0 so we have scaleless fish so the quick cure is off the cards how do u treat them.if they have something

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How big is your tank? When you said you get your water tested does this mean the shop are checking it for you? If so the first thing I would do is buy a liquid test kit and test your water yourself. Get an API liquid test kit. Scratching could be anything at this point and disease are almost always related to poor water quality. I would not trust your local fish shop to do these tests accurately. You need to do it yourself. When you know the results we can start focusing on the possibility of parasites or bacteria. It might just be very high nitrates irritating the gills.

High nitrates, raising temperature and adding incorrect or unnecessary medications will stress the fish. This will make their immune system weak and they will then be susceptible to all cants of disease.

We must eliminate the water parameters ammonia nitrite and nitrate first and we need to know the ph of the water.

 

[Delapool]

One other one is that since taking out the cotton floss the plants were wrapped in, the yo yo loaches I have, have stopped flashing pretty much. So worth looking for any pattern outside the box.

 

[tanz8anz]

At this point i cant afford a testing kit... i noticed last night the tiger barb that seems to b the worse is no longer rubbing up aganst things but is now hiding and it looks almost like it is covered in.black sand and then i got torch and had a look and its shiney specks if that makes any sense at all

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[Delapool]

Velvet? (Although colour sounds off). Definitely not ich?

 

[tanz8anz]

Its a bit hard as it is a tiger barb but its like gold specks when light is on it but wen theres no light its like dirty dust... i havent really looked into velvet is that like ich to get rid of

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[Delapool]

I found this which may help but can't comment on treatment meds.

I'm pretty sure I have meds at home that will treat velvet but on train. I have seen a few other posts mention a gold dust. Still worth checking water specs though.

http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/velvet.htm

 

[threnjen]

It sounds from description like velvet. I would get Prazi Pro.
Amazon.com: Hikari USA Inc. Prazipro - Safest Parasite Treatment 4oz: Pet Supplies
It's non-toxic and works VERY well.

 

[tanz8anz]

I have scaleless fish will it harm them and im in new zealand and have never seen anything about velvet before... how come the other fish arent showing any signs its been a little over a week since it started... well there r other rubbing aganst things but not so often now but none of the others look like this particular fish

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[tanz8anz]

I have just read the article on velvet it is a rather scarey thing to read and i think now after readng that it is what my poor fish r suffering from it started after the last addition of some louches that r staying in my tank for a little while there owner sorts out there tank..

I cant do anything until sunday as i am.away and.dont have the money to do anything...

The tiger barb that has the shiney look to will still eat fine as long as it is blood worms but other than that will just hide away from.all the other fish it doesnt appear to be getting skinny although one of my emerald green barbs is looking on the thin side and swims around twitching but its still happy to swim and eat.. bonus is the tank temp is already at 82 i just need the meds now... they suggest copper sulfate but i dont think.the louches or.bristlenoses will tolerate that

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[anibis]

"Safer alternatives use acridine, acriflavine and related organic chemicals, but these are most effective when freshwater velvet disease is diagnosed and treated promptly."

Taken from this article:
Freshwater Velvet Disease

I'm dealing with the same thing, only I have more treatment options due to my stock. I'm currently using AP QuickCure. First day of treatment, so time will tell how effective it is.

 

[tanz8anz]

Its been.going in.for.about a week one fish is showing and a couple others r rubbing up against things every now and again and the others r happy as larry

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[tanz8anz]

It is extremely frustrating because everything has sorted itself in my tank.and everyone was happy and then bam!?

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[Berylla]

Methylene blue can be used to treat velvet. It's one of the best and cheapest treatments for surface infections and parasites. It's very mild too. However, it must be used in a QT tank as it will kill off the bacteria in your tank. I would start with this treatment.

 

[anibis]

Yeah I had just gotten my tank cycled, and was looking forward to stocking. Got 2 new platies, one died, other one was scratching. Now I have to get it out. QuickCure is harsh, but it's supposed to be effective.

I only have 3 fish in my tank, 2 platys and a molly. Both platys will scratch from time to time, the molly seems unaffected. According to the article, some fish can develop a partial immunity to it, I suppose that may be why some fish are affected while others aren't. Who knows.