need some serious help

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HopefulHobbiest

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Jul 27, 2012
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750
Location
Arlington, Virginia
Im losing fish and my mind at the same time...

I had an ich outbreak in my 125 so I turned it up to 86(slowly of course) and ive been gravel vac'ing every day/every other day along with water changes and ive already lost 6 fish... I dont know what to do :(
 
You're temp might be too high for you're fish, lower it to 84. Also, if it's a sever break out, i suggest using medication.
 
ok i'll turn it down...

its pretty bad, it started on two small clown loaches and my two pictus catfish... i lost the pictus the other day(saturday i think) i did my normal 50% water change that day and made sure to temp match. my brother(out of school for today) just text me and told me i lost 4 more fish, one of the small clowns and one of my beautiful 7 month old angels :(

what kinda meds would you recommend? i don't have a med tank running at the moment so i may have to go buy a 10-20G after work...
 
ok i'll turn it down...

its pretty bad, it started on two small clown loaches and my two pictus catfish... i lost the pictus the other day(saturday i think) i did my normal 50% water change that day and made sure to temp match. my brother(out of school for today) just text me and told me i lost 4 more fish, one of the small clowns and one of my beautiful 7 month old angels :(

what kinda meds would you recommend? i don't have a med tank running at the moment so i may have to go buy a 10-20G after work...
You can use the meds while the fish are in it. I saw some today at the LFS near my house. It's really easy to find. Also, once you're done using the meds, a carbon filter can help take the excess medication out(Or a carbon cartridge).
I'm very sorry for you're fish. I hope none more die:(
 
what kinda meds would you recommend? i don't have a med tank running at the moment so i may have to go buy a 10-20G after work...

You actually need to treat the whole tank for ich. It's a parasite, and even if you take the fish out, the tank will still be infected.
I'd drop the temp down to 82ish, and use Kordons ich attack. It's all natural, and safe for inverts and scaleless as well. It can't be killed while it is on the fish, so raising the temp helps to speed up the life cycle of the parasite. The spots will drop off the fish, and while it is free swimming is when the meds are actually effective.
I've never used a full dose, as I have scaleless fish (the cories), and too much an burn them. You should treat for about 2 weeks, or maybe 4 or so days after you see the last spot on the fish. Don't quote me on that last part, but you definitely want to treat for at least a few days after it's "gone" though, so it kills off whatever is still in the tank.

When did you turn the temp up? Hopefully you should start seeing less spots soon.

Sorry about your fish. :(
 
sounds good to me, so i'll drop the temp to about 82 and grab some ich meds tonight, hopefully i don't lose anyone else :(

which is better to use, the Rid-Ich Plus or the Ich Attack?
 
Yeah, that part varies with what you have in the tank. I had a bad ich outbreak, and at the time had a combination of fish that every treatment was lethal to at least one species in the tank. 82 worked for me, because I was concerned about cooking my shrimp. So if you can do a but higher with no ill effects, go for it.

Also, with higher temps, there is less oxygen in the water. You'll want to make sure you have an air stone or something in the tank to help oxygenate the water. Or if you have a HOB filter, you could drop the water level a bit, and let the output from the filter stir up some bubbles.
 
sounds good to me, so i'll drop the temp to about 82 and grab some ich meds tonight, hopefully i don't lose anyone else :(

which is better to use, the Rid-Ich Plus or the Ich Attack?

I've only ever used ich attack, and had good results. I can't speak for the other, but I feel like there was a reason I didn't use that one... I'll do a quick google search and see if I can remember...
 
I remember now. Rid ick uses malachite green, which was lethal for my shrimp and cories. It can also stain your silicon, but I feel like that's a secondary concern.
Ich attack is more gentle, for lack of a better term. It also just depends on what you have in the tank.
 
Why did you post three times to say all that?^
Anyways, you could also use aquarium salt if you're worried about medication.
Make sure no carbon filtration is on while you medicate.
 
Why did you post three times to say all that?^
Anyways, you could also use aquarium salt if you're worried about medication.
Make sure no carbon filtration is on while you medicate.

Probably could have edited, but meh. One was a direct response and one was a follow up... Posts are free, don't really understand the criticism when I'm just trying to help with something I actually have experience with.

Salt is bad for cories. Not all treatments are safe for the specific stock in every tank.
Good call on the carbon though. I don't use it, so I forgot about that.
 
Probably could have edited, but meh. One was a direct response and one was a follow up... Posts are free, don't really understand the criticism when I'm just trying to help with something I actually have experience with.

Salt is bad for cories. Not all treatments are safe for the specific stock in every tank.
Good call on the carbon though. I don't use it, so I forgot about that.
I'm not criticizing you at all my friend:)
I was just curious if it had a specific reason.
Anyways, i guess he'll be sticking to medication then eh?
 
Haha. No worries.
In that case... Not specifically. More a train-of-thought kinda thing. :)

That's what I would do. It's worked well for me in the past.

BUT since you have cories, I would definitely use less than the full dose. Or spread it out to half the amount (or less) twice a day.
 
I got the more natural meds... dosed the tank and the heat should go down overnight but im gonna check again in a few hours.

Normally im against meds cause its chemicals being added. Last time I just upped the heat and it went away.

But because im an idiot an didn't invest in a holding/med tank I got ich again... though I did pick up a 20L tonight.

Gotta wait till tomorrow to set it up, but would you recommend moving my small clown thats still got ich into it tomorrow?

I have a spare filter and lucky for me I forgot to remove the spare filters media when seeding the 125 so its still in there ready to go
 
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