Does this look like Ich?

[KribKrazyNess]

1~What type of fish is afflicted?
Clown Loach... maybe Platie
2~What are your tank parameters?
Nitrate- 20 , Amonia-0, PH-74, Nitrite- 0, Temp. 82
3~ How large is the tank? How long has the tank been set up?
43 Gallon Hexagon, Over 9 months
4~What type of filtration are you using? Please give the name and number.
Penguin Bio-Wheel 170 Power Filter, 170 GPH
5~How many fish are in the tank? What kinds of fish are they and what are their current sizes?
1 med Pictus Catfish, 1 med Parrot Fish, 1 med Algea Eater, 1 med [FONT=arial,sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Blue Botia[/SIZE][/FONT], 1 small Clown Loach, Two Platies, 1 Rainbow Shark
6~When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel? October 4 2008 How often do you do this? Every 2 weeks How much water do you remove at a time?8-10 Gallons
7~How long have you had the fish? 2 weeks If the fish is new, how did you acclimate it/them? Floated bag in water for half an hour while adding tank water to the bag.
8~Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlorinator, new substrate, etc.? I have added Nitraban-2 doses since the Nitrate was so high, Ammonia Detox 2 doses since the ammonia was a little high and PH regulator. All during Oct 4 water change
9~What kind of food have you been feeding your fish, have you changed their diet recently? Small blood worms every other day and small amount of flakes on off days.

Ok, now that i have answered all the questions...

This is my small clown loach. I have had him for about 2 weeks. I bought him to give company to my larger clown loach but he died within a couple days. I also bought the 2 Platies and Rainbow Shark the same day. I also had a White Skirt Tetra who died today who had been in my tank from the begginning.

I am worried that what the clown loach has on him is ICH, but I am not sure. There are these small white partcals floating around the tank that make me think this is what is sticking to him. I am not sure because I have never delt with ICH before. I think one of my Platies are catching the spots too. I have turned the temp up slightly and it is now at 82 F.Take a look and tell me what you think. Any advice would be helpful. Thank you.

Platie with a few spots... there is more on the Clown Loach

You can see the white spots floating around...

Thank You,
KrazyKribNess

 

[Menagerie]

There is a great article on ich in the articles section--check it out. When I have dealt with ich, it has never been floating in my tank.
Immediately stop dosing the tank with chemicals to get rid of ammonia and anything else. The best solution is partial water changes. Throw away those chemicals--LFS sell them, they sort of work in the short term, but they are not long term solutions. The cheapest, best way are water changes. You will have nitrAtes in a cycled tank--most fish can handle 20ppm. Weekly water changes help get rid of excess nitrates. In an established tank, ammonia should not be a problem unless you are over cleaning the filter and getting rid of the bacteria that is converting ammonia to nitrite and the bacteria that convert nitrite to nitrate. The chemicals you are adding maybe messing with the bacteria you need in the filter.

 

[gzeiger]

That definitely looks like ich on the loach. It's harder to tell on the platy. Look closely, though, because if what's floating in the tank is really exactly the same as what's on the fish then it must be something else. My understanding is that the characteristic white spots are part of the fish's immune response to the invasion of a parasite rather smaller than you could see with your eyes or camera. Parasites not attached to fish provoke no immune response and wouldn't turn white.

I don't know what that is floating in there, but I don't like it. If that were my tank I would be changing water daily until that stuff was gone. 8-10 gallons at a time is probably the right amount, since you change pH and temperature every time you do it and it's slightly stressful to the fish if you do a huge percentage of the tank all at once. I would do that much daily until the visible pollution is gone.

As far as the disease, if it isn't ich I'm not sure what to tell you. If it is, the article mentioned by Menagerie is excellent. I just cured my tank with the heat treatment it recommends.

 

[Zagz]

I agree that it looks like ich on the loach. I also agree that you should quit adding chemicals to the tank and do partial water changes. Also do the heat treatment that Menagerie is recommending in the article and your loaches will be fine.

 

[KribKrazyNess]

Thanks everyone for your help...

I took the pictures to my fish guy Mark, who is great by the way. He knows my tanks very well and goes beyond the call of duty when it comes to my tanks. He believes the white partials are bacteria similar to an algae bloom that is being reproduced in my filter which has caused concerns that some of my fish have "velvet". He said the white spots on the clown loach could be that bacteria catching onto it since he travels around most of the tank and digs. He said it could be Ich but not seeing the fish close up he cannot be for sure. So this is what he asked me to do...

1. Clean the filter and the filter media - done
2. Do a 25% water change...10 GL- done
3. Add API Anti-Pariasitic Medication, General Cure,- done
4. Wait 48 hours then add another dose of API and turn filter back on.- done

I also did a total cleaning of the filter(it was gross) and rinsed off the bio-wheel. I also added some Filter Fiber placed behind filter cartridge.

I was going to do the heat cure but Mark told me that a couple of my fish may not respond well to that treatment. I do have the temp at 85 now so it should help with the healing of the tank.

Thank you everyone for your advice and help and I will keep you posted!

KribKrazyNess

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

From what I understand Ich goes through a free floating stage where it will be in the water. Although I have not seen it personally(Ich). Higher temps speed up the life cycle of Ich so if your already at 85deg there is no harm going to 87deg IMO, as that seems to be the magic number where Ich dies in its free floating stage(or whatever you call it).


Also keep in mind that oxygen is harder to get from water at higher temps so its a good idea to have an airstone or lower the water level to add more splash from the filter to keep oxygen easily available. So I dont think its a good idea to kill the filter when running temps that high

 

[KribKrazyNess]

I do have a long airstone in the tank giving the the oxygen. The only reason I am not running the filter for 48 hours is so that it doesn't suck up the Anti-Pariasitic Fish Medication.

I don't know if this will help, but maybe if I take the filter cartridge out and just run the filter alone it will help out a little.

KrazyKribNess

Actually I just called my fish guy Mark and he said to continue to run the filter without the filter cartridge so that is what I am doing now.

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

The only reason I am not running the filter for 48 hours is so that it doesn't suck up the Anti-Pariasitic Fish Medication

Does that medication kill the bio filter(good bacteria)?

If so i would not have used it, as its still likely to cause a new cycle IMO, which is going to add to your current issues.

If not then I dont see why your not using the filter?

 

[KribKrazyNess]

It is safe and does not kill the bio filter... I am running the filter without the cartridge now.

 

[mike47517]

yes thats ick

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

I am running the filter without the cartridge now.

I still dont understand this?

So you have had the filter cartridge out of the filter, it has not been running for a couple days now anyway.

The bacteria living on the filter cartridge need food to survive. So your killing whatever bacteria was on the filter. Most seem to think 3-5 days without ammonia and the bacteria will die.

So again why are you doing this?

 

[KribKrazyNess]

No I just pulled the cartridge filter out of the penguin 170 about an hour ago but I kept the filter with the bio wheel attached to it running. The Filter has been running everyday.

I took it out because the filter will suck up the medicine that I placed in the tank. My fish guy suggested I do this and on the back of the box it says ... For best results remove activated carbon or filter cartridge from filter and continue aeration. Again I do this so the meds wont get sucked up into the cartridge and just sit there.

Does this explain?

KribKrazyNess

 

[gzeiger]

It does explain, but I think it would be better if you just removed the activated carbon. You can cut a slit in the side of the filter cartridge and remove the charcoal, which is what absorbs the medication. You don't really want to lose the biological filtration capacity, since that will provide an additional source of stress to already sick fish, and leaving it out long enough for the medication to run its course is probably too long for the bacteria to survive.