I'm an idiot!! The orandas have Ich!!!

[2cvbloke]

One of the Hillstream loaches has passed away, it must have gone sometime during the night as when I removed him he really smelled bad and his eyes were white, so he had been gone a fair while...

I'll be keeping an eye on the other two (although they are tough to spot most of the time!!!) just in case...

[jsoong]

Hillies do not do well with high temps .... They need very high water flow & O2 level in the heat ... Keep an eye on the other ones & increase aeration if you can during the heat treatment.

Good luck.

[2cvbloke]

Originally Posted by jsoong

Hillies do not do well with high temps .... They need very high water flow & O2 level in the heat ... Keep an eye on the other ones & increase aeration if you can during the heat treatment.

Good luck.

Yes, they do suffer, and a second one has passed away, I found it just behind the bubble wall whilst I was cleaning one of the filters, the one left seems to be ok, but the one I found dead also seemed to be ok, but later died...

I actually need to go back to the tank as the filter with carbon in it seems to be spewing up carbon bits, so I think the "net" (I.E. cheap woven cloth) seems to be breaking up and letting the carbon fly out through the filter impeller and out into the water...

[jsoong]

When you have a mixed tank, it is good to treat the fish in separate hospital setups if you can. When my tank had ich a few years back, I took all the golds out & treated with salt. I left the hillies in the main tank. From what I read, hillies are so tough that they never get ich, so I figure that it would be safe to leave them untreated & save them the stress of salt/heat. This had worked well, as the ich had never returned.

[2cvbloke]

Well, whitey's still spotty on her tail, and the others seem fine, do you think I should turn the heat up a touch more (a couple of degrees)?

[mike47517]

how high is it now?

[2cvbloke]

It's at 84f according to the thermometer...

[mike47517]

yeah you could take it up to 86F but i wouldnt go any higher than that.

[2cvbloke]

I'm getting quite bored seeing the tank so drab and the humming of the air pump is really annoying, especially as it has developed a strange sound which sounds oddly like young chicks in a birds nest...

But anyway, Whitey still has a slightly spotty tail, and I'm wondering if that's just natural markings, or whether it is Ich or not. Mop and Choccy (now Orange and not Chocolate brown... ) seem to be fine, no flashing, no odd behavior, infact they all seem fine, it's just whitey who looks odd...

Actually, I just took a look at whitey, and she seems to have a faint red stripe, running from the base of her tail to the tip, and near the base she looks quite "veiny", I'm beginning to really wonder about that fish's state of health...

[jsoong]

What does those spots look like?? If ich, the spots should be like salt grains, raised & crisp. They also should fall off after a few days (to be replaced by other spots).

I actually doubt you are dealing with ich here. A temp of 84 is not high enough to kill ich, and if you havn't seen any new spots on Whitey or the other golds, you are prob dealing with something else. A good close up pic might be helpful. <Definitive diagnosis will need a wet mount of the spot under microscope.>

If the spots are rounded, but not fuzzy, and bigger than 2mm, and if you see some of the spots fusing together, it is likely a virus. (The red veining also points to that.) There is an extensive thread at the GAB about these mysterious white spots on goldies tails. The consensus is that this is a variant of Carp Pox or lymphocystis.

There is also some talk of a Herpes virus epidemic in Goldies in the UK & US.
Goldfish virus going undetected | Practical Fishkeeping magazine

Unfortunately, there is no cure for these viral diseases. Increasing temp apparently can help the fish recover (observation that often the spots disappear over summer). The best thing to do is to keep the temp up in the high 70's or low 80's for 3-6 months & hope the fish recover.

I've had an outbreak of something like this over the summer. I've managed to get rid of all the spots (except for one) with just the high temp over the course of 4-6 weeks. I've lost 2 fish since - and they showed no spots or any other signs (although they are over 5 years old, so might be old age.) The only consolation is that once they recover form the virus, they should be immune to future attacks.

[2cvbloke]

Well, originally, the spots on Mop & Whitey were white and raised as per Ich, but I haven't seen those for some time now, and the spots on her tail are about the same size as an Ich spot, but not raised or furry. They don't match the description of the GHV virus, nor are they bigger than 2mm...

I just took a look (not easy as she, mop & choccy thought I was about to feed them!!!) and the spots are more Ich like than anything else, but the veining is a worry, unless she's been nipped by one of the loaches (I have seen them chasing them about)...

Actually, I just noticed some light stripes on Choccy's dorsal fin, must go and investigate...

[Yellow Tang 2]

were can u get treatment 4 ich?

[mike47517]

Walmart. Its as easy as that.

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Yeah pretty much anywhere that sells fish will sell ich medicine.

[jsoong]

Originally Posted by 2cvbloke

I just took a look (not easy as she, mop & choccy thought I was about to feed them!!!) and the spots are more Ich like than anything else, but the veining is a worry, unless she's been nipped by one of the loaches (I have seen them chasing them about)...

If the spots still looks like ich, I suppose you are going to have to continue treatment to be safe. From what I read, you need temp of 88F to kill ich, so the failure of treatment may well be inadequate temp. I personally, would not push a goldies tank to that temp <esp. when you are already having problems with the Hillies>. My original suggestion still stands - isolate the sick fish in a QT & treat with salt. Your other option is to use something like Quick Cure.

As for the red veining, it is not likely to be fin nipping. Likely, this is from a secondary infection due to the open wounds form the ich. Generally, keeping perfect water parameters & treating the primary parasite is the way to go. I would only add anti-biotics or other meds if there are some other symptoms/signs.

[2cvbloke]

Well, I haven't seen anything for a while now, so I have begun the process of returning the tank to normal, today I sterilised the substrate, fake plants and whatnot, and the driftwood is soaking (placed in near-boiling water) and will need a scrubbing as some fungus-like stuff seemed to form on it while it was out of the tank, but that's for tomorrow...

The weather loaches are pleased as punch to have their sand back, I just wish I could have sieved out the awful pink gravel my mother bought, but hey, I'll be getting some fresh sand soon...

I'm also thinking of clearing the sand away from around the filters and replacing it with some smooth gravel I have spare (although that needs a good cleaning and sterilising too), just to keep the filters from clogging, although I may swap them for something else as they really are getting on my nerves with their rattling when they get slightly soiled...

[mike47517]

Good for you. sounds like your in the clear

[2cvbloke]

Originally Posted by mike47517

Good for you. sounds like your in the clear

I hope so, it's been so long since I started it all, but, it just goes to show, you don't need chemicals, just patience...

Oh, and a good algae scrubber!!!

[2cvbloke]

Well today the tank looks beautiful, crystal clear and I haven't changed the water yet!!! Just need a decent brush to scrub down the driftwood and then that can go back in again...