Long and involved ich-y question...

[Tigerlily]

Hi Everyone...

OK - so I see one spot on one fin of one white cloud in my main tank. I could be out of my gourd and a worry wart, but it could be ich. (I may have inadvertantly introduced ich into my tank a week ago, so I've been looking for it - but that's the subject of another thread) Here's the situation...

I just got a 12 gal eclipse for my birthday (yea Dad!) and was planning to use it as a glorified goldfish bowl once my bio-spira arrives from Bernie. I was also thinking of putting the three white clouds in there once the goldfish made it through 2 weeks without a problem. I figured the white clouds would be happiest in a tank that doesn't go above 74 degrees, and the goldfish would be too small (and slow) for them to become a meal.

I don't want to do the heat treatment with the white clouds because they prefer cooler temperatures anyway and I'm not sure they could handle it. I could...

1. Treat with salt only - has anyone done this, and does it work as well as heat?
2. Move the white clouds into the 12 gal goldfish tank and treat with meds there - put off getting the goldfish until the white clouds are ick-free. Treat the main tank with heat (I just saw one of the tiger barbs flashing...yikes!)
3. Treat the main tank with meds and lose my biological filter.

Any one have any other ideas? Any opinions?

Thanks for you help!

 

[An t-iasg]

Hi Tigerlily,
I have never had ich (knock on aquarium stand wood!!) but I think option #2 sounds good. Put off getting the goldfish until the minnows are ich free. If you already saw the goldfish that you want, put a deposit on them and get the store to hold them for a little bit.

How big is the main tank? Would you have enough bio-spira for the main tank and the Eclipse tank? If you do option #3, you could use the bio-spira to restore your biological filter in the main tank after using meds. I did this before -- I medicated the main tank, then after treatment, removed it with carbon and added bio-spira. My ammonia levels were about .25 during treatment, and then the bio-spira took the ammonia back to 0 the next day.

 

[Tigerlily]

Hi An!

My main tank is a 29 gal - so I'd have to order more bio-spira if I go with option #3 - not that I've ever hesitated to spend money on my tanks... 8) but it seems foolish to destroy my bio-filter when heat works so well. (I've been using heat in another tank for the past week, and those fish are completely ich-free and the bio-filter is intact.)

I don't have a goldfish picked out yet. My LFS has had some nice ones lately, but I've been waiting to get the bio-spira in before going to pick one out. This would just delay my goldfish dreams until the minnows are ich free - but I think I'll survive. The only real problem with option #2 is that I'd be putting an un-QT'd goldfish in with the minnows once they are cured. I don't want to put a goldie in my tiny 2 gallon QT, and since he was originally going in the 12 gal. by himself...

Anyway, I think that I agree with you about option #2 - unless someone else can think of a reason why it wouldn't work.

(Hijacking my own thread... BTW An - how are your nano plans? I am so excited about mine! We have all the equipment, and I am planning to mix up my first batch of saltwater tomorrow and get my live rock over the weekend! I'll post pics of my aquascaping then...)