Blind goldfish with ick.

[FishyLplates]

I started treating 2 comet goldfish with white spot with Wardleys IckAway yesterday, took the snails out first in case it killed them, removed the carbon from filter, and am raising the temp to 27. Apart from 'not to be used more than once per week' the bottle doesn't tell me how long to leave it in, when to water change- if I change water I will dilute the treatment won't I? And if I can't use for another week I can't maintain the dose if I water change. Also today the water is cloudy, I am presuming that's bloom with the temp rise, do I need to worry about that? And when can I put the snails and the plants back in and won't that introduce white spot again? So many questions! Can anyone help please? Oh, and I have a complete test kit and the water was terrific yesterday nitrite ammonia ph, haven't tested today.

 

[jlk]

Welcome to AA!! Let's start with some basic info so we can better help you. Tank size? Stocking? How long the tank has been running with fish? Your exact numbers for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph? What your using to test (liquid or strips)? Water change schedule (%/# wk)? Can you also list the active ingredients of the product your using? Thanks!

 

[FishyLplates]

Welcome to AA!! Let's start with some basic info so we can better help you. Tank size? Stocking? How long the tank has been running with fish? Your exact numbers for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph? What your using to test (liquid or strips)? Water change schedule (%/# wk)? Can you also list the active ingredients of the product your using? Thanks!

Thank you for responding. The tank has been running for 4 months and was perfectly cycled. I researched after realising we were torturing these comets in a 20 litre tank. My daughter got them as a 7th birthday present and she is nearly 13 now - I had been presuming since they were alive they were ok... I've learnt now. They are now in a tank about 80L. They are blind and so we were hesitant to put anything else in the tank with them but snails but local aquarium shop man convinced me bottom feeders wouldn't compete and in a weak moment I let him sell me 2 tandanus - that was a week ago and I took them back to the store yesterday complaining not only did they have white spot and infect our fish but they nibbled off one of the fishes tails too - not to mention all my post purchase research screaming how unsuitable they are as tank mates. He sounded like he knew what he was doing, I've learnt another lesson! So yesterday I took all live plants and snails out, filter charcoal/stones out, started heating tank and dosed with IckAway by wardley. Malachite green 2.5mg/ml acriflavine .5mg/ml. I just did a test - api freshwater master kit liquid - and the ammonia has spiked to .5 ppm so I desperately need to do a water change for them but what does that mean for the ick treatment? The ph is low for them 6.4./ 0 nitrite and slightly elevated nitrate. I presume ammonia has spiked since taking plants/ filter medium out and heating tank up. Maybe I need to do the salt treatment I've read about instead? I was hesitant because my daughter loves all her baby snails as well. I'm trying to do right by these guys after my years of ignorance, any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[FishyLplates]

I just changed 1/3 of the water - figured they could fight ick longer than they could survive high ammonia. I also put a uv light filter in the tank, we had it since purchasing a smaller tank for my other daughter, it's small but it says it cleans 200l per hour figure it could help with the ick.

 

[jlk]

Is your ph normally this low? What type of water conditioner do you use? Are the snails and plants presently in another tank? Lets start with one thing at time here because it seems there are a few issues at hand.

First you need to decide on a treatment avenue and stick to it. Do you want to continue with the meds or switch to salt (we can help with either)? How do they seem to be doing today after the water change- better or not as well? One a positive note, with your ph this low, the larger portion of ammonia will be in the form of ammonium which is not as toxic. The ph will need to be stabilized in future but its not of major concern right now. Getting them healthy should be first. Let us know and we can further advise!

 

[FishyLplates]

Is your ph normally this low? What type of water conditioner do you use? Are the snails and plants presently in another tank? Lets start with one thing at time here because it seems there are a few issues at hand.

First you need to decide on a treatment avenue and stick to it. Do you want to continue with the meds or switch to salt (we can help with either)? How do they seem to be doing today after the water change- better or not as well? One a positive note, with your ph this low, the larger portion of ammonia will be in the form of ammonium which is not as toxic. The ph will need to be stabilized in future but its not of major concern right now. Getting them healthy should be first. Let us know and we can further advise!

The ph was 7 last few times I checked but that was over a week ago so not sure why it dropped so much. Maybe after taking the filter medium out? I did add a water conditioner - not sure brand as I'm not at home right now- blue crystals stuff. I took the bigger snails out but there are a lot of tiny ones I can't get out- they seem to have survived the IckAway so far so I guess that's the way to go, rather than salt that would kill them. The fish have been happy and eating well just a bit irritated - quickly swishing around like they are itchy. There's been no change to their behaviour since treatment or water change. They are pretty tough, they've survived 6 years with our uninformed care.

 

[jlk]

Keep us posted on how things are going. I suspect the irritation is from the very low ph combined with the chemicals. The acidic ph will burn their slime coat which is very irritating and allow the chemicals to burn them as well. I would increase your water changes and cut the ich meds back to 1/2 or even 1/4 doses. Do you have a decent lfs near you?

 

[FishyLplates]

Keep us posted on how things are going. I suspect the irritation is from the very low ph combined with the chemicals. The acidic ph will burn their slime coat which is very irritating and allow the chemicals to burn them as well. I would increase your water changes and cut the ich meds back to 1/2 or even 1/4 doses. Do you have a decent lfs near you?

I thought the local aquarium was ok but they steered me wrong by selling me the tandanus with white spot. I will step up the water changes. Not sure when to dose with ick stuff as it said not to be used more than once a week, with water changes will it be effective? I have ph up drops i got with the tank, would these be too drastic a change? Thanks for your advice, I appreciate you taking the time to help.

 

[jlk]

How is everyone doing? Avoid the ph liquids and just stick to water changes for now. If things do not stabilize soon, you can consider adding some crushed coral or aragonite in a small mesh bag/piece of pantyhose to your filter to help stabilize your ph.