Fancy goldfish help.

[Kerry3984]

i added a heater and within 4 days it was gone. The life of the of the parasite was sped up by heat, i also used salt and API white spot.

 

[jlk]

i added a heater and within 4 days it was gone. The life of the of the parasite was sped up by heat, i also used salt and API white spot.

Treating ich with heat (86-88f) works great with tropicals. Temps this high cause thermal stress in coldwater fish such as goldfish and will do more harm than good.

 

[ScottyAllen]

I did the second water change and starting added the saltwater. Just a tiny bit at a time ? I don't think these guys are gonna make it they just don't look good at all. I hate myself for letting things get this way. I was always right on top of maintaining the aquarium , stuff has just been crazy lately and I missed a few cleanings / h2o changes and this all happened so quick. We already lost three ....

 

[jlk]

I am so sorry, Scotty Yes, just work on adding the salt solution a bit at a time. As long as half the solution is in the tank over the next 24hrs & rest the following 24hrs, your fine. Doesnt have to be exact amounts your adding, just dont dump it all in at once.

 

[Kerry3984]

I heated the tank slowly thus not resulting in thermal shock always worked for me with my fancys with no problems and i only take it to aprox 80f, once cleared i reduced heat slowly again, but thanks for ur advice as i will now watch out for any signs of this
Add some ich treatment, asap and follow instructions carefully i normally treat it it over approx a week depending what treatment u use, the parasite can only be killed when free swimming and not when its attatch to the fish hence why u treat over a few days. Hope this helps.

 

[Zimmanski]

Just my input here, with combining all these "treatments" you're really putting your fish through a lot of stress. Raising salinity and raising temps, and changing out filter media and doing multiple huge water changes. First by putting in new filter media you've removed the majority of your BB so now you really need to watch your ammonia levels so I hope you have a master kit at home, second, I could be wrong but doesn't raising the temp to combat ich only become effective at 86 degrees+? So raising the temp to 80 isn't doing anything but freak the fish out. It's really good that you're trying so hard to help your Goldies out but choose one treatment and stick with it. Everyone feel free to tell me if I'm wrong, I've never dealt with ich, just researched it a lot to prepare for it if it occurs.

 

[Kerry3984]

i completly agree with Zimmanski, Raising the temp speeds up the life cycle of ich, the colder the tank the slower the life cycle, some people disagree with doing this with coldwater fish but everone has there own way of doing things, Correct me if im wrong but the huge water changes and the complete replacement of filter media is far more trawmatic for the fish, ammonia levels wud rise, ph wud alter, ect. new tank syndrome all over again.
U just needed to treat the tank with white spot remover remove the activated carbon in you filter, and follow the instructions. after 48 hrs 25% water change, repeat treatment, and do this over for 14 days. The advice of APi white spot remover has always helped my fish they have helpline number aswell. But take the advice of Zimmanski pick a treatment and stick to it.

 

[Zimmanski]

There is a fine line between doing all you can, and doing too much. I learned this when I found out about cycling a tank, after I put a bunch of fish in of course(stupid first timers mistake). I ended up over using conditioners and other chemicals/fizz tabs and junk, trying to make things better, only to see my situation get worse. Follow one treatment and the correct dosage, then hope for the best

 

[ScottyAllen]

Lost three more today and the only three still alive don't look so good. It seems now like their breathing has speed up quite a bit.

 

[Candiceg]

ScottyAllen keep up with the water changes. From the pictures it doesn't look like ick to me. If you lose them all don't give up on fish keeping. I try and understock my tanks to keep me out of trouble. I had a similar experience when I started out. Get a liquid test kit and you'll be prepared.

 

[Zimmanski]

+1. Don't get discouraged, it sucks, but I think we've all lost a couple fish of our own.

 

[ScottyAllen]

Thanks for the positive words everybody. I just dunno if I can go through this again. The one fish that we have had the longest is still clinging on to life. But she's not getting any better and I have pretty Much lost all hope that she will turn it around. I don't know what else to do , it really sucks having to watch them die so slowly.

 

[Candiceg]

I have lost more than a couple oh brother. Keep up your water changes and don't change your filter media.

 

[jlk]

I am so sorry, Scott!! Do you have access to antibiotics? Or an aquatic vet?

 

[ScottyAllen]

Hey !!!!!! We still have four survivors !!! And I'm trying not to get my hopes up , but they actually look a little bit better today and are showing signs of improvement, they are more alert and hungry and not breathing so rapidly anymore. And they are spenind less time laying at the bottom of the tank. They all have different degrees of fin damage , should I be adding extra stress coat or anything to the water to help their fins heal ? What should I do next ?

 

[jlk]

This is great news!!! Just stay on top of your water changes to keep the water very healthy & maintain the salinity. If the the fin rot doesnt seem to be improving over the next week, you can add an antibiotic but I am not sure what you have access to make suggestions. Adding stress coat is fine if you have it.

 

[Candiceg]

Do you have a test kit? If you do test your water see where your levels are at. Their still eating that's a great sign. You can add more stress coat it has a dose for healing damaged fins. Stress coat is mostly aloe I believe.

 

[ScottyAllen]

Ok. Should I do a water change tonight ? Or would tomorrow be better ?

 

[Candiceg]

I would do one every day and replace salt that you took out. The test kit is really important you should get one ASAP. It's the only way to know where your at. Good luck.

 

[ScottyAllen]

Gets guys ! Just wanted to give you all an update. The four survivors look great today ! Still not getting my hopes completely up yet , but the fact that they are still alive is amazing to me considering how bad they look just a few days ago. I tried forever to get some decent photos to post here , but boy is it tough to photograph a fish lol.