I thought it was Ick and now I wonder if it is 2 illnesses

[Fish_and_AFD]

1~Blue Wag Platy - 1 is seriously ill. 1 just has a weird placque. I have moved these 2 to the quarantine tank when the Ich out did not improve the situation in the DT.

2~Tank Parameters 02/15/2024
Ammonia 0 or .25
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 10 or 20
Temp 78 / 79
PH 8.0 or 8.2
Per API master test kit

3~75 Gallon; Set up 12/15/2023. Not properly cycled. Bought the tank, bought fish a few days later (newbie errror)

4~Fluval 110 - 500 gph

5~
1 tiny fry-1st seen 02/19/24
4 African Dwarf Frog
10 Nerite Snails (striped)
9 Neon Tetra
4 Blue Wag Platy
3 Red Wag Platy
4 Sanke Swordtail
2 Red Minor Tetra
6 Panda Coreydoras
1 Hornwort
1 driftwood

6~25% water change on DT 02/20/2024 post Ich treatment. While performing gravel vac.

Prior History. I, the newbie trusted big box store to test water and followed their advice.
I was advised to:
change 25% due to high Nitrites 12/24;
change 25 % again due to high nitrates 12/31;
Then Ich strikes the DT. I then set up a QT tank as I won't do this twice to mt DT.
Change 25% post Ich treatment 01/04/2024;
Change 50% as the Ammonia is too high 01/07.
Now I have a major bacteria bloom. I go to LFS (privately owned) - I was advised quit changing water add florabacter7 .
(Hindsight - a young, uncycled tank just went through 125% water change in 2 weeks)

02/01/2024 - I have a clear tank again. Somehow the fish survived this series of errors.

02/16/2024 I thought this was Ich again - just some flecks on tail of Blue Wag Platy and flashing. I have snails in the tank. I used API Super Ich with the 1st dose at 50% as recommended on the bottle to save the snails.

02/18/2024 Blue Wag looks worse. Second dose is 100% I need to save the fish - I hope the snails survive. (Snails survived).

02/20/2024 25% water change post ich while gravel vac.

7~The newest additions to the tank were snails.

8~no new changes.

9~They get a (1/8th teaspoon) top fin flakes, (1/16th teaspoon?) API bottom Feeder, (4) Aquatic frog and tadpole pellets by zoomed. Omega One freeze dried blood worms for occassional meal treat which is offset with no flakes.


The one fish has an odd single placque on one side.
The other fish is miserable in appearance but still buzzing around the tank and acting content.

I treated for Ich upon arrival in QT tank and she looks worse in appearance. Then I did more online reading and order Kanaplex. From my reading it seems we can't mix meds. So Today 02/22 is the second dose of ich treatment for the QT tank. Then I am thinking of moving to the Kanaplex.

The majority of the pics are of the very ill looking fish. Just 2 pics of the healthier one.

Please help me - help my fish!

 

[Andy Sager]

This looks more like Epistylis than Ick so you want to gradually lower the temperature of the tank to 70-72 and you want to use Kanaplex in the food or get a medicated food for bacteria. Epistylis feeds off the bacteria so it probably came by the poor water quality you had in the tank. ( The bacteria bloom, while normal, did not help this situation.)

Snails are often carriers of other diseases and parasites while not directly affected by the pathogens, can infect others in the tank. You always want to quarantine snails for at least 4-6 weeks before exposing your display tanks to snails. In the future, most good Ick meds will kill off snails so you need to remove the snails from the tank during medicating for ick. The ingredients in most Ick meds are dyes and/or Formalin both of which will either dissipate over time or can be removed with carbon or a poly filter pad. Once the meds are removed from the tank, the snails can be replaced into the tank without harm to them. The reason you want to remove the snails vs lowering the medicine is that the ick parasite has multiple stages so if you don't medicate properly, the stage that is most affected by meds will not be affected by the lower dose of meds.

The amount of food should be as much as they can finish in 2-3 minutes, 2-3 times per day. If the amounts you posted match this, great, if not, you need to add/subtract food to match this. A well fed fish will be a healthier fish and can ward off a lot of diseases and pathogens.

As for using the Ick med, you can discontinue using it. You need to address the bacterial part of this. Ick meds do not deal with bacterial issues.

Hope this helps.

 

[Fish_and_AFD]

3 doses of kanaplex later

We just finished the 3rd dose of Kanaplex.

She still spends lots of time idling facing the filter output.

White scaly stuff is flaking off of here.

She is eating, swimming with good active behavior.

Do I begin another 3 round of kanaplex. Is this what healing looks like?

I added some pics from today.

All advice is appreciated.

 

[Andy Sager]

You need to check your Ph again. The bacteria looks worse to me not better. Kanamycin should have solved this after one round of medicating. If the Ph is lower than 7.0, you may need to use a different medicine.

Are you also feeding a medicated food for bacteria?

 

[Fish_and_AFD]

You need to check your Ph again. The bacteria looks worse to me not better. Kanamycin should have solved this after one round of medicating. If the Ph is lower than 7.0, you may need to use a different medicine.

Are you also feeding a medicated food for bacteria?

PH is high - 7.8 or 8.0

I will google medicated food and pursue that.

Yes she is still in the fight but looks horrid.

The 2nd fish in the tank is declining.. moved him to a separate tank.

If you have a medicated food ideas - please share. I'm off to google .. ..

thank you

 

[Andy Sager]

PH is high - 7.8 or 8.0

I will google medicated food and pursue that.

Yes she is still in the fight but looks horrid.

The 2nd fish in the tank is declining.. moved him to a separate tank.

If you have a medicated food ideas - please share. I'm off to google .. ..

thank you

Google " how to make medicated food" and see if any of them are things you can do.