Kage Davies
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Sorry this is a long one. I've not dealt with fish illness before.
I have two 60litre (15gal, I think) tanks. I set them up for several days before buying fish from two different sources, one shop online and one local store. I kept the fish from different places completely seperate for 10 days or so and kept a close eye on their health and behavoir, before swapping them between tanks so that one has a small mix and one has only mollies and a long fin BN pleco.
I didn't cycle the tanks because I'm not able to care for them entirely by myself. The lady who cares for me also does my tank maintenance, and has kept fish successfully for many years. She believes it to be unnecessary and I couldn't convince her otherwise. I started the tanks with two or three fish each, and then increased six or seven from the same sources a week later. So all in all my tanks are I think about three weeks old. The parameters have been fine, although I can't seem to find my test kit today to take new readings to post. As soon as I turn it up I will.
Two days ago, a few days after I switched the fishes into the 'right' tanks, I noticed my smallest gold molly had white patches on her fins. I wasn't sure if they'd been there before since she is from a gold/white/black marbled group and she's very pale. But the next day the white spots were very visible on my black molly. All of them now seem to have speckles, and are itching against the rocks and plants.
I immediately increased the temperature of my tank and removed the BN plec to his own small QT tank with a freshly boiled piece of bogwood and a rock. I read that he will need a lower dose of meds than the mollies because of his scales? Plus he is very small at the moment, and I didn't want him to become any more infected than he may be. He seems fine and shows no visible signs so far. I also did a 25% water change in the molly tank on the first day, and then another 30-40% on the second day, as well as hoovering the sand substrate and wiping over the filter intake.
The tank has an APS 600IF with the spray bar attatchment. I was originally going to use it for cichlid fry but I bought them a larger tank, hence the overfiltration. It has a playsand subrate, two medium pieces of bogwood, several tiny pieces with java fern and anubias, a large piece with java moss and a moss ball. And a piece of quartz rock from the fish store. Do I need to remove the plants and other furniture from the molly tank? I read that the parasite breeds on the substrate and in the tank acessories, and I didn't know if it would help eradicate it. If I remove the plants, how would be best to keep them while the parasite dies out?
I've lost one fish so far, who had a popped up and blackened eye. I think she itched it against on of the rocks and injured it, since she was underneath the little rock overhang when we found her dead. I think the eye injury was the cause of her demise, since it was quite nasty and she didn't have much sign of ich. I removed the rock overhang to be sure the others don't rub against it also.
I ordered some meds online since I don't have immediate access to the fish store. Should I also order some aquarium salt? I wasn't sure about using it with the plec sharing their tank, and was assured that it wasn't absolutely necessary.
Lastly, how worried should I be about the other tank? I moved two fish from the infected tank into the other tank several days ago. I can't see any signs of ich in there at all as of ten minutes ago, but should I be increasing the temp just in case? Is it likely to have spread?
Anyway, all help appreciated as always. Especially if you read through all that. xx
I have two 60litre (15gal, I think) tanks. I set them up for several days before buying fish from two different sources, one shop online and one local store. I kept the fish from different places completely seperate for 10 days or so and kept a close eye on their health and behavoir, before swapping them between tanks so that one has a small mix and one has only mollies and a long fin BN pleco.
I didn't cycle the tanks because I'm not able to care for them entirely by myself. The lady who cares for me also does my tank maintenance, and has kept fish successfully for many years. She believes it to be unnecessary and I couldn't convince her otherwise. I started the tanks with two or three fish each, and then increased six or seven from the same sources a week later. So all in all my tanks are I think about three weeks old. The parameters have been fine, although I can't seem to find my test kit today to take new readings to post. As soon as I turn it up I will.
Two days ago, a few days after I switched the fishes into the 'right' tanks, I noticed my smallest gold molly had white patches on her fins. I wasn't sure if they'd been there before since she is from a gold/white/black marbled group and she's very pale. But the next day the white spots were very visible on my black molly. All of them now seem to have speckles, and are itching against the rocks and plants.
I immediately increased the temperature of my tank and removed the BN plec to his own small QT tank with a freshly boiled piece of bogwood and a rock. I read that he will need a lower dose of meds than the mollies because of his scales? Plus he is very small at the moment, and I didn't want him to become any more infected than he may be. He seems fine and shows no visible signs so far. I also did a 25% water change in the molly tank on the first day, and then another 30-40% on the second day, as well as hoovering the sand substrate and wiping over the filter intake.
The tank has an APS 600IF with the spray bar attatchment. I was originally going to use it for cichlid fry but I bought them a larger tank, hence the overfiltration. It has a playsand subrate, two medium pieces of bogwood, several tiny pieces with java fern and anubias, a large piece with java moss and a moss ball. And a piece of quartz rock from the fish store. Do I need to remove the plants and other furniture from the molly tank? I read that the parasite breeds on the substrate and in the tank acessories, and I didn't know if it would help eradicate it. If I remove the plants, how would be best to keep them while the parasite dies out?
I've lost one fish so far, who had a popped up and blackened eye. I think she itched it against on of the rocks and injured it, since she was underneath the little rock overhang when we found her dead. I think the eye injury was the cause of her demise, since it was quite nasty and she didn't have much sign of ich. I removed the rock overhang to be sure the others don't rub against it also.
I ordered some meds online since I don't have immediate access to the fish store. Should I also order some aquarium salt? I wasn't sure about using it with the plec sharing their tank, and was assured that it wasn't absolutely necessary.
Lastly, how worried should I be about the other tank? I moved two fish from the infected tank into the other tank several days ago. I can't see any signs of ich in there at all as of ten minutes ago, but should I be increasing the temp just in case? Is it likely to have spread?
Anyway, all help appreciated as always. Especially if you read through all that. xx
