Ick or something else?

[Katiestl]

I've posted multiple times but no one has ever answered a question I've asked without simply asking more questions, then I answer those and still receive no answer. Fish is dying slowly and I see something curable, please help.



Simple question: Is this ich on my minnow and what medicine do I use? Sorry, she won't slow down enough for a photo that shows the spots. looks like salt on her tail. Saw three spots on her side and they disappeared an hour ago--tail stuff appeared in last 12 hours. She is trying to brush it off I think, sitting under filter outflow. Not sure if that's why some disappeared, I'm positive they were there.



History:So, a month ago one minnow died after three weeks of listing to one side and constantly tipping back towards her tail. No visible signs of disease. She died while I was out looking for clove oil to euthanize her. Her body appeared normal except for the tail which had been partially severed. No ich apparent, not rotting just half gone--it wasn't like that the day before so it could have occurred after death. One week later minnow #2 starts listing. She is still doing it. Minnow #3, 2 goldfish and 2 corys appeared normal. I did a tiny water change to help with the phosphate/algae problem I have. I used a new bottle of Prime to dechlorinate, had an almost exact temp match on water. refilled the tank and 10 minutes later a cory was dying. No visible harm. He was logrolling and couldn't stay up--appeared disoriented. Also, For the week before this, the two goldfish were behaving aggressively towards each other. I thought it was a mating thing. While the cory was struggling, I saw them RAM him(while attacking each other) and he couldn't get up. I euthanized him. No visible wounds. Their "play" became so violent(running each other into the gravel and corners) that I removed the more aggressive fish to a bowl temporarily. The sick minnow had what appeared to be a wound on her side--red splotch with white slightly protruding--looked like a bruise. It is almost gone one day later. No protrusion, no white.



I've had tank problems but Ammonia and nitrites are zero. Nitrates are 40-80 and Phosphate is super high(highest level possible). I've been told the phosphate will not harm the fish just cause algae growth and hurt plants--it has. So using phosguard and doing weekly water changes have raised my nitrate levels as tap water contains nitrate.I currently use Phosguard in my Aqueon filter along with the regular charcoal filter. Also, Flourish Excel to help the sick plants--in small amounts, it helped. i just bought Purigen since it states that it will lower nitrates. Have not used it yet since I found a sicker fish today.



I bought some Stress guard online--it isn't here yet so I found some stresscoat by API to help the sick fish this afternoon. Then, I saw the tail spots. Came back two hours later and found the spots on her side. It looks like online photos of ick, however the 3-4 spots on her side disappeared. Did she manage to knock them off? I checked all other fish, all fine. I found a couple of dings in the male goldfish's side, but they are probably from the fighting--no discoloration really or anything raised. I think he has breeding tubercles--only on gills, not quite the same as tail spots on minnow.


So, what do I use to treat ick? Will it hurt other fish?
Do you think the listing is related or another problem?

I have video of the listing here. https://youtu.be/H5eNP-8WslQ

This is 1 day old. You can sort of make out the red spot I found on her side. I still think that was an injury--it has faded. The white on fins is normal--no ich at this point. Only other idea is tape worm. She isn't eating well at all now and the minnows all seem to have protruding bellies, I cannot tell if that is normal--these come in many varieties.
I assume I cannot use Phosguard, charcoal filter, or anything else at the same time as meds? Maybe Stresscoat?


Would tape worm treatment be able to be used at the same time? I'm just thinking ich seems secondary as the other fish died the same way and had zero spots, although a severed tail(top half missing)..

 

[Katiestl]

So didnt get any response and just went to store and bought yet another useless piece of garbage. I bought metroplex which he said would be safe for all fish and snails. It's practically empty. Is the container supposed to only be 1/10 full? It's 30 minutes to any fish store.


So, used a gram scale, apparently it is this empty. so it's going to be 3 jars to get through the full treatment.

 

[lostthoughts]

Is this ich on my minnow and what medicine do I use?
If it's little white spots attached to soft tissue like fins and gills, then most likely it is ich. Ich is a protozoan fungus and goes through 3 life stages: feeding on the fish, after feeding (falling off the fish), and reproductive division. When ich is in the feeding cyst stage where its attached to the fish it is impossible to kill. When it disappears from the fish, it has fallen off and will settle at the bottom of the tank where it releases more ich and the cycle repeats. This is when it can be killed by medicine. I've succesfully used Kordon Rid Ich Plus before to treat and cure ich, although I'm pretty sure that medicine is not safe for invertebrates like snails and shrimp.

I assume I cannot use Phosguard, charcoal filter, or anything else at the same time as meds? Maybe Stresscoat?
When treating the tank with medication, you will need to remove carbon from the filter. Otherwise, the carbon will remove the medicine from the water. Also, if you dechlorinate with Prime I don't really see a reason to use stresscoat aswell.

Would tape worm treatment be able to be used at the same time?
If you are sure in your diagnosis of ich, I would treat the ich first and then remove the ich medication from the water before treating for internal parasites. Doing multiple medications at once can be more stressful and thus more harmful to the fish. If fish have internal parasites though, they usually display signs of it in the form of long white stringy poop.

Edit: I was reading up on metroplex. It seems it may be good for treating internal parasites when made into a medicated food using Seachem Focus.

Additional:
If fish are being unusually aggressive this can be an indicator that something is wrong with the water parameters (or they are also sick and stressed out). Since you said you did a water change and aggression was still occurring, it wouldn't hurt to test your tap water using the API master kit to see what the tap parameters are.