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is this ich and what do I do to save my fish?!?!

M

mfield4

Members
Alrighty so I have had this tank established for a few months now, no problems at all.

I added about 7 fish last Friday, and everything was going great. I come home from work today at this is what I see:



I have never dealt with a disease or anything before. If it is ich please help me and let me know what I can do and how to stop this before it kills my 30+ cichlids. I have some syndo. petricola which I believe are scaleless so I may be limited on some treatments.

It looks like air bubbles are on the fish, and only on a few of them. Thanks for the help!
 
M

mfield4

Members
Cupramine I am guessing is what you meant? I read that article and I am fine with the temp raising (which I already started) and the salt. Can I do Cupramine as well?
 
SubMariner

SubMariner

Master Jedi & Past VP
Yes, that's it! I could not remember the full name. I've treated plecos and petricolas with it. You might have to use a lesser dose.
 
fischfan13

fischfan13

Banned
mfield4 said:
Cupramine I am guessing is what you meant? I read that article and I am fine with the temp raising (which I already started) and the salt. Can I do Cupramine as well?
Click to expand...

Salt and raise the temps gradually each day a few degrees...maybe 2 or 3 degrees until you reach about 85f.
Increase O2...what type of filtration is in there now?
2 Tbls of salt (non-iodized) per 10g.

No meds.
 
M

mfield4

Members
welll I already dosed the cupramine!

The temp will slowly be raised, should I still add the salt?

The tank is drilled with an overflow and gets plenty of aeration, but I can certainly add more if you think it will help.

Should I remove any of my lava rock?

Water change or no? I did one exactly a week ago, 20%
 
fischfan13

fischfan13

Banned
The big negative about that med is that it decreases O2 and makes your tank very susceptible to ph crashes.


I would go back to the link that Jon posted and read up on it.
 
hollyfish2000

hollyfish2000

Members
when you raise the temp, you lower the oxygen. Just add an air stone or sponge filter just in case.
If you're doing water changes and you decide to do the salt, you have to continue to "salt" the water you're adding so that it stays at the right percentage in the water column.

I recently had my first ich outbreak. I was freaked out, too. I treated only with salt and temperature. I lost NO fish and even had cories (which I assume would react similarly to the petricola). I kept the lights dim and fed lightly during it. Doing a good gravel vac helps remove some of the ich in one of its life stages. Try not to panic! I believe I treated for about two weeks. Some of the fish never got infected. Some were covered and it took a while for them to get "clean."
 
Avatar

Avatar

Plenipotentiary-at-large
Making this difficult....

...and it isn't. Ick cannot survive a temperature above 89 degrees. No treatment needed - just crank the heater, and you probably needn't spread the increase out over 3-4 days. If your particular fish can't handle that much heat, malachite green is a wicked fast cure and very very cheap.
 
M

mfield4

Members
Looks like I will be raising the temp, add an air stone, and since I already started the cupermine treatment I will continue that. A friend of mine got ich about 6 months ago and it wiped out all but one of his cichlids. Let's hope I have better luck.
 
YSS

YSS

Members
If you are treating with the med, don't raise the temp. It's one or the other not both.
 
SubMariner

SubMariner

Master Jedi & Past VP
mfield4 said:
Looks like I will be raising the temp, add an air stone, and since I already started the cupermine treatment I will continue that. A friend of mine got ich about 6 months ago and it wiped out all but one of his cichlids. Let's hope I have better luck.
Click to expand...


That's the great thing about our club...We help each other out.

You'll be fine with the treatment you chose.;) Just remember to let the medicine sit for 2-3 days and then hit them with a water change. Retreat immediately again and that should be it. You can raise the temperature,but use an extra air stone cause there going to need the extra air.

After the second treatment do your final water change and you should be A Okay. Oh I forgot, depending on your substrate you need to vacuum the bottom of the tank when doing your water change because the parasites that have fallen off your fish are in the gravel now. Get them OUT!

Just a thought. Good luck!:)


Cheers,


Richard
 
L

leisure_man

Members
I use copper sulfate to treat ich or any external parasite. I pre-made a concentrated CuSO4 solution to administer the dosage at 1 drop ( = 0.05ml) per gallon that will give a copper concentration of 0.2ppm. Addition of copper will deplete O2 level in the water. In addition, keep the light on short duration or completely off as one of the ich stage relies on photosynthesis.

Remember to maintain treatment for at least two weeks otherwise they may come back again. It maybe a good idea to set up a small quarantine tank in the future before introducing new arrivals into established tank. Hold fish in quanrantine tank for 4 weeks to make sure they are healthy.
 
UNCLERUCKUS

UNCLERUCKUS

"THE ALL POWERFUL Q !!
THATS A GREAT ARTICLE BY THE WAY. WAY TO COME OUT AND GIVE HELP EVERYONE. WHEN YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN ICK OR DEALT WITH IT IT CAN BE ALARMING. HOWEVER IT IS QUITE EASY TO GET RID OF. GLAD YOU CAUGHT IT EARLY. SOMEONE MENTIONED A Q-TANK WHICH IS A GREAT IDEA.
 
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