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Columbian Sharks and Ich

7K views 9 replies 4 participants last post by  Ibn 
#1 ·
Hi there,

I have perused the forum and have come up with these pearls of wisdom regarding imported ich from Pet******. :-< I know, I know, I need to get a quarentine tank up and running.

1) Those white spots on the Columbian Shark are ich.
2) The best treatment is : something with Malachite Green. But! the Columbian Shark is scaless and so...
3) Depending on the fish, add some salt and raise the temperature.

Now, I have two questions. First: blackout. There is some disagreement about whether this is useful. So, my question is, will it hurt? If it won't hurt, is it worthwhile enough to actually do? By blackout, does that mean that you don't turn on the lights or that you cover the glass with black butcher paper?
Second: will adding salt hurt the coydoras or the pleco?

Please let me know if I have overlooked something useful...
Thanks for the advice!
Kris
 
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#2 ·
The fact that it's scaleless doesn't mean that you can't use medication on the fish. You just have to reduce the amount of it to half dosages.

Blackout doesn't have anything to do w/treating ich. It's sometimes used in eradicating green water and the results are mixed. It includes leaving the lights off and covering the tank so that no light can enter it.

The salt shouldn't hurt the corydoras or pleco either as long as the salt concentration doesn't get too high. If there are plants in the tank, you can bring the salt concentration up to 0.5% (up to 1% if there are no plants). Any more than that and plants are affected. Just make sure that the salt concentration is increased in gradual steps over one to two days. You might want to elevate the temperature of the tank also while treating them for ich.

FYI, the Colombian shark is also known as the shadowfin shark and is found in brackish and freshwater estuaries, so they can definitely be adjusted to brackish waters.
 
#3 ·
"Blackout doesn't have anything to do w/treating ich." Thanks! :)

"you can bring the salt concentration up to 0.5%" I followed the directions on the box...except that it called for 6 T of salt and in the interest of "gradual", I only added 3T.

I also raised the temp to 82 degrees F.

Thanks so much for your response! I am still underconfident about my aquarium-saving skills.

Kris
 
#4 ·
#5 ·
hey all,
so i am still keeping the salt up and doing a manic amount of water changes, but! the other fish never developed the white spots and the columbian shark has lost all of his! so, with any luck, they will not come back!
thanks for all the advice!
:proud:
 
#7 ·
Ich can also appear as a sign of stress due to the weakening of the fish's immune system.

A Columbian Shark in a small tank will definately be stressed: they need a large tank as they grow up to 10" or more... :confused:
 
#8 · (Edited)
thanks laith! mine is about 3" now and will make the move to the 55 gallon sometime this summer, i think. he/she is also really stomach heavy...maybe fat...maybe with eggs... ??
trenac--i am planning to keep it up until after christmas, which should work out to 12 days after the last spot, give or take!
kris
 
#9 ·
quick question regarding the ich treatment (higher temps and salt) could this be causing the crypts to melt? the vals are getting a little see-through as well.
i've been gradually dropping the temps to normal and will do the last partial water change as part of the treatment. would you all recommend doing a 30% or a 50% at this point?
thanks again!
 
#10 ·
As long as you didn't exceed the salt concentration beyond the recommended levels (see prior post), you should be fine. As long as the crypts aren't totally melted (some melting of the leaves isn't much to worry about), they'll fill back in.

As for the % of water change, I would do the lesser amount since doing a large water change could be more trouble than it's worth. Changing the environment too quickly could stress the fish and bring on another bout of ich.
 
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