[panther685]

I am still a beginner when it comes to taking care of fish and i need all the help i can get.

How long will fish normally survive with ick? I recently added and removed fish from my tank and now i noticed that a few fish have ick.

I've always heard about the desease but have never seen it until now.

Here are the problems i have with the tank.

I noticed that the nitrates were high because of a pleco that was oversize for my tank. He was a real crap machine. I removed him from my tank and added a few fish otto's to replace him from the local fish store. I also added a few fish.

I have the following items in the tank and I will need to know if they will be safe with the treatment.

5 glo fish, 3 red eye tetras, 1 cory, 4 ottos, 1 rosey barb, 1 gold barb, 4 little red fish (I don't know there name but they school really tight, also these are the fish with the most noticable ick issue)

Here are the 2 items that i question.

I have 1 albino dwarf frog, and anacharis planted in the tank.

Will any of the fish and items have problems with copper treatment? Also any suggestions or guides you can point me to to treat the tank will be much appreciated.

Once a fish has ick can other fish catch it from that fish? I've read up that all fish have ick but when their imune system lowers because of differences in the tank it forms on their skin.


Here is my second issue

I have a rosey barb and a gold barb in my tank and they were picked on very heavily by 2 odesa barbs. I have removed the odessa barbs and now the rosey barb continues to pick on the gold barb but it's not bighting at it.

It will swim under the gold barbs belly and push it up over and over and over again. The gold barb now has spots on its side and it's back fin is rotting. The rosey barb has a raw spot on it's head from doing this.

My question to you is, is there anything i can do to save the gold barb from the other one or do i just need to get rid of it?

Sorry for being long winded but i'm kinda stressing myself. I hope I don't get ick!!!

 

[mistergreen]

#1
treat the whole tank for ich. Yes, they an be spread.
You can buy meds that don't have copper in it to treat ich. And raise your temp to 85F. This will help speed up the process and kill off the ich but provide plenty of aeration. High temps have lower O2.

#2
I have a feeling you have a small tank so I'm not going to advise to buy more gold barbs and more odessa. the large number helps in aggression.

This is what barbs do.

 

[kid creole]

How big is this tank? I hope it is not a 10.

Ich is easily taken care of, provided you turn your temp up over 85°. Yes other fish can catch it. They may have already. Ich usually shows up on the gills as well.

By the way you describe it, there's not a lot good going on with your choices and quantities of fish. In addition to your school of red fish, the cories and the tetras are all scholling fish that shouldn't be in small groups, much less single.

 

[shakti84]

Fish won't have trouble with copper but plants and good bacteria will. I would deffinitly stay clear of the copper meds. I've treated mild ick infestations with aquarium salt, but if its really bad I'd do the aquarium salt along with a non copper medication (API parasite clear works well enough).

If your fish don't work out a peaceful relationship within a few days of introducing newbies, I'd return the bully. good luck, and you will not get ick

 

[belladee]

I recently had ich in 2 tanks. one i turned up the temp one i didnt. I treated both tanks with RidIch+ and vaccumed the gravel doing a 20% waterchange EVERY day. I shut the lights off...I did this for 14 days i think. I have a thread on here that shows exactly how many days i did it.

All the Ich went away in both tanks and I did not loose any fish. With no light I did loose plants
good luck..

 

[panther685]

Sorry guys it's a 30 gallon tank

"kid creole - By the way you describe it, there's not a lot good going on with your choices and quantities of fish. In addition to your school of red fish, the cories and the tetras are all scholling fish that shouldn't be in small groups, much less single."

How many tetras would you suggest I get? I had 2 for about 6 months and they seemed fine. I lost one when I noticed that the nitrates were really high. I've been doing water changes every other day since and I have it back down to the safe zone. I added 2 more which gives me 3.

The cory has been by itself for months literally (my brother left this tank at a house with the light on for about 5 months with a pleco and this one cory with no food) The only way i can explain it is that the pleco at the algae and the cory ate his waste. I won't get into why that happened but he's much happier now with other fish.

 

[kid creole]

In general, I think 6 is agreed upon as the golden number for schooling fish. Many find as little as 3 or 4 acceptable when that is what space allows.

In my past, I've sometimes done things I "shouldn't" in terms of fish, gallons, and schools, so I don't like to say you can't do anything. I only need to eat lunch at one of my favorite restaurants to find a tank that violates every rule known to fish keepers.

If you're asking my advice, and your tank was my tank, I would add 5 more cories, keep the otos, and choose one of the smaller fish to make a proper school. I'd sell, donate, or trade all the others.

Good luck on the ich. I suggest identifying all of the fish in the tank, and determine whether or not you can take it above 85°. That really is the key. Ich can't live above 85.

 

[panther685]

does anyone know of a list that explains the temp limits of each type of fish.

Everywhere I look it shows that the max temp for fish is 81f. If I raise the temp above this point won't it stress the fish and cause them more issues?

 

[mistergreen]

go for the 85F. most fish can take it (FOR A SHORT DURATION) even though it is stressful for some. Provide plenty of aeration.

 

[panther685]

how long is a short duration? a day, a week?

Also, i have my heater cranked up and it will not get over 80f

I have a second heater available but it's the same model, will it take the temp to 85 or is this the thermostat inside that is stopping it.

It's one of the clear ones from walmart that doesn't have the temp on it. It only has a thing on top with plus or minus.

 

[kid creole]

how long is a short duration? a day, a week?

Also, i have my heater cranked up and it will not get over 80f

I have a second heater available but it's the same model, will it take the temp to 85 or is this the thermostat inside that is stopping it.

It's one of the clear ones from walmart that doesn't have the temp on it. It only has a thing on top with plus or minus.

My definition of short duration is long enough to kill the ich. Without medicine, that's a week or more. I think I did about a week to kill the ich, then almost a week to be sure. If you are using it as an assist to the medicine, a few days is probably more like it. The purpose of warming the tank is speeding the life cycle of the ich. The medicine only treats it at one stage, so by getting all of it to that part of the life cycle, you ensure that it all gets treated before your dosing regimen is done.

It's hard to say what the second heater will do.

But, now that we are 2 days into this, I'm wondering if you have ich. Untreated, ich blows up. It's nasty, it's disgusting, it grows on the fish's eyes. It's awful, and unchecked, it moves quickly. Fish usually only have a day or two window for you to react. Does your fish look like this:

 

[panther685]

The odd thing about it is that it is not spreading.

The fish do have white specks on them like this but it is not that bad. I also noticed that my cory has some as well now.

I purchased some aquarium salt today and a product called quICK cure.

I have 2 fish with fin rot also that I would like to treat so i think I'm going to go ahead with it anyway.

Do i need to remove the anacharis that i have planted in the tank before using this product?

Also i have an albino frog in there as well. Will the salt or quICK cure kill him?

if so I will put him in a bucket with an air stone until the treatment is over.

 

[lauraleellbp]

I'm afraid I've no idea if amphibians are susceptible to ich or not? I'd rehome the frog for a month, personally. Keep in mind that the ich cysts can settle on all the surfaces in the tank- including the plants and possibly even the frog- so you really should treat everything (or, as long as they can't feed on the frog, they should die off in a month...)

Don't forget to remove any carbon on other chemical media from your filter before treating.

Keep the heater cranked as high as it will go, 80F should be fine with all your current fish, especially for just a week.

 

[shakti84]

I'm not sure about how the salt will affect your amphibian.....but those guys can live quite happily in a goldfish/beta bowl with no filtration bc they're topwater breathers....soooo If it were me, I'd get a jar or small goldfish bowl, (maybe even a small critter keeper bc it has a lid) throw in some gravel, a piece of anacharis, and seperate him while using the amount of salt necessary to treat ick. change the water once a week and he should be fine. heaters do have thermostats so unless you can find one with a higher max. temp, the second heater won't work.