Hi,

I wrote, oh, about a couple of weeks ago. Sweety was laying on the bottom, but continued to eat. I thought he had tummy problems and was feeding him peas, and he seemed to perk up, but he started laying down again. I didn't see anything on him. Today when I got home from work, he's on the bottom, I turn on the light, and all of his fins are just covered with those small white spots - Ick! I never saw a thing before today, then he's just covered in them. I immediately went into my fish draw and found Ick medicine tablets, took out the carbon filter, and threw them in. He's still getting up to eat, so that's good. But is there ANYTHING else I can do to increase his chances? Little Baby seems to be fine, maybe it's just a matter of time until he gets them. Anyway, would it help to raise the temperature, put salt in, etc, etc.? I really love my fish, please give me your expertise...

Thanks so much,
Lucia

hi sorry to hear about your fish. Im not too sure about diseases but some ick medicines work better at a higher temperature, and adding salt will help too, but im not sure on the dosage, hopefully someone will give you that info, anyways good luck

You make a living by what you earn
You make a life by what you give

Thanks so much, Sandy!

hi lucia.

your little guy stands a big chance of pulling through this. you seem to have acted quickly and thats good. not to mention hes still eating.

what is the name of the ich meds that your using? what are the ingredients?

the usage of salt and heat are somewhat useful but, that all depends on the ingredients.

how long have you had sweetie?

any new additions to the tank (fish, plant, or snail)?

post back soon.

paul

when using medication remove plants and any carbon

Hi Paul,

I've had Sweety for 1 1/2 years now. I honestly can't remember if he started doing the laying on the bottom thing before I recently got Little Baby or not. But Little Baby seems to be fine? Can a new fish (a baby goldfish) stress out the older fish? Snaily has been in there for a few months now. The name of the medicine is "Tank Buddies Ick Clear" and they are big tablets. The active ingredient is (are) victoria green and acriflavin. It's one tablet for each 10 gallons, so I have a 20 gallon, so I threw in 2 tablets. Are you supposed to take the plants out too? I think it's ick. It's all white spots on his fins. What's velvet? Sorry, so many questions, but I'm so scared he's going to die. I really hope he pulls through. I know it's a goldfish, but I think I owe it to the little thing to really try for him. Uh, needed to get that out of my system. I hope I answered your questions, any advice?

Thanks,
Lucia

Does it look like tiny grains of salt?? If yes - then you have ich. If they are more like patches it may be velvet.

I've had ich twice, but both times I used Quick Cure (with great results).

Follow the directions about water changes but you want to treat the tank until you have a t least 3-5 days of seeing no spots on the fish.

I'm sorry - all the plants in my tanks are fakes so I can't help there.

BTW - Does this med turn the tank green? If you you need to cover the tank & keep the light off (light may deactivate the meds)

Don't use the salt plus the meds - too much stress on the fish.

Good Luck!



Jenn

Thanks for the help, I'll keep you updated, I'm determined to do what it takes. My plants are all fake too, so I think it should be okay,I don't think ick would want to attach to fake plants. Never a dull moment =)

Lucia

no, real plants should be taken out. When you buy new fish for an already stable tank, ideally you should quarantine them for a week or two so they dont bring in any thing nasty.

All of my fake plants stay in the tank during treatment for that reason - if there's any ich on them then they are treated too!
Good Luck!

Jenn

I tend to leave everything in an ich-infested tank so that it all gets treated. Once ich is present, the cysts land on everything - plants, gravel, filter ... everything.

It is important to keep the tank dark and covered over by the way, like Toothless said. Malachite Green is deactivated by light.

Hope your little guy pulls through.

Update: I've been working frantically with Sweety after work today. Yesterday I started the Ick Clear. So today when I got home from work (24 hours later), I was so shocked to see how cloudy his tank was. It's very, very cloudy. When I turned the light on, these small clear/white, small stringy things were floating around in there. Are those the ick coming off of the fish? Sweety's fins are still loaded with spots and though he does come out to still eat, he's still laying on the bottom. Little Baby has nothing and is acting normal (and he's a tiny little goldfish, maybe an inch big). Isn't ick supposed to be catchy? Is the tank supposed to be that cloudy from the Ick medicine and what's those things floating around. Anyway, my heart raced a mile a minute in a panic, and I did a water change and dropped in two more Ick Clear tablets as directed. I hope I've diagnosed it right. What does it sound like to you? And the tank situation? I have left the light off like everyone said. Oh, I'm getting discouraged, I guess I thought today things would be better. But I won't give up. What do you think and what would you do?

Thanks so much
Lucia

i dont know for sure if victoria-green and acriflavin adversely affect the bio-filter but, you might want to monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels while your treating them.

give the meds time. if both of them are still eating, thats an excellent sign!

i have no idea what the stuff you saw floating in your tankwater was! maybe excess slime sloughing off of the infected goldie? but the cloudiness is most likely due to the meds. it might either be the acriflavin and victoria green tinting the water, or youve got a beneficial bacterial bloom (thats why you need to monitor the params more closely).

good luck and keep us posted!

paul