I am treating one of my goldfish for white spot at the moment. It says on the label to give two doses but it does not say when to give the second dose. Do I give it tomorrow or tonight? The product is called TetraMedica Contra Spot, I don't know how good it is but am giving it a try anyhow. We don't really have a great selection in our LFS in Ireland.

I do hope the new fishie makes it, just got him a few days ago. Must have been all the stress from traveling, because all the parameters are reading fine.

SpicyNoodle, did the fish get better from the first treatment? I never heard of Contra Spot, but it seems to be a European medication, not something that is sold here in the US, I don't think.

Anyway, if the fish didn't improve on the first dosage, I'd just continue treating him with aquarium salt, instead of the medication. It is much gentler, yet very effective. I never use anything else than salt. Not the ordinary table salt however - most of them contain additives that are toxic to fish. I use pickle salt at the moment, but you always can find solar salt or rock salt - the coarser one, used to make ice cream. Any salt that basically contains nothing but salt, and it should say so on the package. You can never go wrong with aquarium salt though, if you are not sure with any other salt.

How big is your tank, so we'll get the dosage right? Not too often that I have to recalculate from gl into litre, but we'll get it together.

Hello Ranchugirl,

No, my fish is not getting any better he is getting worse, His fins are clamped and he is floating on top. I am thinking he has swim bladder now, I am so worried about him. I wish I could help him more than I am, yet I feel helpless. His tank is a small quarantine tank about 8-10 gallon. I have been giving a few doses of treatment, but have not tried the salt yet. I will get some ASAP, he looks so week and sad bless him. Thanks Ranchugirl for your advice.

....

Hey Spicy Noodle,
I noticed that no one has answered you yet. I am sorry, but I am sure that the mods will be on later on. Olivia was on earlier today and she was helping me w/ my fish' sbd. I just wanted you to know that you are not alone here as I have been checking this board all morning and last night for help w/ my fish! I am sure that someone will help you soon! Hang in there!

Nickie

Thanks Nickie,

I am hoping that someone will help soon. I could not get the aquarium salt today as I was working. I really cannot think of anything else I can do for now, I did a water change added stress zyme. I am going to leave the medication for a day, as I think myself it is a little strong. His tail has gone all tattered and torn now. He just floats on top of the water, still eating a little.

I do hope your fish starts to get a little better, are you going to fast it for a few days and then feed it live food? I hear that is a good thing to do.

SpicyNoodle

Sorry that your fish is getting worse, SpicyNoodle...

I am not entirely sure it is SBD - my feeling goes more towards being weakened by the Whitespot, that he doesn't have the energy to do anything else. Does he get tossed around by the current, or is he rather floating still? As long as he eats at least somewhat, there is still hope. Maybe you can entice him with some frozen or live food, or soak his regular food in some crushed garlic. That not only stimulates the appetite, it also will strengthen his immune system.

I am sorry that I can't comment much on the strength of the medication you are using - it isn't available here, and I couldn't find much information about it, except the general stuff that is printed on the meds. Has the Whitespot gone done with the medication at all?

Oh, and I have combined both threads, so we don't have to go back and forth inbetween - much better that way.

Hi SpiceyNoodle

Is this the medication you are using?

http://uk.tetra.de/tetra/go/BCE17AF27E96C0...&lang_id=20

I've seen it around, but have not used it myself. It says there to dose weekly - what exactly does it say on the back of the bottle?

To be honest with you, these kind of medications (all-in-one parasite meds) don't tend to be all that good in our part of the world. They can work, but as Andrea says aquarium salt is often the most effective against Ick and it may also help to reduce stress and tackle some of the secondary symptoms your fish is showing.

If it was me - I'd probably stop the medication, do a large water change and gradually salt up to 0.3% and keep it at that and see were that takes you. OR if you choose to continue with that medication - check to to see if you can use aquarium salt simultaneously with it.

The other thing I wanted to check with you is - have you got plenty of aeration in that tank (medications tend to reduce the oxygen saturation capacity of water) although, not too much as it may stress him if he's floating.

Also, what is the temperature? Make sure it stable and unfluctuating (otherwise, heating the water sometimes helps to speak up the ick life cycle and support rcovery)

And have you made sure your running nitrAte level is as low as possible (to promote recovery)

I don't know what else to suggest, but very best of luck with the treatment

Hello all,

He is eating well which is good, he is not getting tossed just floating on top. No filter in that tank as it is generally only used for a few days, I am going to invest in one though. I will try some garlic with his food and will get salt from the LFS tomorrow. I have been reading about raising the temperature in the tank to 80, would this kill him or is worth a try?

Just one more thing, if I am treating him but the parasite is still in the tank does it not keep attacking him. Is it a constant cycle of get better get worse etc etc?

I found out that you only need to use the treatment once a week, is that sufficient enough to kill the parasite?

Most Goldfish will tolerate that temperature (provided the water is well oxygenated) Higher temperaures will help speed up the ick life cycle.

Edit:- Also, if you do raise the temperature - do it slowly allowing the fish to adjust, usually no more than by 2C an hour - slower if you can.




As the white dots drop off, they explode into millions of tiny cycts which then re-infect the fish - it's only at this free floating stage that they are killed by the medication or preferably aquarium salt, that's in the water. You can help by changing the water regularly and vacuming the bottom to remove the free-floating cysts inbetween them being zapped. Leave no where stagnant where they can hide (gravel, ornaments)

Hope this helps

Thanks that does help. Just atached an air pump from the other aquarium to the small one. I did a 50% water change today and did not add any more medication, I made this choice myself as I feel it is not helping him.

When I get the salt I will add the 0.3% to the tank, is that per gal?

I have a heater from another tank and will start to increase the temp over a slow period. Will I need to get the salt first before I raise the temp? as I will want to kill them as soon as they drop off.

When I get the salt I will add the 0.3% to the tank, is that one teaspoon per gal?

Get the heater and salt going as soon as possible, preferably together, but you can start heating up now if you're gonna start salting tomorrow anyway. The treatment dose of salt for ick is 0.3 % that means 3 grams of salt per litre of water - you can either measure that out on scales or use the "teaspoon per gallon" method - I'll find the salt thread which explains it better for you. In any case, you work up to the 0.3% (3 grams per litre or 3 teaspoons per gallon) salt concentration in three divided doses of 0.1% (1 gram per litre or 1 teaspoon per gallon) at 12 hour intervals. Pre-dissolve the salt in a little tank water first.

Let me get that link for you

http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/...c=60876&hl=

Spicy,
To answer your question, yes, I am fasting Jaws now and then I will feed nothing but peas for a few days afterwards. He is doing better, though. As far as the salt, I do know that if you don't have aquarium salt, Epsom salt will work if you have any of that. There is a thread on here somewhere where one of the mods explained how much salt to use. I do know that you are supposed to add the salt gradually and replace the salt that you lose when you change the water. Let me see if I can find that thread for ya!

Nickie

Thanks for the link guys, I will have a read.

I found some SAXA sea salt, it contains the following-sea salt, anti-caking and an agent-sodium Hexacyanoferrate II. I dont think I can use that though, I will get some aquarium salt tomorrow as it is now 9.45pm here.

I found this, Spicy:

I should start the salt at .1% . How big is the tank?
That's one level teaspoon per gallon of water in the tank...dissolved very well first in tank water...repeat after 12 hours and then again after another 12 hours and only use rock non iodised-see salt thread)

This was for aquarium salt. From what the thread says, you should add one tsp per gal of water, then add another tsp 12 hrs later, then a last tsp 12 hrs after that. That should equal .3%.

Good luck to you!
Nickie

Yeah, I'd avoid anything with additives. I like API aquarium salt (made from evaporated sea water) it's in a blue and yellow carton, I think it used to be called "Dr wellfish" or something and was in a white and pink carton, anyhow you can get a 250-1000 gramish carton for between £2-7 (not sure what that is in Euros) If you get that brand, avoid the directions they give on the package as they're a bit over cautious for ick in goldfish IMO

I find API products very good, I will see what I can find tomorrow. It should be around 3-10€ by your guide. Thanks mrbumblebee

Should I take out the gravel, would it help speed things up? or would it stress noodles out enough to kill him?

Oh that's a difficult one....

Y'see on one hand Ick and gravel is a no-no, so yeah losing the gravel would be very good in terms of gettig rid of the ick... but on the other hand it may be holding some of your beneficial bacteria (did you say the tanks not filtered at the moment, right?) so in that case taking the gravel out may be problematic - although maybe not if you take out a but at a time..

Hmmm... it's difficult to advise, but I think personally I would start thinning the gravel out a little (and eventually removing over the next few days) and getting a filter in there (the remaining gravel will help seed a new filter) or alternatively could you seed the new filter media with existing filter media?

You have to weigh up the benefits of removing the gravel at this point (water quality, ease of cleaning, no where for icks to hide) against the the possible downside (stressing the fish, stirring up any hiding icks and anything else lurking around, crashing your water parameters)

I know it's a hard one, although it seems like a good idea, it could be a potentially dangerous one. I may thin out the gravel though to get things started, what about new filters and ich, can you use the filter again? Sorry about all the questions, my fish never had ich before. I could seed a new filter with media from my other tank, so that is no problem.

The air pump was creating to many bubbles and he tired himself out chasing them. I have turned it off for a while to give him a rest. There is nothing to control the flow as it is an old pump.

Yeah, I think that's what I'd do too - it will make dealing with ick easier to have less gravel. If you do remove gravel, do it slowly. Some people may hold off the filter for now and just go with heated water, 0.3% salt, lot's of water changes (same Ph, temp and already salted) and gravel vacs. Whilst I would probably do the above and add a filter - the salt will deal with ick that gets anywhere even the new filter media - the plus side would be a "transferred cycle" which although you'd need to watch for bumps would prevent ammonia spikes during salting allowing a more consistent level of salinity to be maintained. There's lot of ways of working towards the same outcome, it's up to you.



When you go to the store tomorrow - have a look for filter clamps, they are a small plastic screw clamp made by Algarde and very cheap, only about 30p - you just clip it onto the airline tubing and it will allow you to regulate the flow rate a little bit

Thanks guys for all your help, but sadly Noodles passed away last night. I am very upset, I will have a funeral in memory of him today. RIP Noodles, love ya always!

SpicyNoodle

Oh no.... I'm so very sorry You tried very hard to help him.

It had just got to the late stages and he was to weak to cope with anymore treatment. My local fish shop is a dump, they had no salt by API and no clamps, although the were good enough to give me one from a new pump for free. I think I shall stock up on stuff the next time I am in London, it is cheaper than here for most things.

Is it generally easy to treat ich, if I had treated him differently could he have been saved?

Not necessarily. Salt is a tried and tested, reliable remedy for Ich and for many of us is the first choice treatment. However, medications can sometimes work well too. No matter which method you use secondary problems and complications can occur and as you say, your fish was weakened. I think you did your very best to help him

Sorry again.

I am sorry to hear that Noodle did not make it! You tried your very best and that is all you can do! I will say a prayer for you and your little friend!