Ick

[Coop]

Trying to get someones advice/opinion. I really dont know much about fish illnesses at all. The other day when I cleaned my tank and exchanged the substrate, I had to pull all my fish out and put them in Buckets/Coolers. Well I also removed the holey rock as well and put them in with the fish. I had one fish that had gotten stuck in a hole within the rock. It took awhile, but I was able to assist him in getting out. Everything appeared fine until today when I got home and noticed he has a bunch white like stuff toward the tail fin and around the rear body. It almost looks like dead skin. I dont know if this is some sort of illness or if it could be from getting stuck in the rock. He is also hanging out in the corner by himself and at the top. My water has been testing perfect, therefore I will check it again tonight. I had a 1" rubberlip pleco die the day before yesterday. I was thinking that may have been because I replaced the gravel and cleaned the tank leaving him nothing to eat. He had never come around to eating algae wafers. All the other fish are active and have no spots or anything else wrong with them. Is this something I should worry about? Also could I have caused this by cleaning the tank, filter, and replacing the substrate. I used about 30% of the old water when doing this and I cleaned my filter with the water from the tank. I really didnt technically clean the filter, all I did was rinse the large things in the bottom with the old water and then replaced the filter material. Please help. I really dont want to lose anymore fish. Thanks.

[Coop]

Re: dead skin?

There has also been no new fish added to the aquarium in about 1 to 1 1/2 weeks.

[Jose]

Re: dead skin?

Sounds like ich. I havent had any problems with ich in a long time. Google aquarium fish ich and see if pictures match

[Coop]

Re: dead skin?

I looked up ick and it doesnt sound like that. The areas are larger than just a speck. The other fish seem to be fine with no spots. Should I go ahead and treat the tank for ick?

[Coop]

Re: Ick

I am going to treat for ick. On the instructions it says to remove the carbon from the filter. Is this really necessary, if so this will be a pain the rear. Does anyone know if this is something that may happen every so often or should i really expect to hardly ever see this again? Thanks all.

[Jose]

Re: Ick

Yes, with medication, you need to remove carbon. How long has your tank been running? Overcrowding can cause stress to the fish(causing you to be stressed,lol). Maybe some type of fungus?

[Coop]

Re: Ick

almost a full month since I have had it. I went ahead and started treatment for ick. I seen a few little white specks on a couple of fish, so I figured better safe than sorry. I think it is ick. I had another eheim 2215, so i just put the floss from the old and packed it with regular filter fabric and installed it and took the other off. Thanks again.

[Mzungu]

Re: Ick

From reading your posts, I can't determine whether or not you thought it was ich or you just treated for it. What product are you using? If it is ich, the fish will look as though they had salt or sugar sprinkled on them.

Since you basically cleaned everything, I would try to get your water tested again. Do you go to an LFS or do you have testing kits at home? You might experience a mini-cycle after cleaning everything out.

[Coop]

Re: Ick

well I believe it is ick. I had two other fish that looked to have had a light sprinkle of salt on them. So I figured I would just treat the whole tank. I also was reading that there is another parasite that forms clumps of whitish dead skin appearance like the one that initially caught my eye. I am using quICK cure. I also bought a bottle of bacteria today on my way home. So I figure after I treat the tank for another two days and the symptoms are gone, I would put my carbon filter back on for a day and then put the bottle bacteria in along with a treatment of stress coat and water change. Actually I will do the water change first and then add the bacteria after that. I did think at first that it may try to cycle all over again. This is why I went ahead and bought the bottle of bacteria. Thanks again all.

[MikeWhoTruong]

Re: Ick

your water parameters might be fine, but while cleaning your aquarium putting them into buckets causes temerature fluctuation, which can lead to many times of illneses. what i do to prevent that is that i clean my aquarium with the fish in it, but to prevent them from being overwelmed by debris, i would vacumm my gravel first then move or reaarange anything else. that way there is very little debris getting into open water...hope this helps

[Mzungu]

Re: Ick

That's very true. If one of them had something, ich for instance, the rest could have been resisting it until they became a little stressed, and that's when they're more susceptable. Though, Mike, I don't think he could have kept the fish in the tank because he was changing out the gravel? But for cleaning, yes, I keep mine in there as well. You might want to wait a little bit longer after the symptoms are not visible, because depending on the temp of your tank and such, the ich might just be in a different stage of its life: not gone, just not visibly affecting your fish.

[Coop]

Re: Ick

should I keep treating the tank even after the symptoms are gone? they still look to have it as of this morning. how long does it normally take to get rid of this stuff. The bottle said two days, but that is today. Also, my water turns a little blueish when i first put the stuff in, but by the next morning it goes back to being clear. should it stay blue all the time. I am adding the amount that the bottle says too, or should i maybe get a different type of treatment?

[Mzungu]

Re: Ick

There is a good little discussion that we had on this forum a few weeks ago, in the Diseases and Disasters forum, I think it's entitled "Curing Ick...what's your best method?" Or something similar. It will give you a sense of the lifespan of ich. They talk about Quick Cure, as well.

I wouldn't get a different type of treatment, not yet. Too many meds can be just as bad as none at all.

[Coop]

Re: Ick

Well this has to be the worst luck of all. I had the elec blue that passed today. I also lost a small rubberlip pleco a few days ago. I have a few fish that have cloudy eye and it appears as if it isnt going away, and to top it off I have a fish that has a bad case of a reddish whitish stuff around his mouth, his fins near his body are starting to break out in a redish (bloody like) rash. I think a few others are starting the mouth thing. I am getting a 10 gal setup from walmart tomorrow to use as a hospital tank for the ones with the mouth problem. Anyone know what that may be? Also after I add the quick cure, the tank seems to be clear again within the hour. Should I turn the filter off for awhile or is this normal? I am also noticing that I have one fish that has no symptoms once so ever, but all the fish in the tank are bullying him into the upper corner. I have no idea what that is about. This is starting to turn out extremely unpleasant.

[Jose]

Re: Ick

Maybe you know people with established hospital tanks? So you can use them