my fish is sick......

[K-TRAIN]

well, i moved my goldfish into the 30 gallon tank i got with it, and he/she has been doing great. up until a few days ago when i noticed little white specks on it.

i was talking to someone about them and they said it was "ich"?
how can i get rid of it? is there some kind of remedy i can buy at a pet store or make myself? and what caused it?

i was working with three different fishtanks and bought new fish around the time i noticed the ich. could it have come from another fish? i bought snails and a pleco from petco, (i know i shouldnt really take there advice) but the person in the fish department suggested i buy a pleco or snails to help get rid of algae, so i bought a pleco and snails. could one of them cause it? and while thats mentioned the pleco died two days after i bought it. could the goldfish stress it out or something? i know when i put it in it would stay attached to the corner and thats it.

 

[bluegootty]

just raise the temp..in ur tank to 80 or high 80..the ich will disapper..dont use the medication for ich..because ,mostlikely the medication will kill off some off ur fish and definitely ur snail too.. so , all u got to do is raise the temp..trust me ..

 

[Mushroom Spore]

You're buying animals from petco, they're pretty much guaranteed to be sick before you even bring them home, sorry to say. If you know you shouldn't take their advice, why did you take it? You need to find a small shop specializing in fish, both for better advice and for healthier animals that won't turn out disease-ridden the second you get them home when they've already made the rest of your tank sick.

Second, take the pleco back. You probably have a common pleco, which WILL end up at least a foot long and require a 50+ gallon tank. They also produce tons of waste (which is a terrible combination with goldfish that also produce tons of waste for their size), and they have a habit of sucking on tankmates and causing their deaths.

(EDIT: Wow I'm tired, I didn't even see that the pleco died. It probably died from being a PetCo fish, and there's definitely no telling what disease or parasites it may have left behind in the water.)

What are your water parameters? Temps, ammonia levels, all that good stuff. Did you cycle the tank first?

just raise the temp..in ur tank to 80 or high 80..the ich will disapper

Except that goldfish are cold-water fish and sudden temperature fluctuations are bad news.

 

[aracnochicken]

Bluegooty's right about raising the temp . You can try meds from the pet store but I've never had any luck with them , most of them are worthless . i doubt it was from the snails more then likely from the Pleco . When you put the Pleco in how did you aclimate it to get it used to the new tank ? A slow drip is pretty much the best way .
When ever I buy a new fish ,for my salt water or my fresh I put them in a quarantine tank for at least a week , minimum. all you need is a 10 gallon tank or so , a hang on filter and a light , nothing special .

 

[aracnochicken]

Mushroom Spore your right about goldfish being cold water fish but they can live in any temp. water . I have a 250 gallon pond they goes over 90 in the summer and my fish seem just fine with it . One of us probably should have mentioned this one little tid bit of info though .....don't raise the temp in one felt swoop !!!! That WILL kill everything in the tank . Raise it a few degrees over a couple days . I wouldn't let it go any higher then 85 MAX though .
I've had fresh water fish for over 30 years and salt water for over 15 and thats the only thing I do when they get Ick to cure them .

 

[K-TRAIN]

You're buying animals from petco, they're pretty much guaranteed to be sick before you even bring them home, sorry to say. If you know you shouldn't take their advice, why did you take it? You need to find a small shop specializing in fish, both for better advice and for healthier animals that won't turn out disease-ridden the second you get them home when they've already made the rest of your tank sick.

Second, take the pleco back. You probably have a common pleco, which WILL end up at least a foot long and require a 50+ gallon tank. They also produce tons of waste (which is a terrible combination with goldfish that also produce tons of waste for their size), and they have a habit of sucking on tankmates and causing their deaths.

(EDIT: Wow I'm tired, I didn't even see that the pleco died. It probably died from being a PetCo fish, and there's definitely no telling what disease or parasites it may have left behind in the water.)

What are your water parameters? Temps, ammonia levels, all that good stuff. Did you cycle the tank first?



Except that goldfish are cold-water fish and sudden temperature fluctuations are bad news.

i am taking the pleco back, and yes i do know not to take petcos advice, but im in a area of PA that really doesnt have many good stores. most advice i get is from the boards or my teachers who raise animals in my school. plus at the time of purchase i really needed something to take the algae out of the tank. it built up so much so fast i couldnt see through most of the tank.

i hate to say this, but what exactly do you mean by "cycle the tank."?
and ammonia levels stay down because i get water changed once a week, so i really havent done any tests for it. the strips i use dont include a ammonia test. (im currently looking for a test set that includes it. i use one in my school that you just put drops into the water sample and it tells you a more accurate level.)
its fairly soft water with 0 nitrates and nitrites, and i dont remember the rest offhand.
the temps stay pretty much in the room temperature level. (about 70 degrees)

Bluegooty's right about raising the temp . You can try meds from the pet store but I've never had any luck with them , most of them are worthless . i doubt it was from the snails more then likely from the Pleco . When you put the Pleco in how did you aclimate it to get it used to the new tank ? A slow drip is pretty much the best way .
When ever I buy a new fish ,for my salt water or my fresh I put them in a quarantine tank for at least a week , minimum. all you need is a 10 gallon tank or so , a hang on filter and a light , nothing special .

i acclimated the pleco in the only way possible. the tank is on the bottom of my reptile shelving unit so theres no much space to work. i simply put the bag it was in, in the water then let the temps equalize. then i opened up the bag and mixed alittle tank water with the water in the bag and let it sit for awhile.
then i put the fish in the tank. i did the same with the snails.

 

[verry_sweet]

If there aren’t any other fish in the tank wouldn’t a salt treatment work also?

 

[OldHag]

If there aren’t any other fish in the tank wouldn’t a salt treatment work also?

I was thinking the same thing. I always put salt in with goldfish. Works wonders on ick

 

[K-TRAIN]

ok... so i decided to turn up the heat in the tank. i put the heater back in and turned it on, and in a half hour i'll check the tank to see how fast its heating up.
i plan on turning it on and off for a few days so it gradually increases temperatures.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

plus at the time of purchase i really needed something to take the algae out of the tank. it built up so much so fast i couldnt see through most of the tank.

If the algae is that bad, the answer is not to add more animals in the hopes that they'll eat it, but to fix whatever is clearly wrong that's causing that problem in the first place. I can't tell you exactly what that cause is in your case, but some Googling on "causes of algae" or something should give you some options to check out.

i hate to say this, but what exactly do you mean by "cycle the tank."?

It has to do with how you set up your tank in the first place. If you just add water and fish, the beneficial bacteria that helps break down the ammonia (poison) produced by the fish's waste won't be properly set up, and so your water chemistry will go all over the place and sicken or kill the fish in that tank.

http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin-cycling.html

Test kits are a good start, but you've got to get on that ammonia testing just to be sure.

aracnochicken: 90 degrees in the WATER? Wow. I've always read that the highest "optimal" water temperature is lilke 68-75 (different sources vary). That's some tough fish.

i plan on turning it on and off for a few days so it gradually increases temperatures.

I would think this would just cause rapid temperature fluctuations, which isn't going to be good. Although I'm not sure how you WOULD slowly raise temps, now that I think about it. Are there fish heaters with thermostats? I haven't researched that part yet.

 

[K-TRAIN]

If the algae is that bad, the answer is not to add more animals in the hopes that they'll eat it, but to fix whatever is clearly wrong that's causing that problem in the first place. I can't tell you exactly what that cause is in your case, but some Googling on "causes of algae" or something should give you some options to check out.



It has to do with how you set up your tank in the first place. If you just add water and fish, the beneficial bacteria that helps break down the ammonia (poison) produced by the fish's waste won't be properly set up, and so your water chemistry will go all over the place and sicken or kill the fish in that tank.

http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin-cycling.html

Test kits are a good start, but you've got to get on that ammonia testing just to be sure.

aracnochicken: 90 degrees in the WATER? Wow. I've always read that the highest "optimal" water temperature is lilke 68-75 (different sources vary). That's some tough fish.



I would think this would just cause rapid temperature fluctuations, which isn't going to be good. Although I'm not sure how you WOULD slowly raise temps, now that I think about it. Are there fish heaters with thermostats? I haven't researched that part yet.

ok... well i did add this stuff thats supposed to add bacteria a few days ago. (stress somethin or other i forget the name.) and the tests im looking for are supposed to be one of the better ones. (i use them with a tank of trout in my school and i have gotten accurate results every time.)

and i believe there are fish heaters that are thermostat controlled but thats not what im using. im using a standard heater for a 30 gallon aquarium, turned on and off every half hour, until it slowly raises to 85-87 degrees. (half hour for now because i dont know how much the temps will increase in a short amount of time)

 

[Mushroom Spore]

ok... well i did add this stuff thats supposed to add bacteria a few days ago. (stress somethin or other i forget the name.)

Stress Coat? That doesn't do anything to bacteria, it's just a helpful boost to the natural slime coats of fish, and I think it removes chlorine.

Actual bacteria requires a very specific product like Biospira. And it MUST be refrigerated! Any brand that's stored on the shelf is dead bacteria and won't do anything - we had a thread a month or two ago where somebody got sold dead bacteria by the store to cycle their tank with, and everything died.

If you buy some biospira and follow the instructions, your tank will be properly cycled pretty much right away. The newer the tank, the more sure you need to be that the cycle is set up right. A tank with live fish in it will EVENTUALLY cycle on its own depending on other conditions, but it puts the fish through heck in the meantime.

im using a standard heater for a 30 gallon aquarium, turned on and off every half hour, until it slowly raises to 85-87 degrees. (half hour for now because i dont know how much the temps will increase in a short amount of time)

Right. What I was worrying about, though, is that this may just cause a seesaw effect...sudden heat, sudden lack of heat and temp dropping, sudden heat, etc. Unless someone can confirm that this isn't the case, you probably shouldn't risk using your method yet - if I am right, it could kill the fish.

 

[K-TRAIN]

Stress Coat? That doesn't do anything to bacteria, it's just a helpful boost to the natural slime coats of fish, and I think it removes chlorine.

Actual bacteria requires a very specific product like Biospira. And it MUST be refrigerated! Any brand that's stored on the shelf is dead bacteria and won't do anything - we had a thread a month or two ago where somebody got sold dead bacteria by the store to cycle their tank with, and everything died.

If you buy some biospira and follow the instructions, your tank will be properly cycled pretty much right away. The newer the tank, the more sure you need to be that the cycle is set up right. A tank with live fish in it will EVENTUALLY cycle on its own depending on other conditions, but it puts the fish through heck in the meantime.



Right. What I was worrying about, though, is that this may just cause a seesaw effect...sudden heat, sudden lack of heat and temp dropping, sudden heat, etc. Unless someone can confirm that this isn't the case, you probably shouldn't risk using your method yet - if I am right, it could kill the fish.

its not called stress coat though. i think its called stress zyme. is that the same thing?

so should i try salt instead?

 

[aracnochicken]

As for using the salt , thats entirely up to you if you want to use it or not . The easiest way to get beneficial bacteria is to get a little gravel from an established tank . They'll multibly in no time at all . Depending on the type of heater you have some have a little light inside that turns on as you turn the heater up/on , if thats the kind you have just turn it up a little at a time when the light turns itself off , that'll mean that the tanks at that temp . if you don't have that kind the only thing you could really do is turn it up a little at a time and keep an eye on the thermostat .

If your getting THAT much algea then theres a few problems .
1 your feeding your fish to much
2 your light cycle is to long , only keep them on about 6-8 hours a day . one way you can kill the algea is to cut back on how much you feed them and turn the lights off completely for 3 to 5 days . your fish will find food even in the dark .Turning the lights off works most of the time but not 100% of the time
3 you need a better filter

The best kind of kit for testing your water are "test strips" . I use them for my saltwater tank but they'll also work for fresh as well , personaly I think they are more accurate then using the kind that you have to put drops in .

 

[aracnochicken]

One more thing I forgot to add , do more water changes . you should be changing 10-20% of your water every 2 weeks .

 

[K-TRAIN]

oh, ok. so i should be doing 10-20%? i always thought it was 10%

guess i still need to learn more.

 

[aracnochicken]

it doesn't HAVE to be 10% it can be 15 20 what ever you want but I really wouldn't do more then 30% , you could send your fish into shock if the water chem. is to much different . I have a 150 gallon saltwater reeftank and I try to do 20%-25% or roughly 30 gallons every 2 weeks and i have a 120 gallon fresh water tank that i try to do 20 gallons or about 10% (its the wifes tank, all she ever does is feed them). Water changes are one of the best things you can do for your tank , it gets rid of a lot of diluted waste in the water .

 

[Nich]

Funny, I ran the aquatic and reptile department at the local deathco about 3 years ago. On a rare beat youll find a knowledgeable one among the zombies...
I would just scrap the tank and start over personally. With what you have in there the treatment for ich would cost you to see it through.
The dynamics of aquaria are literally and metaphorically fluid...one issue can result in a chain reaction resulting in an outbreak of algae, disease, or other physicall ramification. People generally try to treat the visible issues rather than the underlying causes as they dont under stand the basics.

http://www.fishforums.com/forum/

If you had ich and you recycle the tank, the "cysts" can live and reinfect your new fish. I would empty the tank and wash EVERYTHING with a diluted bleach, dechlornate it, then recycle.

 

[Ewok]

haha I take it people don't like petco. Those poor zombies, just trying to make an honest paycheck haha

 

[K-TRAIN]

ok, so i managed to clean the algae and kill some. (used a aquarium cleaner magnet and cut off the lights for 3 days)

and when i could see inside again the fish seems to be worse. (it just swam around, and when i touched him/her while taking out the plants and rocks it just stayed in the same spot not moving. its gotten alot more white spots on its body as well, to the point it looks like its shedding.)

i added four more snails to try keeping the algae somewhat in check.

does anyone have any advice they could give me about how to save this fish?
i put the temps up to about 80 in the hopes of getting rid of the ich. it doesnt seem to work though.