all my zebra danios are now deceased

[Torrean]

I think I was right in my earlier topic when I stated that I thought that there was a disease in the zebra tank because I bought 5 gold danios with them and they are all swimming happily. One of the plants in my tank has developed a strange white goo that my girlfriend describes as snot. Is this algae and should I be concerned. We got some more ghost shrimp and we haven't had any fatalities with them. Also I'm a little more than a little worried about this but they seem ok, Some of the rainbow sharks have light white spots on there backs. is this ick. I also stated earlier that my ammonia levels were zero but dundundun the test kit I was using was apparently outdated because when we bought a new test kit the ammonia was at .5. I am doing a cycle with fish because I bought the fish before I heard about fishless cycling so don't go all crazy like last time(I do appreciate the constructive criticism, it's just kinda hard to take the truth when it's your fault). I know I messed up but I have to deal with it. ammonia 1 nitrite 0 nitrate unknown still gotta get the kit ph 7.

 

[foty89]

Sounds like ick on the fish, not sure about the white stuff on the plant. Get a good quality ick treatment and use it according to label. Don't do anymore water changes while you are treating as you will take the medicine out of the tank. If you have carbon in your filter, take it out while treating. Many medication also recommend raising tank temperature, this speeds up the life cycle of the ick and helps to get rid of it faster. If you can find pure Malachite Green, get it, it works of several types of problems. Wal-Mart in my area carries it.

 

[Torrean]

removing carbon from filter and stopping water changes would be devestating in a cycling tank wouldn't it? Could I possibly medicat the new water before I add it when I am doing water changes

 

[pica_nuttalli]

that would be really nasty to stop water changes in the middle of the cycle, but you can manage with no carbon. just take the filter insert, cut it open and shake as much carbon out as you can manage. put the floss back and you should still have a fair amount of bacteria on it.

however, there have been several reports of sucessfully combating an ich infestation just by using salt and raising the water temp to about 85F. but you can't use salt with most scale-less fish and some types of catfish.

i can't remember exactly what you have in there at the moment, so if you could give a current stock list, we'd be better able to advise you. also, did you mention that you have a 10gal sitting around somewhere?

(just a suggestion, but you may want to start keeping a running list in your profile of what fish you have. its kinda fun and its an easy way to have a good sense of your stock levels.)

 

[Torrean]

thanks pica i'll do that. And yes I do have a ten gallon but it is not set up. I guess I should set that up as a quarantine tank. I'm impressed by your memory btw

 

[Torrean]

did it work?
nope

 

[pica_nuttalli]

actually, the way i'd handle it is separate all the fish that can't handle any salt into the 10g. they'll probably be in the minority anyways. treat the 10g with medicines, if necessary. but you'll definitely want to treat the main tank so that you don't have a secondary outbreak at a later time.
------EDIT------
ah, marvelous, a list!

these are the ones i suspect would need to go in the 10:
african dwarf frogs
common pleco
pictus catfish?
rainbow sharks?

 

[foty89]

You can continue with the water changes if you are very careful to measure how much you take out each time. Then when you add the new water, you add the amount of medication that was taken out with the water.

I have also heard many things about salt being used, but don't know how much to use. TFH just had a nice story on it this month.

As suggested above, I'd setup the ten gallon for the fish that can't take salt and treat with just the ick medicine, then treat the main tank with salt and medication and higher temp.

 

[Torrean]

ok just one more thing. THe ten gallon is gonna need to be completely set up isn't it. Because I have no hood no heater no gravel no filter no plants. Nothing but a glass box

edit: I think the rainbow sharks and the pictus should be able to handle the salt I'll look into it a little further. I didn't know common pleco didn't like salt i thought it was just scaleless fish. pleco has scales doesn't he?

 

[pica_nuttalli]

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=75651

you need a filter (sponges generally work well for quarantine), a heater since its ich, and some places to hide (small flower pots work well for this). other than that, a bare floor with no plants is best. bare floors are easy to clean and most medicines will do horrible things to your plants anyways.

once you're done, you'll want to install the sponge filter to your main tank. that way it will already have a bacterial culture in the eventuality you ever need it again.

 

[Torrean]

well that settle's the pleco and the pictus question doesn't it thanks for the link

 

[foty89]

For the ten, you need a heater, cover, and filter. Remember, this will only be a short use tank, 3 or 4 days. So do 25% water changes daily and it should be ok for that amount of time. Monitor the water carefully. You can also use some water from the other tank to get some bacteria.

 

[Torrean]

Yeah I was planning on using a little bit of gravel and (edit) almost 100% tank water from the 29 gal. Are you saying that I won't need a filter if I do the water changes or something else I'm a little confused. I think you're saying that in addition to the filter I will need to do water changes but that sounds a little extreme especially if I am going to be medicating the tank???

thanks I wouldn't have thought of using the filter from the ten in my 29 once I take down the 10. It isn't possible for the ich to stay in a filter is it.

edit: is there some kind of filter I can use that doesn't hang outside of the tank. the hood was made for the filter that came with it so I would have to cut it if I wanted to add another filter

another edit: will the salt in the 29 hurt the other fish when I put them back?

 

[foty89]

First question, you still will need a filter, without carbon in it, to screen out particulate matter.

Second question, even though you are using water from the 29, it is not fully cycled and you may get an ammonia spike. You can test often to see if this is occurring and than do water changes accordingly. If you do end up doing water changes, add the appropriate amount of medication to keep the tank in the therapeutic range.

Ick has a short lifespan, only a few days, the medication is designed to last longer than a complete lifespan to try to get all of it, it is advisable, and necessary in some cases to give more than one dose, in other words, keep the tank medicated for twice as long. It would be unlikely that any ick would still be alive in the filter after this.

There are several internal filter options, however you can just prop the cover up on top of an external filter for the short time you are going to be using the tank. Now, if you are going to keep it up as a hospital tank, you will want to more properly address the filter issue.

You have a partially stocked 29 gallon tank, so you could keep the ten up for that purpose. However, you can also profolactically treat the tank with a broad spectrum medication each time you get new fish and you should have a very good chance of being just fine.

Finding a good LFS that you can trust will also lessen the chance of illness. Be very wary of Wal-Mart and chain pet store fish.

As far as the salt goes, that is a question that I really can't answer completely. However, if you do a decent size water change, 25 to 40%, you will lower the salinity a lot and your fish probably would be fine.

 

[Torrean]

thanks i'm gonna copy paste that post right now. about switching the filters from the 10 to the 29 after the treatment what would be the best option considering I can't have another HOB filter