Bubbles on Fish, 4 dead

[JuiceBox52]

I finished a 90% water change and extensive gravel clean this morning! The temperature is at a steady 86 degrees and they seem to be a lot happier.

I dechlorinated the water and adjusted it’s temperature before I added back in. And I’ll start cleaning the gravel everyday for 5 days. I also cleaned the filter and put the extra tank water on the garden.

I don’t see any white spots on them anymore but their fins seem to be like deteriorated or something, some are having a hard time swimming because of it.

Would it be ok to leave the ornaments and fake plants outside of the tank while I’m doing the gravel thing for 5 days?

Post pics of the fins it could be something serious

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I agree. We need to see pictures.

 

[LexiLex888]

Post pics of the fins it could be something serious

I don’t have many left, most of them have already died. Is this something different than white spot or is it a side affect?

 

[JuiceBox52]

View attachment 102641View attachment 102642
I don’t have many left, most of them have already died. Is this something different than white spot or is it a side affect?

Something different. Do another 75% water change

 

[FishGuest5123]

I think it’s due to stress from the ich. If you are doing daily water changes, then you don’t need to do another one today. That will just stress them out more. Continue daily water changes and heat treatment for 2 weeks. It should all clear up.

 

[Colin_T]

Would it be ok to leave the ornaments and fake plants outside of the tank while I’m doing the gravel thing for 5 days?

Yes it's fine to leave the ornaments out for a week.

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I don’t have many left, most of them have already died. Is this something different than white spot or is it a side affect?

It's a side effect of the whitespot and happens if it is an extreme case of whitespot.

The fish will also have scar tissue on their gills, which will make it harder for them to breath so make sure there is lots of aeration/ surface turbulence.

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There are fewer spots on the fish now because the parasite has moved into the next phase of its lifecycle. The white spots have dropped off the fish and are sitting in the substrate. The parasites inside the whitespot cysts are multiplying and in 24-48 hours the cysts will open and release thousands of new parasites. As long as the water is 30C (86F), the parasites will die when the cysts open and they start swimming around.

Keep doing 90% daily water changes and gravel clean the substrate for the 5 days. This will reduce the number of whitespot cysts in the gravel and free swimming parasites in the water.

Fingers crossed the remaining fish survive.

In future if fish ever get sick or look unwell, post pictures and ask for help asap. The sooner you start treatment, the more chance of survival.

 

[Aussie_Bristle]

Yes it's fine to leave the ornaments out for a week.

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It's a side effect of the whitespot and happens if it is an extreme case of whitespot.

The fish will also have scar tissue on their gills, which will make it harder for them to breath so make sure there is lots of aeration/ surface turbulence.

-----------------
There are fewer spots on the fish now because the parasite has moved into the next phase of its lifecycle. The white spots have dropped off the fish and are sitting in the substrate. The parasites inside the whitespot cysts are multiplying and in 24-48 hours the cysts will open and release thousands of new parasites. As long as the water is 30C (86F), the parasites will die when the cysts open and they start swimming around.

Keep doing 90% daily water changes and gravel clean the substrate for the 5 days. This will reduce the number of whitespot cysts in the gravel and free swimming parasites in the water.

Fingers crossed the remaining fish survive.

In future if fish ever get sick or look unwell, post pictures and ask for help asap. The sooner you start treatment, the more chance of survival.

Colin she has Bristlenoses and cory’s in there too. Will this affect them?

 

[LexiLex888]

Yes it's fine to leave the ornaments out for a week.

-----------------

It's a side effect of the whitespot and happens if it is an extreme case of whitespot.

The fish will also have scar tissue on their gills, which will make it harder for them to breath so make sure there is lots of aeration/ surface turbulence.

-----------------
There are fewer spots on the fish now because the parasite has moved into the next phase of its lifecycle. The white spots have dropped off the fish and are sitting in the substrate. The parasites inside the whitespot cysts are multiplying and in 24-48 hours the cysts will open and release thousands of new parasites. As long as the water is 30C (86F), the parasites will die when the cysts open and they start swimming around.

Keep doing 90% daily water changes and gravel clean the substrate for the 5 days. This will reduce the number of whitespot cysts in the gravel and free swimming parasites in the water.

Fingers crossed the remaining fish survive.

In future if fish ever get sick or look unwell, post pictures and ask for help asap. The sooner you start treatment, the more chance of survival.

Alright, sounds good. I’ll keep doing the water changes and gravel cleaning.

Will do! I had no idea a website like this existed, I’m so glad I was able to get help on this.

 

[LexiLex888]

Are those spots on my bristlenose pleco the white spot? Or is it just his patterns?

He’s the only fish in the tank that i can visibly see these spots on. If I start this cleaning process when the white spots haven’t even fallen off of him, would I still be able to completely clean all the disease out of the tank?

Also, my tank thermometer on the side says that it’s at 84 right now. I think it’s because the thermometer is pretty far away from the heater, on the bottom left side of the tank. The heater is at the top middle. Is that a problem of the tank isn’t exactly 86 through the entire tank? Is there anything I can do to make it 86?

 

[Aussie_Bristle]

Oh geezz poor little blossy is riddled with it, definitely the markings hun. I will leave this with Colin

 

[Colin_T]

If you have catfish then put some plants or ornaments in for them to hide in. Alternatively, turn the tank light off so it's not as bright for the fish.

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The bristlenose is covered in whitespot.

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You need to get the water to 86F, if you have water movement in the tank from the filter, the entire tank should be the same temperature.

If you the heater won't go any higher, put a cover on the tank and insulate the back and sides of the tank with polystyrene foam or a towel or blanket. Make sure it can't get wet.

Close the windows and door to the room the tank is in and try to keep the room warmer so the heater doesn't have to work as hard.

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You do the gravel clean and water change each day to remove any whitespot parasites that have fallen off the fish. You do this for 5 days so you get rid of most of the parasites in the tank. This buys the fish a bit of time while the heat kills the parasites.

Normally if the whitespot had only just started, I would say do 1 big water change at the start, but because this has been going on for a couple of weeks, you need to do the daily water changes and gravel cleans for 5 days to compensate for the fact there are so many whitespot parasites on the fish and in the tank.

Each day more spots will fall off the fish and you will hopefully remove most of these when you do the gravel clean. This leaves fewer parasites to hatch out in the tank and potentially reinfect the fish.

 

[LexiLex888]

If you have catfish then put some plants or ornaments in for them to hide in. Alternatively, turn the tank light off so it's not as bright for the fish.

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The bristlenose is covered in whitespot.

----------------
You need to get the water to 86F, if you have water movement in the tank from the filter, the entire tank should be the same temperature.

If you the heater won't go any higher, put a cover on the tank and insulate the back and sides of the tank with polystyrene foam or a towel or blanket. Make sure it can't get wet.

Close the windows and door to the room the tank is in and try to keep the room warmer so the heater doesn't have to work as hard.

---------------
You do the gravel clean and water change each day to remove any whitespot parasites that have fallen off the fish. You do this for 5 days so you get rid of most of the parasites in the tank. This buys the fish a bit of time while the heat kills the parasites.

Normally if the whitespot had only just started, I would say do 1 big water change at the start, but because this has been going on for a couple of weeks, you need to do the daily water changes and gravel cleans for 5 days to compensate for the fact there are so many whitespot parasites on the fish and in the tank.

Each day more spots will fall off the fish and you will hopefully remove most of these when you do the gravel clean. This leaves fewer parasites to hatch out in the tank and potentially reinfect the fish.

I’ll add back my two ornaments so they can have areas to hide.

Oh jeez ok, I’ll wrap the tank in blankets and cover it right now. The heater only goes up to 88, should I set it to 88?

The tank is in our entry way, which is real frustrating cause it’s the coldest area of our house, but I’ll close the windows and wrap the tank to make sure that it’s at 86.

 

[LexiLex888]

I just checked the temperature again and it’s at 82 now. I’ll insulate it and check the temperature in the morning. If the temperature doesn’t change, is there anything else i can do?

 

[Colin_T]

Move the tank to a different area where it's warmer.
Heat the house a bit to reduce the stress on the heater.
Buy a higher wattage heater.

Set the heater on 88F and see if it gets the water closer to 86F. Do this when you are home and can monitor it for a few hours just in case it fries.

If that fails you can either use chemicals like copper or malachite green. Copper is safer unless you have shrimp in the tank. If you have shrimp do not use copper because it will kill them.
Malachite Green is carcinogenic (causes cancer) so be careful if you use that.

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The final option is to move the fish into a new container with clean water every day for 2 weeks. Basically you set up a couple of plastic storage containers with clean dechlorinated water in. You put a couple of plastic plants and add an airstone and heater (no filter).

You put the fish in this container for 24 hours and then move them into another container of clean water. You tip the first container out on the lawn and wash and bleach the container and everything that was in it. Then rinse and dry it out. You also need a couple of nets to move the fish with and the nets need cleaning after each use.

You move the fish into a clean container of water every 24 hours. The white spot parasites drop off the fish and sit on the bottom of the container. The fish lose some of the parasites each day and after 4 or 5 days, they are normally free of the parasites because all the whitespot cysts have fallen off them and been washed out of the containers.

When you use this method you have the heater set on about 26C (79F).

The main tank where the fish came out of is left to run and the parasites die off after a few days without a fish host.

 

[Aussie_Bristle]

Good luck hun