Can't Beat The Ich

[lots_to_learn]

My tank has had ich now since the 12th!!! I have been medicating with Quick Cure ever since and a 1/3 water change every 4 days and the temperature is increased to 82 F. I also removed the activated carbon from the filter. Water perams are in normal range and remain consistant and are as follows:

Nitrite - 0 ppm
Ammonia - 0-0.25 ppm
Nitrate - 0-5 ppm
not sure how to read pH: using the High range pH solution is looks clearly 7.4, but using the regular pH solution is looks clearly (blue) for 7.6...not much of a difference but it still leaves me a bit confused.

Anyway, fish bloomed with ich after obtaining a few female plattys from an LFS (to stop my males from fighting each other constantly) and one was very sick and didn't last till morning. I exchanged her with a healthy one and two days later ich rampid! I started treating and was getting on the upper end of it, and still am, but the ich is still not gone. There are still white spots on some of the fish and I think one of them is getting worse. The fish do not appear stressed. Their color is bright, they are swimming activily, not breathing hard, and rush to the front top of the tank every time I come near or open the lid. They have been rubbing themselves on hard objects but this seems much less often now.

But one of the female plattys though has seemed worse off then the rest. She does not have any white spots but it looks like her slime coat has gotten disrupted since along her "back" looks almost whitish and pale but doesn't look like anything is on her like parasites or fungus. I've noticed her rubbing on objects and hiding with her fins held close. She does become very active when I feed her. I have obtained a 10 gallon tank already established and have her in there for quarentine since she seems different from the rest of them. I am also treating her with Quick Cure thinking maybe the ich isn't visible yet?? She has been in there for about 6 days and little improvement but she isn't getting worse. Water perams are also normal.

Why is the ich not gone yet and what could be going on with the quarentined female platty?

 

[bristlenoseitplecoman]

perhaps she could have fish lice. It is microscopic so you can't see it but it makes the fish itch on decorations like crazy.

 

[lots_to_learn]

perhaps she could have fish lice. It is microscopic so you can't see it but it makes the fish itch on decorations like crazy.

I have thought about that but doesn't quick cure help lice?

 

[bristlenoseitplecoman]

I don't know. maybe it does but you should get a disease guide pamphlet from petsmart. It always helps me diagnose diseases.

 

[lots_to_learn]

I don't know. maybe it does but you should get a disease guide pamphlet from petsmart. It always helps me diagnose diseases.

I didn't know that had something like that. Shall do! I usually search online for my diagnosis ideas and suggested meds. Thanks.

 

[bristlenoseitplecoman]

your welcome.

 

[This Old Spouse]

My tank has had ich now since the 12th!!! I have been medicating with Quick Cure ever since and a 1/3 water change every 4 days and the temperature is increased to 82 F. I also removed the activated carbon from the filter. Water perams are in normal range and remain consistant and are as follows:

Nitrite - 0 ppm
Ammonia - 0-0.25 ppm
Nitrate - 0-5 ppm
not sure how to read pH: using the High range pH solution is looks clearly 7.4, but using the regular pH solution is looks clearly (blue) for 7.6...not much of a difference but it still leaves me a bit confused.

First: Don't use carbon in your filters at all, until you're done medicating and want to remove any residue. For all other times it just doesn't do any good.

Second: Your ammonia levels are too high. Anything above zero is poison to your fish.

Since your course of treatment clearly isn't working, start doing an 80% water change every day for the next several days until your stats read 0 for both ammonia and nitrite.

Do you have live plants in the tank?

How big is the tank?

How long has it been set up?

Was it cycled before you added fish?

Answering all these questions will help us help you.

 

[lots_to_learn]

First: Don't use carbon in your filters at all, until you're done medicating and want to remove any residue. For all other times it just doesn't do any good.

Second: Your ammonia levels are too high. Anything above zero is poison to your fish.

Since your course of treatment clearly isn't working, start doing an 80% water change every day for the next several days until your stats read 0 for both ammonia and nitrite.

Do you have live plants in the tank?

How big is the tank?

How long has it been set up?

Was it cycled before you added fish?

Answering all these questions will help us help you.

I was mistaken when I said ammonia was 0-.25 ppm....seems I didn't let the test sit long enough before reading it or the tube wasn't clean. I took another test to be sure and it's zero. Nitrite is also zero. This is usually the case when I test.

I have two live plants in the tank, I have moneywort and I believe a rose sword (can't remember the actual type of sword). I have a picture

Tank is a 55 gallon and not overpopulated.

Has been cycled since February using filter and substrait from another tank, then swapped substrate and filter type without causing a cycle. I have never had a spike in any perams. At water changes I use Water Declorinator to remove heavy metals from the water. (My water does not contain clorine but is hard and contains calcium - evident by calcium deposits that build up on my plumming fixures).

 

[This Old Spouse]

I guess this is a good testimonial for quarantining your fish when bringing them home from the LFS.

It sure seems that you're doing everything right. So again, I'd suggest you start doing massive water changes for several days. Keep the temp up to speed the cycle of the little buggers.

For the record, I don't quarantine mine either, and I know I should start, just for this reason!

 

[lots_to_learn]

For the record, I don't quarantine mine either, and I know I should start, just for this reason!

This is precisely why I picked up a used tank from someone on craigslist. I felt totally helpless with the equisition of the sick fish. I wanted to pull it right back out straight away and plop it in a bucket with an airstone or something but I didn't have anything to make that possible and I live almost an hour away from the LFS this fish are from. I actually scored two tanks from craigslist super cheap. I got the 10 gallon (advertised as a 5 gallon) that had a goldfish in it plus a 30 gallon that was advertised as a 15 gallon. The ten gallon is meant as my hospital/new fish tank and the 30 gallon will be for holding future platty and molly babies as they are birthed because I don't want the babies overcrowding the 55 gallon. The 30 gallon is now housing the commet goldfish who is nearly 6 inches long and soon will be a new addition to my mom's fish pond.

Anyway, I'm totally frustrated about this ich problem. I have never had a problem in passed tanks getting rid of ich in a matter of days. (This was when I worked at a small pet store in high school).

Would I continue medicating the tank with the quick cure after each water change? Like..do a large water change, then add medicine, then next day water change and more meds?

Not going to do anything until I get more opinions or insights and maybe someone agreeing to avoid doing anything rash since I'm not having a die off...they just aren't getting much better.

 

[This Old Spouse]

For the record, I don't quarantine mine either, and I know I should start, just for this reason!

Would I continue medicating the tank with the quick cure after each water change? Like..do a large water change, then add medicine, then next day water change and more meds?

It's what I would do. But you might want to wait for more opinions.

 

[lots_to_learn]

okay, looks like I finally have the ich taken care of. I did an 80% water change and added super ich cure this time thinking maybe a change in meds will make the difference. I saw almost an instant affect but now it seems I have extra problems. I think they have developed a secondary infection or fungus. My neons are the most affected. I have lost 5 of them already. The symptons are heavy breathing, like they are opening their mouths wide and taking big breaths but not rapid. They look like they are being eaten away by something and some signs of fuzziness on their bodies. Their fins rotting away and one neon has a clamped tail fin were it makes a very prominant v notch into the center. Their bodies seems to look "skinny/ribby" and between their dorsal and tail fins seems bent and very small in proportion to their body. Each one that has died got to the point of looking totally degenerate, fuzzy, eaten away, and fins all ragid just before they died. I'm now down to 4! I only have the one platty that is not looking good, she still has the fuzzy patch on her back and top of head and one area of it that is raised up like it's growing taller. The other fish are only presenting with mild signs of stress, rubbing on objects, and some hanging near the heater and holding their fins close to their body.

Stats are still normal. I wanted to wait for the super ich cure to run it's course in the tank and I did another large water change 55% and I've added Fungus Clear today hoping I can help them!

 

[lots_to_learn]

OMG, To make my matters worse, one of the females is having babies and I don't know who! I think it's platy because it's so small but I'm not entirely sure. I found babies in the tank a couple of days ago (2). I saw one hanging out in some loose money wort at the top of the tank and I scooped it out and put it into it's own tank. Then I began looking exstensively around the rest of the tank and just as I was about to give up I found another. Unfortunately it got eaten while running/swimming away from the fish net :"(

Anyway, I just found another tiny fry that looks just like the other two I found! They are nearly solid white with a hint of black on the end of their tail or on the tail fin. Fry are so small it's hard to tell exact location and it looks like a little black spec. My females are colors:

Two red platty and 1 mostly white dalmation platty
Solid white molly, and highly spotted dalmation lyretail molly.

I suspect the dalmation platty but the only fish in the tank that looks pregnant is the dalmation molly so I'm at a loss!!