Hello everyone,
I just wanted to update everyone on the original thread I posted and also share my experience, as I think it’s pretty interesting and worth doing so.
First, I’d like to thank everyone who contributed to my thread and helped answer my questions. I really appreciate the insight and advice based on your experiences.
I initially posted on this forum to hear thoughts about possible cottonmouth and was quickly determined to be Ich.
The initial recommendations and advice were heavily focused around “medicating“ the fish and the tank. After reading a number of responses, and looking into the reasonings and chemicals suggested, I did eventually end up buying ParaGuard. ParaGuard seemed like the “gentle” medicating option and the least poisonous compared to the other traditional routes, although it was still contained the traditional poisonous compounds such as formaldehyde.
Continuing my investigation, I did come across quite a number of different “Natural” Aquarists and was introduced to the concept of treating the situation with heat and avoiding any poison. When I approached that idea here though it seems pretty aggressively met with skepticism. However after doing a lot of digging and research, I landed on a two headed approach and I removed what were visibly the sick fish, and left my main tank intact and in”medicated”. The sick fish were primarily the rainbow fish, as well as a blue ram, and those aware out in a 10G hospital tank that was treated with ParaGard over the last seven days. However, after removing what we’re visibly the sick fish, I still saw a couple white spots up here in the main tank, primarily on a pleco and that blue ram I mentioned before which was initially left in the main tank prior to moving it to the hospital. Upon discovery, I raised the temperature in my main tank to 87° and left it there for approximately six days. Simultaneously in the hospital tank I began treating with ParaGuard and also raised the temperature to 87°.
Currently as of writing this post, seven days after the initial steps were taken to address the situation, I have not had a single fish die and visually it appears that all of the fish are now healthy and free of any diseases in both the hospital and the main tank.
I make this post to say that while I do appreciate everyone’s feedback, I also want to note that there seems to be an inclination to pour toxic and dangerous chemicals into the aquarium to treat sick fish. And while I understand that inclination, the much more natural and non-poisonous approach seems to have treated my fish and I didn’t have to kill my plants or damage my hard earned nutrient-and-microorganism-rich substrate.
I’d love to discuss the pros and cons of more holistic approaches versus more pharmaceutical approaches to treating sick fish with the group. Both have their rightful place and serve their roles, but I’d love to discuss my experience with some of the other more experienced Aquarists on this forum for the sake of the discussion.
Again, thanks to everyone who took some time out to try and answer my questions and provided me options and how to address the situation. I hope everyone had a great week and I look forward to the continued discussions and being a part of this forum.
I just wanted to update everyone on the original thread I posted and also share my experience, as I think it’s pretty interesting and worth doing so.
First, I’d like to thank everyone who contributed to my thread and helped answer my questions. I really appreciate the insight and advice based on your experiences.
I initially posted on this forum to hear thoughts about possible cottonmouth and was quickly determined to be Ich.
The initial recommendations and advice were heavily focused around “medicating“ the fish and the tank. After reading a number of responses, and looking into the reasonings and chemicals suggested, I did eventually end up buying ParaGuard. ParaGuard seemed like the “gentle” medicating option and the least poisonous compared to the other traditional routes, although it was still contained the traditional poisonous compounds such as formaldehyde.
Continuing my investigation, I did come across quite a number of different “Natural” Aquarists and was introduced to the concept of treating the situation with heat and avoiding any poison. When I approached that idea here though it seems pretty aggressively met with skepticism. However after doing a lot of digging and research, I landed on a two headed approach and I removed what were visibly the sick fish, and left my main tank intact and in”medicated”. The sick fish were primarily the rainbow fish, as well as a blue ram, and those aware out in a 10G hospital tank that was treated with ParaGard over the last seven days. However, after removing what we’re visibly the sick fish, I still saw a couple white spots up here in the main tank, primarily on a pleco and that blue ram I mentioned before which was initially left in the main tank prior to moving it to the hospital. Upon discovery, I raised the temperature in my main tank to 87° and left it there for approximately six days. Simultaneously in the hospital tank I began treating with ParaGuard and also raised the temperature to 87°.
Currently as of writing this post, seven days after the initial steps were taken to address the situation, I have not had a single fish die and visually it appears that all of the fish are now healthy and free of any diseases in both the hospital and the main tank.
I make this post to say that while I do appreciate everyone’s feedback, I also want to note that there seems to be an inclination to pour toxic and dangerous chemicals into the aquarium to treat sick fish. And while I understand that inclination, the much more natural and non-poisonous approach seems to have treated my fish and I didn’t have to kill my plants or damage my hard earned nutrient-and-microorganism-rich substrate.
I’d love to discuss the pros and cons of more holistic approaches versus more pharmaceutical approaches to treating sick fish with the group. Both have their rightful place and serve their roles, but I’d love to discuss my experience with some of the other more experienced Aquarists on this forum for the sake of the discussion.
Again, thanks to everyone who took some time out to try and answer my questions and provided me options and how to address the situation. I hope everyone had a great week and I look forward to the continued discussions and being a part of this forum.
