Death And Destruction

[cheesy feet]

I guess it is

 

[kribensis12]

Poor Little female, is ther anytihng i do for her? Also, any insight on the " White Disease"?

 

[littleT]

Hello again kribensis12
Have you looked up guppy disease or sliminess of the skin? If you haven't here is some more info on fish diseases see if one of these matches your guppy.....http/guppyplace.tripod.com/Parasites.html
Also the copper you are using is for guppy disease but it might not be strong enough. If one of these seems like the problem try Clout it will treat both of problems and it also treats white spots. I have used it before great product. Remember to remove carbon if you have it in your filter but you might already know that but just in case you didn't. There is only one draw back with this medicine is that it may harm your bacteria so if possible treat in another tank if you cannot then to me it is worth saving my sweet little fish. Good luck! I hope this helps......

 

[mav8989]

I'm sorry - I don't want to sound like I'm instructing you in the basics if you already know them - but I wanted to mention that you should be careful with the belief that a couple of the fish are "cured" - it might just be that the ich has "fallen off" to the bottom of the tank where it will mature in its next stage and then release many more of the parasites. Ich can only be treated in the free swimming stage(s). Would hate to see you stuck in the never-ending cycle some people find themselves in.

I have used CopperSafe (to avoid the blue staining mostly) in the past and it was very successful - but you have to keep the levels in the tank correct and for the correct length of time. It's a balancing game - the bottle says it is good for 30 days - but that's assuming you do not do water changes or are adding more with water changes. Copper just happens to be more poisonous to ich then to fish --- too little copper is worthless and too much is deadly to fish. Follow the dosage instructions carefully and I again really suggest a Copper test kit to keep the levels at any useful but SAFE level. There are arguments both ways on different kinds of copper (primarily chleated vs. non-chealated or "free copper"). Chleated copper is supposedly safer for fish and such - but again that's a subject of debate. (For that matter, "chleated copper" isn't even a proper term to use - according to a chemist friend, for CopperSafe - because that's not really what it is in the strickest sense). If it makes you feel any better, I have personally found that CopperSafe does not damage the biological filter thereby causing Ammo and Nitrite spikes - but when used in an uncycled or unstable tank, it will stall that cycle. This becomes a major problem for people new to the hobby because they are fighting to cure the ich problem brought on by stress and newly acquired fish from infected tanks --- and while fighting that battle they are not only failing to correct the underlying problem (bad water stats - lack of cycling) but also making it worse by stalling that cycle. Kind of a catch 22.

A kind forum member introduced me to salt and heat to rid tanks of ich - and as they say in the UK, "it works a treat". (Sorry, had to get that in there once - it was fun to type!) Consider some research on using this method - because if the salt level is increased gradually it will not harm the beneficial bacteria and you have no yucky chemicals in your tank. If you can't find good information, let me know and I'll dig up the course of treatment (gradual increase in temperature and salt) that I used successfully and others have as well. I too was skeptical - but it was cheap and it worked!

As far as white patches - I have never had bacterial or fungus problems in all my years of fishkeeping. I have used Mela-Fix to prevent secondary infections at the lesion sites where ich was as well as with minor scratches or abrasions - but I might just be making the chemical compaines richer based on my unscientific personal opinion. The stuff is natural and I have used it in conjunction with both copper and salt treatements. Never had a problem and Melafix does seems to work - but as someone else said, it's not a miracle oil, and if there are severe problems you might have to dose with better anti-bacterial/fungal medications or antibiotics. Most antibiotics will kill your beneficial bacteria in your filter - that I am pretty darn sure of. I will leave that white patch issue to someone else, because I have no personal experience with those kinds of ailments.... and the last thing you need is me guessing!


Best of luck with your fishes!

 

[kribensis12]

Thanks', my tank is cycled. I have not done any water change's. I dont plan on doing a water change on the 30g, or the 20g, unless my test kit detect's any thing. I have not added any water to the 30g. If i do a water change, cant i just add some more copper? I always do a 4 gallon water change anyway's, and it is 1 teaspoon for every 4 gallon's. I do know that CopperSafe, at the wrong level's can and will kill fish. I run Aquarium Salt in my tank's, and my temp is at 80 degree's. I am going to see what happen's with the melafix. If that dosent work, I plan on getting Maracyrn. Would that work? I never really have problem's with diseases, so i may be experinced with fish, but not diseases. Anyone have any insight on the " White Disease"? It is only the guppies that are getting it, and it is spreading like wildfire, and im afraid all my guppies are going to die!

 

[Tolak]

Do a search for columnaris, see if any of the pictures you come up with look like what your fish has. Whiteness on the scales that spreads, especially across the top, sounds like columnaris to me.

If it does appear to be columnaris, Maracyn & Maricyn II will usually work.

 

[mav8989]

I found the directions on CopperSafe pretty accurate - so if you remove water for a water change then calculate how many mL of CopperSafe you need to add back --- I've also used SeaChem's (I think) Cupramine - which you totally need a test kit for. You should be able to get it fairly close by following the directions - and like I said before - there is a debate... but CopperSafe is supposedly easier on fish then other types of copper - so you should be okay. Oh, and make sure your carbon is pulled, especially if it is fairly new.

Sorry I know nothing about this other problem you are having!

Hope things are getting better.

 

[mav8989]

Oh and sorry - I can't say if Maracyn would work - no experience with that!

Is your ich still gone or has it cycled and it's back? Salt and heat (~86F) in combo may nip that ich or maybe do salt increase but leave temp. alone --- that may help with that problem if it is bacterial... It's all a balancing game!

Too bad we can't see pictures!

I think the mod who posted earlier is right though, this sounds pretty serious and may be beyond these other remedies.... you might want to bring out some big guns at this point....

 

[kribensis12]

The female guppy died last night. I have another with alot of the white stuff on her. I will check on culominarius(sp?). I think i will need to pull out the big gun's. I got 16 dollar's for shoveling snow the othe rday, so i will need to get other med's i think!!!!!!

 

[kribensis12]

Im in the process of losing another female guppy!!!!!!!!! HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She is unside down, breathing heavily. I just did a water test, and here are the result's:
Ammonia:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate: Test kit wont tell me
Gh+Kh: Too high to tell
ph: 8.4

She was swimming with her but hitting the ground ealier. Why is all this happening??

 

[kribensis12]

I bought some Pimafix today. I am giong to try it, and see what happen's.

 

[kribensis12]

Lost another guppy today, one of my dazeling male's!!!!!!!!!!!! I accidently overdosed my convict tank, i put 2 capful's in insntead of 1. Is that bad? Could i still treat today?

 

[kribensis12]

I am about too loose my second male guppy!!!!!! HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can i still dose my other tank as i accidently overdosed?

 

[jourdy288]

Thank's Chessy Feet!!! None of those seem to sound like it. It is white, and whatever it is, seem's to be moving back toward's the fin. She is having increased rate of gill function( ever since i moved her), and she is swimming wierd( this started happening since i moved her). I have only seen this affect guppies. Never any other fish. I looked up guppy disease, but it didnt sound like it. Also, another female guppy is starting to get like this. Now both tank's are memdicated in Melafix, and CopperSafe. I am going to try to pick up some PrimaFix today. I dont think the guppies are gonna make it!

OK, White disease, never heard of it untill now, hmm, seeing this is an epidemic, you may want to try CopperSafe, as you are using, and make sure you remove chemical filter media, it may remove the medication. Sorry for your losses.

 

[Jellytot]

Hi Krib12

I have nothing useful to offer you I'm afraid. I'm pretty new to fishkeeping. I just wanted to say I'm really sorry for your fish losses, we've been battleing with a particularly strong strain of whitespot while you've been dealing with your stuff so I really sympathise!

Good luck with the rest.