HELP!!!!
- Thread starter Fishareconfusing101
- Start date
Looks like ich to me, yeah. Salt and increased temps will only get you so far, by the way. It may work as a treatment if you're lucky, but by the time you can see any ich cysts at all, let alone this many, the disease is already fairly advanced. Some people find that the higher temps get rid of the ich, but when they lower them back down, the ich comes back.
At this stage, considering how many cysts are on the fish, you'll probably need a proper medication containing malachite green and formaldehyde, such as Ich-X. Do note that even once the fish are better, they will likely be more prone to ich infections in the future, so you'll need to make sure to properly quarantine any new additions.
At this stage, considering how many cysts are on the fish, you'll probably need a proper medication containing malachite green and formaldehyde, such as Ich-X. Do note that even once the fish are better, they will likely be more prone to ich infections in the future, so you'll need to make sure to properly quarantine any new additions.
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Fishareconfusing101
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UPDATE: I have added super ich cure and removed carbon filters
I need clear pictures of all the fish.
How long has the tank been set up for?
How long have you had the fish for?
How long have they looked off colour for?
Have you added anything new to the tank in the 2 weeks before this started?
What is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the water (in numbers)?
What sort of filter is on the aquarium?
How often do you clean the filter?
How do you clean the filter?
How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the aquarium?
Do you have chlorine or chloramine in the tap water?
You can phone or check your water company's website to find out about the chlorine or chloramine.
Do you have a plant substrate in the tank?
How long has the tank been set up for?
How long have you had the fish for?
How long have they looked off colour for?
Have you added anything new to the tank in the 2 weeks before this started?
What is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the water (in numbers)?
What sort of filter is on the aquarium?
How often do you clean the filter?
How do you clean the filter?
How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the aquarium?
Do you have chlorine or chloramine in the tap water?
You can phone or check your water company's website to find out about the chlorine or chloramine.
Do you have a plant substrate in the tank?
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Fishareconfusing101
New Member
Both tanks do have plant substrates I use fluval bio stratum and both tanks are very new (about a week for the one with the small fish and 2-3 for the betta) but they were cycled with old media and dosed with quick start. All the water was dechlorinated and any heavy metals were removed. Today I did a water change (probably close to 15%) with a small cleaning of the gravel I also have shrimp but they had to be removed because of medications. All of the ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite levels were super low, basically 0’s across the board, but my pH was a bit lower than I would have liked as well (probably low 7 maybe even high 6’s) both a new filter with pretty good flow that I have at a water level where the water flows across the top for lots of surface agitation and they have activated charcoal in them. Because the tanks are so new I did not clean the filters. I just noticed that these fish had an off color today during cleaning and the small black ones I got 2 days ago and the betta got sick after I added guppies from the same store 2 days ago. They are from a local fish store that has been very trustworthy up to this point. I also had a half dose (one tablespoon per 10 gallons instead of 1 tbsp per 5 gallons) in both of those aquarium prior to seeing any illness to help prevent it. Tomorrow I will measure water parameters again and have more exact measurement rather than what I can remember from earlier and clearer imagery of the fish hopefully.
Your photos were plenty clear enough, don't worry. To my eye, it is rather obviously ich. And, while providing info on your setup and water parameters is important, in this case it isn't necessarily needed for a diagnosis and your setup would most likely have not been the cause of the ich anyway. Because you got these fish very recently, they almost certainly came with it from the fish shop. In general, it's best to avoid getting fish from any tank that has any signs of disease, even if the fish you want appear fine.
You've already done the right thing by dosing a malachite green medication though. Just make sure to follow the instructions on the bottle to the letter.
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Fishareconfusing101
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Fishareconfusing101
New Member
You can see his fins are a bit torn he is a rescue that I have had for close to a month now
Did you recently do a water change and the water was colder than the tank temperature, or did you not properly temperature acclimate the fish to a new tank? I am just wondering how the outbreak got started.
That is serious Ich on the Betta. Quite advanced and quite dangerous. I would stay the course with malachite green, but don't be surprised if it wasn't in time. Ich is an aggressive parasite when it digs in.
The first time we encounter it, we often lose fish.
The first time we encounter it, we often lose fish.
Awww.. I’m sorry you’re going through this. I know what it’s like, I had quite a bad case to deal with not so long ago and I lost three fish to it. And it was my first experience with it too. It took about three weeks worth of treatment to clear. I hope Lady Luck is on your side 
TwoTankAmin
Fish Connoisseur
A couple of observations which might help.
First, Seisage was correct about the best med for Ich in general.
Next, Ich has a multi stage life cycle and most meds kill it in the free swimming stage. The warmer the water is the faster the life cycle goes. So, one should raise the water temp to the highest level the fish can tolerate as it means the cure will happen faster. If one can raise the temp. to over 86, that usually can kill Ich. That is until they discovered a heat resistant strain. Many fish cannot tolerate 86F or higher.
Then, no matter what treatment one uses, raising the temp. should make it work faster. But the life cycle part also means that one uaually needs to treat for a bit of time to insure any Ich which is in the stages where the medications wont work has time to get to that stage.
Over the years there have more potential Ich treatments- medical, chemical and natural tried. Some have worked in different life stages of the Ich. Some can wipe it out while others can only reduce the numbers. Also, some of the things tried may work but might also harm inverts.
Finally, fish which fight off ich get a natural immunity to it which is not permanent and which science cannot say for how long it will last. This fact has led to the search for a vaccine against Ich which has mnot yet been found.
First, Seisage was correct about the best med for Ich in general.
Next, Ich has a multi stage life cycle and most meds kill it in the free swimming stage. The warmer the water is the faster the life cycle goes. So, one should raise the water temp to the highest level the fish can tolerate as it means the cure will happen faster. If one can raise the temp. to over 86, that usually can kill Ich. That is until they discovered a heat resistant strain. Many fish cannot tolerate 86F or higher.
Then, no matter what treatment one uses, raising the temp. should make it work faster. But the life cycle part also means that one uaually needs to treat for a bit of time to insure any Ich which is in the stages where the medications wont work has time to get to that stage.
Over the years there have more potential Ich treatments- medical, chemical and natural tried. Some have worked in different life stages of the Ich. Some can wipe it out while others can only reduce the numbers. Also, some of the things tried may work but might also harm inverts.
Finally, fish which fight off ich get a natural immunity to it which is not permanent and which science cannot say for how long it will last. This fact has led to the search for a vaccine against Ich which has mnot yet been found.
Not only does this fish have a serious case of ich, his "torn fins" are likely fin rot. If they were really just simple tears, they would have healed in the month you've had him. The telltale sign of fin rot in bettas is that it looks like the fins are melting, which they definitely do here. There are dozens and dozens of "cures" for fin rot that are marketed for bettas and most of them are useless garbage. Fin rot is an external bacterial infection and you have a couple options for treatment:
1. Salt and clean water. Aquarium salt and frequent water changes may help him fight the infection on his own. This is a preferable first step to avoid mixing an ich med with an antibiotic, which could unnecessarily stress out the fish. There are a variety of resources on this forum and elsewhere about how to dose salt, but 1tbsp/5gal is a good starting point.
2. Antibiotics. If salt and water changes don't work, you may consider antibiotics. This is a tricky course of action since fin rot can be caused by a handful of different bacteria, which respond differently to certain antibiotics, and you can't know which it is unless you take a swab and culture the bacteria. Not all antibiotics that say they treat fin rot will actually fix the issue, so tread carefully here. Also, certain antibiotics will kill your nitrifying bacteria, so it's best to dose them in a QT tank. Treat this as a last resort
The ich is absolutely the more pressing issue here though. Work on getting that sorted first before addressing the fin rot.
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Fishareconfusing101
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The betta was also previously with wood which I believe did not help with the fins you can see that the wood has been removed. I have been keeping them in the cleanest water I can without over doing it. He has been absolutely fine before the guppies were added and both of the tanks got ich after the fish from the store were added and I know all the tanks in the store are connected to one sump. So far all fish are eating and betta still has enough energy to chase guppies. All invertebrates were removed when I added the ich meds. I don’t think betta boy had fin rot but I will start watching much more carefully though I has seen some improvement in the fins over the month. I currently don’t have enough quarantine tanks for all the fish that could be infected which is why they are being dosed in their tanks. All the current infection has happened in the past 3 or so days which is why I was surprised to see my betta had so many white spots already. I have ordered some meds to mix in with their food in case it is not ich but instead epistlis because last time my fish had “ich” it was actually epistilis but I am hoping this is ich. All fish showed signs of being hungry but were not fed and I found a couple scratching against items in the tank thank you all for the input by the way! All the tanks got one more tablespoon of salt today in hopes to slowly increase but I might keep it at this level for awhile.
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Fishareconfusing101
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Update!!! Betta has been made priority and placed in quarantine with salt, little to no food, and ich cure. He is in heavily oxygenated water aswell and it is heated.
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