ICH? I'm not sure

[Kazzaye]

hi fellow fish keepers
Only cleaned tank a couple of days ago and I don't think the fis had disease then. Just wondering if anyone is familiar with this disease.
Water parameters : GH 60, KH40,PH7, Nitrite 0 , Nitrate 0
Rainbow fish alone in freshwater tank
There is a white sticker on the front of tank that I'm in the process of rubbing off - don't get confused

 

[Colin_T]

Your Glossolepis incisus has a protozoan or fungal infection on the first dorsal fin.

Do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean before treating. And clean the filter too.

Depending on what else is in the tank, if there are no discus or wild caught angels, wild caught Corydoras or wild caught tetras you can use salt. Rainbows tolerate salt very well. Try adding rock salt or swimming pool salt (buy a 10-20kg bag from the hardware or pool shop) at a dose of 1 heaped tablespoon for 20 litres of tank water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours add another heaped tablespoon of salt for every 20 litres.

To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm,
divide by 1000,
= volume in litres.

When you measure the height of the water, measure from the top of the gravel to the top of the water level.

Increase aeration and surface turbulence to maximise oxygen in the water.

Keep salt levels high for 2-4 weeks after the problem has cleared up. Then do 10% daily water changes and gravel cleans for 2 weeks to slowly dilute the salt.

 

[Kazzaye]

Thank you so much. I'm guessing this is a fatal disease? It has appeared very quickly after the water change. There are no other fish in the tank

 

[NickAu]

How about explaining how to add the salt? You know trivial stuff like do not add the salt directly to the tank, dissolve it in tank water first do not add the whole lot at once, stuff a possible novice may not know.

Never assume the person asking for help knows stuff like that.

 

[Colin_T]

it is fatal if left untreated but is common in rainbows and other fishes. Rainbowfish have soft bodies and bruise easily. So if you bought a second hand tank and took the fish out, emptied the tank and transported it to your house, then set it up, it was probably from that.

With rainbowfish, salt is the first line of defence. Just get a tablespoon and scoop out the salt and add it to the tank. It will sink to the bottom and dissolve over a few minutes and circulate through the water.

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Watch the rocks around the edge near the glass. Rainbows sometimes panic and can get caught between rocks and the glass and that can knock them about pretty badly. It's best to avoid sharp rocks completely.

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Make sure he gets plenty of plant matter in his diet. Rainbowfish do best when their diet consists of about half plant matter and half other foods like insects, small fish, shrimp, etc. They eat just about anything but I fed mine a goldfish flake and marine mix with mushed veges in it. Most days they got frozen or live daphnia, brineshrimp & mozzie larvae. I also had Duckweed on the surface all the time for them to graze on.

 

[Kazzaye]

Tank is 200 litres so I've calculated for sand and rocks. So 10 tbsp of salt Ye?

 

[Kazzaye]

I think I'll start with 5 tbsps

 

[Essjay]

You say the rainbowfish is alone, but this is a shoaling species needing at least 6 to 8 of them. They are also hard water fish needing hardness in the range 10 to 20 dH (180 to 360 ppm). You give your hardness as 50, presumably that's ppm.
The underlying cause of it's illness is stress caused by being kept in water that is too soft and not having enough of them.

 

[NickAu]

Just get a tablespoon and scoop out the salt and add it to the tank. It will sink to the bottom and dissolve over a few minutes and circulate through the water.

If you do this you risk killing the fish.

 

[Kazzaye]

The fish was put on it's own because it's a terrible bully. He's an old fish so if he passes I won't be too concerned. Removing him from my main tank has made a huge difference to my other fish. I will treat him but he will stay on his own .

 

[Kazzaye]

If I mix the salt with the tank water first and dissolve it before adding to tank is that the correct method?

 

[NickAu]

If I mix the salt with the tank water first and dissolve it before adding to tank is that the correct method?

Yes, I would do it in 3 parts, dissolve one third of the salt in a liter of tank water then add it to the tank, give it about an hour then add a third give it an hour then add the last bit.

NEVER ADD UNDISSOLVED SALT TO A TANK

 

[Colin_T]

sorry had to go shopping before they shut.

Just scoop the salt out with a tablespoon and put it in the tank. The salt will sink to the bottom and dissolve over a few minutes. Adding salt to a tank in this manner will NOT harm the fish.

You do not have to mix the salt with water or do anything else, simply spoon it into the tank.

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If the tank holds 200 litres of water then add 10 heaped tablespoons of salt.

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The problem is not caused by soft water with a low GH. It is caused by a protozoan parasite like Costia, Trichodina or Chilodonella. All of which are killed by salt and other medications, but salt is much safer for rainbowfishes because they are sensitive to chemicals.

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Some rainbowfishes come from hard alkaline water (Melanotaenia boesemani); others come from soft acid water (Rhadinocentrus ornatus & Iriatherina werneri); and some come from brackish water (Pseudomugil cyanodorsalis and some varieties of signifier). Most come from rivers and creeks and the pH varies considerably depending on time of year and location. In the dry season the pH drops and can be 5.5. When it rains the pH goes up and if the water is exposed to limestone cliffs/ rocks, the pH will be above 7.0.

The GH in the natural habitat is usually less than 150ppm for most species. Having said all this, they do better in hard alkaline water compared to soft acid water. The optimum pH is between 7.0 & 7.8, and GH is 100-300ppm.

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Big male rainbows can be bullies. If you can find another male the same size, they will spend all day displaying to each other and be less likely to harass smaller males and females. Having more females (4 or 5 per male) will reduce aggression.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

sorry had to go shopping before they shut.

Just scoop the salt out with a tablespoon and put it in the tank. The salt will sink to the bottom and dissolve over a few minutes. Adding salt to a tank in this manner will NOT harm the fish.

You do not have to mix the salt with water or do anything else, simply spoon it into the tank.

I have seen that method discussed before in the past, but the best way to add salt is the method described by @NickAu .


The salt will dissolve, eventually, but it will create a higher concentration of salty water in that location as it does, which can harm the fish. The best method of adding salt is always to dissolve it first, and then add it slowly, to give the fish a chance to adjust to the salinity concentration. Changing the water parameters too quickly can be harmful to the fish, and it can be fatal to a fish already weakened with a parasite, bacterial infection, etc.

 

[Kazzaye]

Hi last night I found some fungonex in the cupboard. I have started with this. Here is a photo of the fish this morning. Dare I say it - I see improvement.