Ich

[Yamcannon]

Is it a good sign if my fish are now eating (after not eating for a week) while being treated with metro and copper?

It looks like the ich has fallen off half of the fish in the hospital tank now. The other half still have the white spots. However all of the fish are eating very well with full bellies. I've been water changing daily and dosing and checking copper levels. Currently 2.0 ppm with 88 degree heat, extra aeration in the tank as well.

 

[AlphaMoon]

Try adding some aquarium salt to your tank if you haven't already. This has worked for me and my fish in the past to get rid of ich. And yes I do believe that the fish eating is a good sign. Could you add a picture of your fish, if you can?

 

[Colin_T]

Post pictures so we can confirm white spot

Don't use heat and chemicals at the same time because you can wipe out the tank.

White spot can be treated with 86F (30C) water temperatures. just have the temp on 86F and leave it there for 2 weeks or at least 1 week after all the spots have gone. no chemicals needed.

If you prefer to use chemicals, you don't mix metronidazole with copper. You only use one chemical and you don't raise the water temperature because warm water and chemicals both reduce the oxygen in the water. White spot can affect the gills and make it harder for the fish to breath.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence whenever using chemicals or heat.

 

[Yamcannon]

Post pictures so we can confirm white spot

Don't use heat and chemicals at the same time because you can wipe out the tank.

White spot can be treated with 86F (30C) water temperatures. just have the temp on 86F and leave it there for 2 weeks or at least 1 week after all the spots have gone. no chemicals needed.

If you prefer to use chemicals, you don't mix metronidazole with copper. You only use one chemical and you don't raise the water temperature because warm water and chemicals both reduce the oxygen in the water. White spot can affect the gills and make it harder for the fish to breath.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence whenever using chemicals or heat.

Here are two of Dorito, he's in the larger tank. I believe some cross contamination occurred. Notice his side flapper things. He has been a bit lethargic, but still eating.

Also ok, I'll turn the heat down in that case - thanks for the info.

 

[Yamcannon]

Here are the others in a smaller tank, one of them looks like he rolled around in salt. The others looked roughly the same as him, but they're recovering better now. Appetite is now much better than it was, eating a lot including the salty boy.

The only reason I was using metro + copper was because one of the fish who passed in the hospital tank looked like they had an internal parasite (white stringy poop) so I was using metro to combat it.

Seems that is all well with that and just this ich infection remains.

 

[Yamcannon]

Post pictures so we can confirm white spot

Don't use heat and chemicals at the same time because you can wipe out the tank.

White spot can be treated with 86F (30C) water temperatures. just have the temp on 86F and leave it there for 2 weeks or at least 1 week after all the spots have gone. no chemicals needed.

If you prefer to use chemicals, you don't mix metronidazole with copper. You only use one chemical and you don't raise the water temperature because warm water and chemicals both reduce the oxygen in the water. White spot can affect the gills and make it harder for the fish to breath.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence whenever using chemicals or heat.

According to you my next steps would be(if I'm using medication):

1. Lower the heat
2. Continue dosing with copper at 2 ppm
3. Stop using metro

Also I didn't think only heat could kill ich, I thought it was something that needed to combined with aquarium salt at the very least.

Am I missing anything?

Thanks.

 

[Colin_T]

If you are using copper, reduce the temperature to around 79-82F (26-28C) and keep using the copper for another week, or until all the fish have been free of spots for a week.

Stop adding Metronidazole.

Salt (sodium chloride) does nothing to white spot.

The warm water helps speed up the parasites life cycle and allows you to treat the fish over a shorter period of time. The parasite can survive temperatures up to 84F (29C) but dies at temperatures of 86F (30C) and above.

There's more info about white spot at the following link. Post 1 and 16 are worth a read.

What is ICH?

This is a common question that is often asked, what is ich and how is it recognisable and what causes it? The real term is ICHTHYOPHTHIRIASIS. OR commonly known as white spot. It is an extremely comon parasite that affects aquarium fish. It is highly infectious and potentially lethal and...

www.fishforums.net

This link has info on fish doing stringy white poop.

What to do if your fish has Stringy White Poop.

Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons. 1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be...

www.fishforums.net

 

[Yamcannon]

If you are using copper, reduce the temperature to around 79-82F (26-28C) and keep using the copper for another week, or until all the fish have been free of spots for a week.

Stop adding Metronidazole.

Salt (sodium chloride) does nothing to white spot.

The warm water helps speed up the parasites life cycle and allows you to treat the fish over a shorter period of time. The parasite can survive temperatures up to 84F (29C) but dies at temperatures of 86F (30C) and above.

There's more info about white spot at the following link. Post 1 and 16 are worth a read.

What is ICH?

This is a common question that is often asked, what is ich and how is it recognisable and what causes it? The real term is ICHTHYOPHTHIRIASIS. OR commonly known as white spot. It is an extremely comon parasite that affects aquarium fish. It is highly infectious and potentially lethal and...

www.fishforums.net

This link has info on fish doing stringy white poop.

What to do if your fish has Stringy White Poop.

Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons. 1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be...

www.fishforums.net

Great thanks, will do! Should I be worried that the salted one is laying on his side mostly with his fins all tucked in? Not really sure what else to do for him. Is it like a recovery stance he's taking? He untucks to come eat, that's it.

 

[Colin_T]

The one with its fins tucked in is resting and trying to deal with the damage that has been done. The white spot parasites regularly attach themselves to the fish's gills. The parasites damage the gills and after they drop off, a small scab appears on the wound. When there are lots of scabs and lots of damage to the gills, the fish suffocate. By resting and only moving for food, the fish is trying to conserve its energy and allow its body to heal. It's the same as a person resting when they have the flu or have been injured. It can take several weeks or more before the fish has recovered from damage to the gills.

 

[Yamcannon]

Well I'd say that makes pretty good sense to me. Appreciate the insight. Thanks again.