Ich

[Mathew1991]

yer that was my thoughts aswell

 

[Lcc86]

Wish I could suggest something more helpful, sorry you're experiencing this

 

[Wills]

Apologies if its been covered already but just wanted to mention that the Protozin is only effective if its in the water when the spots pop - you can't kill the spot on the body, just the free swimming parasites each spot releases when it bursts. Protozin is a good product though I've used it a few times many years ago with good success. Also again, sure its been mentioned but turn the heater up to 30-32c which will reduce the lifespan much faster.

Wills

 

[Mathew1991]

Hi wills

I turned the heater up but not sure if the fish could handle it

That’s when coming told me to turn it back down and get a treatment

 

[AlexT]

What was the temperature before you increased it to 30C?

Turn the temperature back down to 24C and get a broad spectrum medication that contains malachite green and treat the tank with that.

Do another big water change and gravel clean before treating with medication. If you can't get medication for a few days, do a 80-90% water change and gravel clean each day until you get the medication.

Make sure any buckets and hoses you use are free of chemicals and only get used on the fish tanks.

Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Am just posting this for @Wills i think the latest thinking was there was also potentially a significant bacterial element to all this

 

[Wills]

Am just posting this for @Wills i think the latest thinking was there was also potentially a significant bacterial element to all this

Thanks sorry few pages through before I joined - has anyone mentioned Epistylis?

 

[AlexT]

Thanks sorry few pages through before I joined - has anyone mentioned Epistylis?

Really interesting you mention that. I'd never heard of it until recently. Is that the one that looks like ich and basically isn't? And it can get worse at warm temps?

 

[Lcc86]

Just spent a bit of time googling it and clawed frogs can be susceptible but can't find much about ADF's. But had a quick scan through this and it bears some similarities to what you're experiencing with your losses:

10.2.4. Epistylis in tropical fish

Epistylis is a very common and very unrecognized fish disease. It is commonly confused with ich.

aquariumscience.org

I'm no scientist though so please don't quote me on it!

 

[Mathew1991]

Woke up this morning and there is another bh tetra gone

And also there is a Cardinal that seems to be loosing its colour aswell and that’s what happens then it dies

 

[Colin_T]

Can you post some more pictures of the remaining fish?

You will need to continue treatment for several days after all the white spots have gone.

There's more information about white spot at the following link, which is on every page in the forum under the heading Useful Links. Posts 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

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Epistylis does not kill fish quickly. It can completely cover fish and they can live with it for months. It also sticks up a couple of mm in length and looks a bit like a cream or white hydra. Epistylis is more commonly found in dirty ponds or aquariums that don't get maintained. It is rare in a well maintained aquarium.

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Do not raise the water temperature to 30C and use chemicals at the same time.
Heat (30C/ 86F) stresses the fish. Chemical medications stress the fish. Using high temperatures (30C) and chemicals is a recipe for disaster. You can increase the water temperature to 26C to help speed up the white spot parasite's lifecycle, and use chemicals (which is what is currently being done), or you use heat (30C/ 86F) without chemicals.

Warm water, chemicals and salt all reduce the amount of oxygen in the water. This is why you need to increase aeration/ surface turbulence when using heat, salt or chemicals in an aquarium, to maximise the oxygen level in the water so the fish don't suffocate.

 

[Mathew1991]

From what I can see there isn’t any spots on any of the fish

So the last dose of meds is to go in tonight then would you suggest a water change and another treatment of meds

I also noticed some white stuff on a bh tetras mouth

 

[Mathew1991]

 

[Colin_T]

One of the tetras looks like it has mouth fungus/ Columnaris (white stuff in the mouth).
How long has it had that?
Have other tetras had that?
How long did they live for with the white mouth?

One of the tetras has white stuff on the tail. I need a clear photo of that to identify the problem.

When did you see the last white spot on the fish?
If it was a couple of days ago then doing one more dose of medication should be enough. Leave the tank for a few days after that and then do a big water change and gravel clean.

 

[AlexT]

How are the 9 corydoras behaving Matthew? Eating as normal? Keeping their colour? Active as usual? Are you managing to keep good water surface agitation going?

 

[Mathew1991]

Hi Alex yer they seem to be doing out sometimes they just lie around at the bottom but they have always seemed to do that but as far as I can see there ok