Eloise
New Member
A pet shop sold me two jack dempsey that had been afflicted with ich. They had told me that they were fine now, but they were not. I had a strong outbreak of ich in my tank. I treated it immediately using malachite green (Riga) but I lost my two loaches in the process. Odds are that I stopped medicating my tank too early because when I thought the problem was fixed, the fish relapsed. It got worse. I noticed that there was another problem: probably chironella. Seeing no rapid improvement using the malachite green, I gave a salt bath (1%) to my severum, during 25 minutes. It seemed to help a lot the laboured breathing and it made 90% of the discolouration dissapear. The fish stopped being itchy too. I also gave a salt bath to one of the jack dempsey. I was not able to catch the other. The jack dempsey seemed less itchy.
The next day, I ran to the pet shop and I bought a 20 gallons tank to use as a hospital tank. I set it up and after a salt bath, I transfered my Severum. I noticed that where the discolouration were, now the fish's skin had darkened much. The edge of the tail's fins and of the dorsal fins have darkened too. When it is stressed, there are dark bands of the same colour that appears on its body. It has been two days and the darkened spots are still there. The bands, though, have dissapear. Its breathing is nearly back to normal and there is no sign of infection nor of discolouration. Should I worry about the darkened spots? Is that a normal healing process?
I was adviced to give a bath of diluted paraguard (I followed the indications on the bottle and used slightly less medication). I did so on my two jack dempsey. Numerous dark spots have appeared all over them and the fringes of their tails and dorsal fins have darkened too. One of them had stayed for nearly an hour in the bath yesterday and it looks still very stressed and it keeps its tail clamped. It shows however no more signs of parasites. The other stayed in the bath for only 15 minutes or so when I noticed that it was developping dark spots just like the other. I transfered him back to the hospital tank immediately. It seems better now though it has kept dark spots. It does not show signs of parasites anymore. I added some salt to the hospital tank (1 table spoon for each 6 gallons).
So what should I do? Is the darkening normal? Is it dangerous? Should I keep doing baths using paraguard? Should I give one to my severum, even though it went through two salt bath already? Is there anything that can be done better?
And what should I do with the main tank? There are no more fish in it, but there sure is a lot of malachite green. Should I do some massive water change to get rid of the medication and any parasite that might be left? How long should I wait before transfering back the three fish in the hospital tank?
Thanks!
Some additional info:
Main tank: 130 gallons, ammonia: nearly 0, no nitrites, no nitrates. It was started about a month ago but I had no problems getting it to cycle. Now that there are no more fish in it, I am afraid that it will de-cycle. The temperature had been raised to 86F to get rid of the ich, now back at 82F.
Hospital tank: 20 gallons, with plenty of hiding space. Some salt in it. No medication. Temperature more or less stable at 81F (I'm getting it adjusted). The fish have not yet eaten. I did a small water change (15%) this morning to get rid of a little build up of ammonia.
The next day, I ran to the pet shop and I bought a 20 gallons tank to use as a hospital tank. I set it up and after a salt bath, I transfered my Severum. I noticed that where the discolouration were, now the fish's skin had darkened much. The edge of the tail's fins and of the dorsal fins have darkened too. When it is stressed, there are dark bands of the same colour that appears on its body. It has been two days and the darkened spots are still there. The bands, though, have dissapear. Its breathing is nearly back to normal and there is no sign of infection nor of discolouration. Should I worry about the darkened spots? Is that a normal healing process?
I was adviced to give a bath of diluted paraguard (I followed the indications on the bottle and used slightly less medication). I did so on my two jack dempsey. Numerous dark spots have appeared all over them and the fringes of their tails and dorsal fins have darkened too. One of them had stayed for nearly an hour in the bath yesterday and it looks still very stressed and it keeps its tail clamped. It shows however no more signs of parasites. The other stayed in the bath for only 15 minutes or so when I noticed that it was developping dark spots just like the other. I transfered him back to the hospital tank immediately. It seems better now though it has kept dark spots. It does not show signs of parasites anymore. I added some salt to the hospital tank (1 table spoon for each 6 gallons).
So what should I do? Is the darkening normal? Is it dangerous? Should I keep doing baths using paraguard? Should I give one to my severum, even though it went through two salt bath already? Is there anything that can be done better?
And what should I do with the main tank? There are no more fish in it, but there sure is a lot of malachite green. Should I do some massive water change to get rid of the medication and any parasite that might be left? How long should I wait before transfering back the three fish in the hospital tank?
Thanks!
Some additional info:
Main tank: 130 gallons, ammonia: nearly 0, no nitrites, no nitrates. It was started about a month ago but I had no problems getting it to cycle. Now that there are no more fish in it, I am afraid that it will de-cycle. The temperature had been raised to 86F to get rid of the ich, now back at 82F.
Hospital tank: 20 gallons, with plenty of hiding space. Some salt in it. No medication. Temperature more or less stable at 81F (I'm getting it adjusted). The fish have not yet eaten. I did a small water change (15%) this morning to get rid of a little build up of ammonia.
