Repost from general board--help!

[Buglet]

I have been treating my 3 mollies and guppy for ich. When I got home tonight, 1 mollie and the guppy were dead. Also the pleco is not looking good. He looks very pale.

All water tests are fine. What am I doing wrong??

 

[M/ASC]

what are you treating with? and how much did you put in?
do a 20% water change asap!

 

[cutecotton]

could you please be a bit more specific? how were you treating your mollies and stuff? have you been adding salt to the tank (bad for the pleco), have you been doing daily water changes of 20% and syphoning the bottom? raised the temp?

these are all factors that could indiciate why the molly died

 

[Buglet]

Sorry...I will be more specific.

Started treating yesterday with malachite green per the product specifications (10 drops per gallon).

Did a 50% change yesterday and today.

Have been vacuuming the bottom.

No salt added.

Temp is about 79.

All H2O parameters are well within normal specs.

Thank you!!!

 

[cutecotton]

umm sorry just wondering what's the size of your tank?

the mollies dying could just be a really bad case of ich and the treatment just didn't work out for htem. I take it now that you have 2 mollies left?

never herad of the product that your using before, so i wouldn't know how good it is at treating ich. But what i did when i had ich breakout in my tank was do a 20% water change daily with syphoning the bottom, then afterwards i'd put in the ich medication (stop the filter for a bit so it just doens't get filtered through right away), adn added in a bit of salt (i didn't have any plecos so i could add salt) if i were you, i'd add half the amoutn of aqarium salt recommended and see how your pleco reacts to it. It's not that they can't take salt at ALL, but not in the same tolerance as other fish.

Sometimes you can't do anything about losing fish over ich, i lost one of my female guppies no matter how hard i tried. i think sometimes it just gets too far before you got a chance to treat it

 

[Buglet]

Sorry... my tank is 2 gallon.

Yes, now all I have are the 2 mollies & sad little pleco.

I will try 1/2 the salt.

Thank you

 

[cutecotton]

np, just to let you know though that common plecos can grow up to a foot long not sure you really want that in a 2G.

anyways, that's naother story, goo dluck with your ich

 

[Sorrell]

The tank is pretty overstocked which can lead to stress which can lead to ick. I'd try to treat these guys and then find new homes for them.

 

[Buglet]

*sigh* I feel as though I had to keep explaining, so I put it in my signature. These fish were rescues and the 2g is temporary. The pleco is going to a new home. The others were going in a bigger tank.

Another mollie is dead this morning. So I'm down to 1 mollie and the pleco.

 

[luxum]

Is the new tank cycled? What are the ammonia and nitrite levels?

 

[cutecotton]

since it's only a 2G tank i dont' think she cycled it.

 

[luxum]

Yeh well if so that's probably the cause of the fish deaths, the ich is secondary and showed up due to the stress of poor water conditions.

 

[Buglet]

*sigh* no....please, please read my posts above.

Water parameters are *fine*

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: small but safe amt.

I have been doing 50% water changes *DAILY*

 

[ajhainey]

Not all fish (esp small ones) get on with malachite green (or so my lfs tells me) - its pretty strong stuff....between the state they were probably in when you rescued them (I, for one, have read your previous posts ) being in a small tank and now the added hit of what is, after all, basically poision, they are probably just not up to living any longer.

My guess is theres nothing much you can do (pray maybe?) - you could try a weaker ich formulation (as you can't try more salt 'cause of the pleco) maybe a methylene blue based one? The other option is to try raising the temp to help kill off the ich/speed up their lifecycle so the salt gets them faster - but your fish may not get on with that either - but perhaps its worth a try...Other than that just know you did your best....I lost 5 danios to my outbreak of ich, despite medicating and a super clean biorb

Sorry I've nothing more constructive to say!

aj xx

 

[Buglet]

Thanks ajhainey. It makes me fell consoled that at least one other person has followed my recent saga and can sympathize with my efforts

I feel like I have mostly done everything I can. I have upped the temp and done another H2O change today. I have added half the amt. of salt. I have cut the dose of malachite green in half just in case it is too strong. I have got the tank light off and it is covered to reduce stress. I am feeding Hikari bloodworms instead of flakes for the extra protien. I am testing the water daily.

At this point I am just crossing my fingers