Sudden Ich with Koi? Advice ASAP, Please Help :(

[HalfTailedOwner]

I've had this koi for around 5 months now (surprisingly) in a 10 gallon tank. If you didn't know already, I've actually been trying to find a new place to rehome the koi because I knew it would grow too large for the tank size..
This christmas, my uncle surprised me with some fish (and while I'm glad he wants me to be more experienced in fishkeeping, I know I'm not experienced enough to take care of them): 3 iridescent shark and what I believe to be a gourami. All of this in a 10 gallon tank... I'm not sure what to do anymore.

Even worse, I just noticed this morning that the koi appeared to have white dots on its fins, and I'm fearing that it could be ich. I've been researching around the internet and I'm still not sure if it has ich; it's still active and doesn't appear to swim erratically or scratch itself against the decorations and still eats. I want to take action but I'm afraid I might start off wrong instead of being able to correctly treat it. I can't continue to accidentally kill fish anymore. Can I please have some immediate advice? Thanks in advance.

//Just some extra information: The koi scratched its fin on a decoration which I have since removed, and it is slowly healing. I am also dealing with a green algae bloom.
Tank parameters are as follows:

Nitrates are at 20 ppm, 0 nitrites, 0 ammonia
Temperature is at 78 degrees

I hope the image isn't too blurry, but this is what I could get so far.

 

[Colin_T]

where are the white spots meant to be on the fish?

it looks fine to me.

are any of the fish rubbing?
do any other fish have spots?

do not add any chemicals until you confirm they have a disease.

 

[HalfTailedOwner]

where are the white spots meant to be on the fish?

it looks fine to me.

are any of the fish rubbing?
do any other fish have spots?

do not add any chemicals until you confirm they have a disease.

I haven't confirmed yet, but there are a bunch of white spots on the fins (even though it not clearly seen in the photo). It sort of looks like as if it were "dandruff." I'll take another photo.

The other dish dont seem to have white spots, and the koi doesnt seem to differ in behavior...

 

[HalfTailedOwner]

Wait. It appears more stressed than usual, clamped fins when swimming a majority of the time

 

[Retired Viking]

Stress is what I am thinking along with crowding, I kept 3 koi years ago in a 55 gallon tank. They like to have room to swim around. I really liked them but as they grew bigger I gave them to a friend with a pond so they would have a better life.

 

[Naughts]

Wait. It appears more stressed than usual, clamped fins when swimming a majority of the time

Start doing large daily water changes...
I would say it is ich and medicate the tank. I'm guessing koi wouldn't tolerate heat.

 

[HalfTailedOwner]

@Naughts @Retired Viking @Colin_T

Bad news. I started noticing that white spots are appearing on the other fish; I'm pretty sure now that it is ich. I ordered some ich-x but looks like it might not arrive until January 10 I don't have any fish stores nearby so I'm stuck with online shopping.
Is there anything I can do right now so they can hold on for the meantime? I hate having to watch them suffer but I'm trying to see if I can make it a little easier for them until the package arrives.

 

[Retired Viking]

Do you by chance have aquarium salt?

 

[Naughts]

@Naughts @Retired Viking @Colin_T

Bad news. I started noticing that white spots are appearing on the other fish; I'm pretty sure now that it is ich. I ordered some ich-x but looks like it might not arrive until January 10 I don't have any fish stores nearby so I'm stuck with online shopping.
Is there anything I can do right now so they can hold on for the meantime? I hate having to watch them suffer but I'm trying to see if I can make it a little easier for them until the package arrives.

@Deanasue , could the OP use heat to treat the koi? Even though they're cold water fish?

 

[seangee]

My pond gets to over 30C in summer. Since these are already in a heated aquarium I think they will be fine if the temperature is raised gradually. Hopefully someone who knows more about them will confirm - but I have also seen them outdoors in the tropics.

 

[FishGuest5123]

@Deanasue , could the OP use heat to treat the koi? Even though they're cold water fish?

Yes, temporarily it would fine. I treat my goldfish with heat and salt.

 

[utahfish]

A koi in a ten gallon tank is going to continually get sick. 78 degrees also is probably stressing the fish out. So get some ich treatment and wait another week til its sick again.

 

[Retired Viking]

@utahfish is right, I raised koi in a 55 gallon tank for several years until they were getting too big so I gave them to a friend who had a pond so they would have a better life.

 

[FishGuest5123]

At @utahfish, OP already said they are trying to re-locate the Koi.

 

[Colin_T]

You have 3 choices.

1) You can try raising the temperature to 86F and keeping it there for 2 weeks, but reduce the temp if the fish starts acting weird.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence when raising temperatures or using medications to maximise oxygen levels.

Do a 90% water change and gravel clean the substrate before raising the temperature.

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2) Do a 90% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day until the medication arrives. This will reduce the number of parasites in the water and buy you time until the meds arrive.

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3) Move all the fish into a clean container with new water every day for 2 weeks. Make sure the new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine.

You need a couple of plastic containers for this. You basically move the fish from container to container each day. The parasites drop off the fish after a few days and sit on the bottom of the container. When you move the fish into a clean container with clean water, you leave some parasites behind so they can't reinfect the fish. You do this every day for 2 weeks.

You wash the nets, heater and airlines with warm soapy water before moving them into a clean container with the fish.

The container that just had fish in gets washed with warm soapy water and then left to dry for 24 hours before re-using it. If you have 3 or 4 containers then they can dry for longer.

The filter, gravel and plants remain in the tank and after 2 weeks without any fish in the main tank, the parasites will be gone.

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There's more information about whitespot at the following link.

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...

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