Ugh... Whitespots!!

[Fishsmurf]

Feline,

Hi and sorry to hear about your problems. You are probably gonna get a few different opinions on what to do next but to make the best of a bad situation here is what I would recommend:

1) Do a large water change (80 - 90%) and raise the temp to about 84f on the "new" tank, aclimatise, then move the clown's and neons into there out of the salt until the ich is cleared up in the main tank and maybe depending on thing go maybe until the main tank is cycled. Although this tank is not cycled you can keep the Ammonia levels etc down with small regular water changes. Whilst this will slow the cycle down it will be of benefit for a number of reasons, one it gets the neons and clowns out of the salt and two you will be slowly starting to cycle this tank. Thirdly with the small amount of fish in there and daily water changes the Ammonia level shouldn't creep to high.

Treat this tank for Ich (carbon out etc) as well but only use meds no salt. If you can get find an Ich med for scaless fish great, if not use the Ich med you have but only at half dose (I have used this methods with clowns before)

2) Carry on treating the main tank for Ich and again try to keep the Ammonia levels down with small regular water changes. Don't add any more chems to supress the ammonia as it will slow the cycle down, the only thing I would possibly recommend if the ammonia should reach unacceptable levels would be something called "Ammo Lock" (personally I have never used it) which should (according to other posts) lock the toxicity of the Ammonia whilst still making it available to the nitritfying bacteria. Note on the Ammo Lock, this is only from read posts and not personal experience

Normally people would recommend trying to limit the amount of water changes during a cycle as it slows the cycle down (I don't really agree with this but thats a whole different ball game), but in your situation and to alleviate the fishes suffering try to keep ammonia levels down with water changes. Finally the last benefit of these water changes is that it will also reduce the salinity to a level that will be accpetable to the clowns / neons when they go back in....

Hopefully by the time the Ich treatment is finished you should be a further couple of weeks into the cycle on the main tank and we can have another look from there.

Remember to let the Ich med run it's full course as per the instructions and do not stop treating or replace the carbon until the full treatment has been completed.

I hope that helps out some.....

 

[Jamnog]

im not shure if this will make any sence but look in the phone book for other fish shops in the aria and some of the ones that look kinda specialist might take the fish off you the ones that will talk about the fish and not the profit are probably the ones that are worth getting your fish from in future. i might sound like a barbarian in some of my posts but i know a good shop and i think they would take your fish in. i know the one i get all my fish from take fish that are not suitable and swap fish that are not male/female for ones that are. i know they are good with this but they wont take my irridesant because they cant house it in a suitable tank. not allot of people have a suitable tank infact some people will tell you there is no suitable tank i mgiht be off on holliday to take this fish back. thats what you get from chain shops .

 

[Angel Lady]

how are your fish doing today I hope you got your neons and the clown out of that salt it sure isnt any good on them I have thought about that all day.

 

[ostrow]

I can confirm with certainty: no salt for tetras or for loaches.
I tend to stay away from malachite green medications as well with these fish.

 

[Angel Lady]

HOW ARE THEY TURN THE TEMPup to 85 and it will kill the freeswimmers I know it gets a little nerve racking but things will work themselves out most of the time just change out the water every other day to keep the ammonia down and your fish should make it ok. I managed to save all of mine I messed up both of my tanks by being stupid and I had to go threw cycling on two tanks at once with some very costly fish and I didnt lose not one I listened to the people on this forum since I found this forum I havent lost but two fish so I think that is pretty good.Good Luck with your cycling period and I hope you dont lose anymore fish.

 

[Feline]

Hello all! Thanks for your wonderful advices! Yeah I've put the Clowns and tetras in the new tank now, treating with WS3 and hopefully they'll be fine. I've also tested the ammonia level several hours (in the main tank) after changing 20% of the water and it's in 2ppm. I hope the tank has started to cycle.

The whitespots are all gone in one of the Clowns, and there's only a few ones in the another Clown, and no more in other fishies, which is good news. I'll continue the treatment for a few more days in both of the tanks.

But one thing I noticed in the main tank. The water became murkier with lots of white particles like dust floating. It smells too! And when I have a close look at the surface of gravels, I can see some white semi-transparent thing on top. Do you think it's the fungus developing? Why?

 

[Angel Lady]

have you been feeding them a lot if so I would advise you not to You might want to do another water change since that stuff is floating around what color is your gravel mabey it is some color off from the gravel. keep that temp. up for a few days to kill the free swimmers off to. I am glad you got your neons out of the salt I was worried about them and the loaches I HOPE EVERYTHING GOES WELL WITH YOUR FISH NOW. get a product called ammo-lock it wont mess up your cycle plus it will keep the high ammonia from killing your fish. I have heard nothing but good things about that stuff I used it myself I didnt lose none of my fish due to cycling and I know that is why.

 

[Feline]

Thanks fish keeper! I bought the ammo-lock today. How many days should I use that for? Until when the ammonia level drops to zero (from cycling)?

Er ..... the water is smelly, like the smell of stationary water. And if I look at the gravel at eye level, I can see white "fur" growing on top of the gravels. I bought another filter (Duo-density polyester/carbon pad) yesterday and the water looks less cloudy but still there are white particles floating in the water. I'll change the water to see if it'll be better.

I think I'd been feeding them too much previously so for these few days, I've fed them a lot less than before so not much food flakes fall to the ground.

ps. I've just checked the water chemistry. Ammonia 3-4, nitrite 0.25. Is that a strange reading?

 

[LesGerber]

No a reading of ammonia at 3-4 and a reading of nitrite at .25 means your tank is starting its cycle and that you should leave it alone.
As far as using any chemicals in your tank to control conditions like ammonia I would say use with caution. While I know the label says it will be safe you have to remember that this is another chemical you have added to your tank. I have always operated my tanks as close to natural as possible. All I have in my filters is a sponge for the bacteria and filter floss to clean the water.
I certainly hope that this helps with your cycling and remember that you are still going to get ammo readings even though it is nutrilized

Les

 

[Fishsmurf]

Feline,

Glad you got things sorted. The only thing i would add to what you have been advised would be try to keep the ammonia levels ni higher than they are with small regular water changes. Most of the bacteria you are trying to cultivate, ie NitrIte then NitrAtes will culture in the filter and on fixed surfaces, not in the water column so small regular water changes will have no major impact on the cycle but will make the enviroment comfier for your fish.

As for the water cloudiness this is normally a apart of the cycle and is just a small bacterial bloom that should dissapate with-in a few days.

Again HTH..... Good luck....

 

[Angel Lady]

the ammonia lock will cause you to get a false reading but it will save your fish in the meantime. I know that it gets nerve wrecking but that is what I was toldl to do here on this fourm and it would keep my fish alive. go to the website for that ammo lock and read some of the facts about this stuff and you will see what I am talking about, I wish you luck with your fish. I know I sure am having all kinds of trouble with my fish to I sure hope that you dont get anykind of trouble like I have been having.

 

[Feline]

A big thanks to all of you! My fishies will definitely die without all of your help! I hope the ammo-lock works coz I won't know if it's working. The ammonia level stays between 1-2 today, nitrite level .25-.5. The cloudiness is still there but your messages calm me down a bit about the bacteria bloom. I'll keep a close watch on the water chemistry. change a little bit of water everyday and hopefully all will turn out fine. You all are a wonderful bunch of ppl. Thanks a lot!!