Using Salt

[Amber]

Hi,

Id like some opinions on this, recently bought a new fancy goldfish, because my quarentine tank was being used to house some guppys for someone else and the shop assured me they had had him for over 6 weeks I put him straight into my tank-first time id ever done that and jeez am i paying for it
I first noticed two lice on the bottom side of his tail (same day I got him) and the tank was treated the next day with meds to kill them after two days I couldnt see them on him anymore and things looked good - yesterday I looked at him and could see whitespot, not heavily infected but there none the less, I put the carbon back into my filter to remove all traces of the lice med and yet today I look into my tank and I cant see the whitespot anymore however my fish are sick you can tell fins down floating rather than swimming that sort of thing and to top it all one of my original fancies looks as if he maybe getting a bit of fin rot on his tail unless its just a bite im not sure, two of them also have blood streaks through their fins
Because of the fact I seem to have more than one problem going on in my tank I was going to stear clear of any meds because what would I treat for first and use a medium salt solution in the tank to see if I can improve things, Im worried though about my dojo loach in with them im not sure if they are salt sensitive - I know hes pretty hardy, so far he is the only fish seemingly uneffected by this whole mess.
Opinions on my plans please, any thoughts, suggestions,comments, reassurance needed

 

[bribones]

instead of treating the whole tank make up a solution and treat the fish individualy ,dip them only long enough to avoid any stress ,you can add aqua salt to the tank as a sort of tonic in small amounts with no harm coming to the fish

 

[Amber]

Hi thanks for replying, I did consider dipping but what if the ich is still in the water a mild solution won't kill it will it?

 

[bribones]

the short answer is no but then a strong solution wont either as you can only kill it when its external to the fish ,proper meds are the way to go ,with a water change and treatment of any plants etc

 

[Amber]

Yeah I guess, but then I cant see any ich now anyway and im wondering if the lice med nipped it in the bud before it really took hold, Im talking the space of 24 hours do u think thats possible - I just dont understand whats happening

 

[bribones]

have you done any water changes since the meds ?

personaly if the fish is under the weather the stress of a salt dip might make matters worse,go with water changes for now and see what happens

 

[black angel]

To clear the tank of ich you are going to need a heater if you already dont have one and turn it up to 82f slowly.
Heat will quicken the lifecycle and hopefully get rid of it.
I really think you should buy a 5 gallon for the loach as he wont like the heat and he will be fine for a few days as long as it has a hood.
Its naturally better to salt the tank rather than using meds, but as the fish seem to be weakening then i suggest going with protozin and salt baths.
Keep the tank light off when using meds but you dont need to cover the tank with a blanket.
Follow the directions on the container and on the days before you add the med do a 30% water change using a gravel vac to clean as much of the gravel as you can.

The salt bath will hopefully remove any ich on the fish and help to thicken up the slime coat.
In a bucket add 1 gallon of fresh dechlorinated temperature matched water and add one and a half teaspoons of the salt and put the fish in it for 10 minutes. You must watch the fish really closely and if any of them stop and dont respond to you take it out and place back in the tank.
Do this once a day for three days and hopefully you will get rid of the ich.

 

[Amber]

No the carbon has been replaced in my filter but I haven't done a water change - ok thanks Ill monitor the situation for another day maybe then make the call.

 

[black angel]

If youre no longer seeing the ich then its possible its burst and they are now hiding in the gravel. If you want to hold off from the salt and meds then do lots of gravel vacs.

 

[Amber]

To clear the tank of ich you are going to need a heater if you already dont have one and turn it up to 82f slowly.
Heat will quicken the lifecycle and hopefully get rid of it.
I really think you should buy a 5 gallon for the loach as he wont like the heat and he will be fine for a few days as long as it has a hood.
Its naturally better to salt the tank rather than using meds, but as the fish seem to be weakening then i suggest going with protozin and salt baths.
Keep the tank light off when using meds but you dont need to cover the tank with a blanket.
Follow the directions on the container and on the days before you add the med do a 30% water change using a gravel vac to clean as much of the gravel as you can.

The salt bath will hopefully remove any ich on the fish and help to thicken up the slime coat.
In a bucket add 1 gallon of fresh dechlorinated temperature matched water and add one and a half teaspoons of the salt and put the fish in it for 10 minutes. You must watch the fish really closely and if any of them stop and dont respond to you take it out and place back in the tank.
Do this once a day for three days and hopefully you will get rid of the ich.

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Thanks black angel, I do have a spare 10g I could house he dojo in, it did cross my mind but then I worried about whether he could carry the ich (he shows no signs of it though) and so re-infect my tank when I put him back in.

 

[black angel]

If you can keep him in isolation for a week or two that should be long enough to see if he is carrying any parasite.

If the 10 gallon has a filter then you could dose the tank to half strength with meds to make sure he doesnt have any on him.

 

[Amber]

Yeah good idea,

Thank you both for your help, you've put my mind at rest a little more now I was begining to get to the 'frantic' stage

 

[Amber]

Hello, well a little update things are looking better in my tank, the whitespot has cleared and the fish are swimming about as normal.
The thing is though two of my fancies still have bloody ragged fins, is it normal for the fins to still be bloody after the fish have got better, you know untill they heal completely or should I be worried about the appearance? Any advice welcome please.

EDIT: I should just say that the med I used which was Tetra Goldmed is meant to treat fin rot a aswell.

 

[black angel]

nice to hear the fish is doing lots better.
The red fins could still be healing from the parasite attack. I would also check your ammonia and nitrite levels to make sure nothing is wrong there, you should have 0 for both.
Septiceamia is a bacterial disease which can cause redness in fins and doing regular water changes should help if thats to blame.

 

[Amber]

Thanks Black Angel, the ammonia and nitrIte readings are both at nil, the tank is years old and well mature so I guess its just still healing then. The bloody ragged fins occured when the ich hit the tank so I just put it down to stress/lowered immune systems.

Ill keep a eye on them then, hopefully they will heal and grow back in time...


Thanks again, your a star