you know treatment isn't going well when you find a shrimp snacking on the patient

[thrujenseyes]

So, I've been heat treating my tiny little fluval edge tank since bringing home 5 little CPD despite my better judgement (as they looked way too skinny).
The first time I went to purchase them, the entire tank was dead and or dying.
The next time I called ahead and specifically asked if they were healthy.
"Yes they are"
Anyway I asked the "catcher" to try and get me 5 of the healthiest ones.
When I got them into my tank they looked free of parasites and such, just very skinny so I hoped that I could fatten them up.
Also they're babies so I wasn't sure if they were suppose to look this way.
About 4 days later I saw what appeared to be ich. Just three white spots total on all 5 fish.
I'd already lost the first one at day 2 (no white spots).
I came here to ask my best option since they're so small and frail and the only other inhabitants I have are shrimp and one nerite snail (in a well established tank).
Heat it was.
As you can see I lost them all one by one.
I now have only one left, who oddly looks pretty healthy.
I'm day 10 on heat treatment and haven't seen any white spots for at least a week (like I mentioned, I'd really only seen three maybe four spots in total).
My question is...when should I bring the tank back to normal temps?
And I did two water changes since seeing the first spot.
And will do another tomorrow.
Thank you!

just a shrimp, eating a fish ... while pooping

 

[Essjay]

The temp can be dropped to the usual level 7 days after the last spot disappeared.

It looks like you were sold a batch of sickly fish

 

[thrujenseyes]

The temp can be dropped to the usual level 7 days after the last spot disappeared.

It looks like you were sold a batch of sickly fish

Ok perfect! My plants don’t seem to appreciate the heat?! Is that possible? My shrimp have been fine, even having babies so that’s good but I’m in a constant state of panic that I’m cooking them all.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Yes, think will have to agree that the fish from the LFS was not the greatest.

Asking the LFS if the fish were sick or not, well of course the LFS is going to say ‘yes of course they were healthy!’ they certainly won’t admit to selling you unhealthy fish at all.

Trust your instinct when seeing the fish in LFS before buying them, if they look sick or in any way unhealthy, walk away, there are other LFS who will sell the same specie of fish or wait until the next batch of fish at same LFS if there are no others nearby.

That way you should have more peace of mind.

As for water temps, shrimps and fish can cope with higher temperature for a short term, one or two weeks should not unduly stress them out but as essjay mentioned earlier, turning temps back down after a week after seeing the last of the white spot should be fine.

Temperature can effect the plants a bit and they may melt slightly but they should start coming back to normal again a week or two after temps back down to normal.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Wherever you look on Thinternet, one of the key points about selecting any fish is to only select the healthiest.
Whilst this doesn't help you now, it is a point worth remembering in future, as it was a point made over literally decades of fishkeeping experience.
Some of us look at that lone fish, in the corner of the shopkeepers tank, or those clearly in distress, whether it's through disease or just being badly kept and there's a 'Rescuer' inside us that wants to help.
Too many shopkeepers are more than happy to exploit that.
After all, dead and dying fish normally don't make them much money, if any at all. They also know, with fair certainty, that any rescuer will be back in the shop to replenish their now-deceased fish, possibly even feeling guilty for their own perceived inadequacies in fishkeeping.
I knew a fishkeeper who was a total whizz with regards fish illness and disease and he actually made some pennies by utilising his many hospital tanks to 'rescue' fish. That said, he was also adept at getting them for next to nothing. One thing he never, ever did, was to introduce those potentially diseased fish to his main tank.
Many rescuers fail to do this and the cause for the shop fish's demise transfers to what otherwise had been a healthy tank.
No good deed unpunished, etc..

As for that lone fish in the corner, my discussions with credible shopstaff tell me that when a particular fish sells well, it's the one that goes top of their next shopping list, so little Billy No Mates, down in that corner, will likely get some companions when the next shipment arrives.
Depending on the shop, that lone fish can even be reserved for you to collect when that next shipment comes in, (after a suitable quarantine, of course).

 

[thrujenseyes]

Yes, think will have to agree that the fish from the LFS was not the greatest.

Asking the LFS if the fish were sick or not, well of course the LFS is going to say ‘yes of course they were healthy!’ they certainly won’t admit to selling you unhealthy fish at all.

Trust your instinct when seeing the fish in LFS before buying them, if they look sick or in any way unhealthy, walk away, there are other LFS who will sell the same specie of fish or wait until the next batch of fish at same LFS if there are no others nearby.

That way you should have more peace of mind.

As for water temps, shrimps and fish can cope with higher temperature for a short term, one or two weeks should not unduly stress them out but as essjay mentioned earlier, turning temps back down after a week after seeing the last of the white spot should be fine.

Temperature can effect the plants a bit and they may melt slightly but they should start coming back to normal again a week or two after temps back down to normal.

Oh that’s good to know about my plants! I love my Anubis’s but yes, they do seem to be melting!

as for the LFS, I composed a friendly email about my purchase and got a very nice response apologizing and offering me a credit for the five fish and they also went the extra step to ensure the health of new ones if I’d like to try them again by holding them for a few weeks to make sure the’re ok.
which I thought was very nice.

I honestly didn’t think they’d care being that all five of these fish could have fit into a shot glass (with room to spare).

 

[thrujenseyes]

Wherever you look on Thinternet, one of the key points about selecting any fish is to only select the healthiest.
Whilst this doesn't help you now, it is a point worth remembering in future, as it was a point made over literally decades of fishkeeping experience.
Some of us look at that lone fish, in the corner of the shopkeepers tank, or those clearly in distress, whether it's through disease or just being badly kept and there's a 'Rescuer' inside us that wants to help.
Too many shopkeepers are more than happy to exploit that.
After all, dead and dying fish normally don't make them much money, if any at all. They also know, with fair certainty, that any rescuer will be back in the shop to replenish their now-deceased fish, possibly even feeling guilty for their own perceived inadequacies in fishkeeping.
I knew a fishkeeper who was a total whizz with regards fish illness and disease and he actually made some pennies by utilising his many hospital tanks to 'rescue' fish. That said, he was also adept at getting them for next to nothing. One thing he never, ever did, was to introduce those potentially diseased fish to his main tank.
Many rescuers fail to do this and the cause for the shop fish's demise transfers to what otherwise had been a healthy tank.
No good deed unpunished, etc..

As for that lone fish in the corner, my discussions with credible shopstaff tell me that when a particular fish sells well, it's the one that goes top of their next shopping list, so little Billy No Mates, down in that corner, will likely get some companions when the next shipment arrives.
Depending on the shop, that lone fish can even be reserved for you to collect when that next shipment comes in, (after a suitable quarantine, of course).

Oh man that is all so underhanded!!!!!
Yikes!!!
and yes not having a quarantine tank isn’t smart but I only keep a tiny little fluval edge and just don’t purchase new fish very often.
But yes, this was on me thinking “hummmm….maybe I can fatten up these poor little babies”

 

[Rocky998]

Oh that’s good to know about my pants! I love my Anubis’s but yes, they do seem to be melting!

as for the LFS, I composed a friendly email about my purchase and got a very nice response apologizing and offering me a credit for the five fish and they also went the extra step to ensure the health of new ones if I’d like to try them again by holding them for a few weeks to make sure the’re ok.
which I thought was very nice.

I honestly didn’t think they’d care being that all five of these fish could have fit into a shot glass (with room to spare).

Usually some LFS are nice with good customer service. You wouldnt get that at petsmart or petco where they dont have the "passion" that the locally owned ones do. But either way, that was very nice of them to offer and id definitely take the offer.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Oh man that is all so underhanded!!!!!
Yikes!!!
and yes not having a quarantine tank isn’t smart but I only keep a tiny little fluval edge and just don’t purchase new fish very often.
But yes, this was on me thinking “hummmm….maybe I can fatten up these poor little babies”

At least you got a civilised response from your particular shop.
I haven't had the conversation yet with today's shopkeepers, but in the past, I was told that suppliers who supply them with 'faulty' fish tend not to get repeat orders. I was also told that the majority of shops wouldn't find it in their best interest to try and sell sickly fish, but that was back when there were lots of fish shops and competition was tight.
Apparently, some fish would be worth the shop putting in the effort to bring them on back to good health, before putting them out for display.
Some weren't and these would apparently be euthanised, rather than take up valuable tank space. Only a few shops would risk their reputation by putting out sickly fish.

I'm wondering now if more shops do this, simply because there is less competition than there used to be?

 

[thrujenseyes]

Usually some LFS are nice with good customer service. You wouldnt get that at petsmart or petco where they dont have the "passion" that the locally owned ones do. But either way, that was very nice of them to offer and id definitely take the offer.

I agree completely

 

[thrujenseyes]

At least you got a civilised response from your particular shop.
I haven't had the conversation yet with today's shopkeepers, but in the past, I was told that suppliers who supply them with 'faulty' fish tend not to get repeat orders. I was also told that the majority of shops wouldn't find it in their best interest to try and sell sickly fish, but that was back when there were lots of fish shops and competition was tight.
Apparently, some fish would be worth the shop putting in the effort to bring them on back to good health, before putting them out for display.
Some weren't and these would apparently be euthanised, rather than take up valuable tank space. Only a few shops would risk their reputation by putting out sickly fish.

I'm wondering now if more shops do this, simply because there is less competition than there used to be?

This shop has been a round for a very long time and even bounced back and moved into a new space after someone poisoned their entire prior shop with murcury!!!
It was sooo horrible and devastating.
The loss of fish was just beyond terrible and all of the employees had to be quarantined and tested as did the shop dog.
They never caught the horrific person that did it.
but they are really the only shop around(for miles and hours) that isn’t a big box store.

 

[Rocky998]

This shop has been a round for a very long time and even bounced back and moved into a new space after someone poisoned their entire prior shop with murcury!!!
It was sooo horrible and devastating.
The loss of fish was just beyond terrible and all of the employees had to be quarantined and tested as did the shop dog.
They never caught the horrific person that did it.
but they are really the only shop around(for miles and hours) that isn’t a big box store.

WHAT!?!? SOMEONE DID THAT ON PURPOSE!?

 

[Ch4rlie]

This shop has been a round for a very long time and even bounced back and moved into a new space after someone poisoned their entire prior shop with murcury!!!
It was sooo horrible and devastating.
The loss of fish was just beyond terrible and all of the employees had to be quarantined and tested as did the shop dog.
They never caught the horrific person that did it.
but they are really the only shop around(for miles and hours) that isn’t a big box store.

Wow!

That’s pretty darned low for anyone to do such a thing!

Shame that lowlife was never caught but hope he/she has a guilty conscience and felt bad about doing this and seeing what the shop staff (and dog) had to go through.

But on a more positive note, the recovery of the store and staff to bounce back and become a decent store is a credit to them, well done to them!

 

[thrujenseyes]

Just wanted to show what has happened to a couple of my anubias during heat treatment.
Is this what is meant by "melting"?!
I'm slowly bringing the heat back to normal right now.
Is there any saving this plant?
The leaves seem to lose their green color turning yellow and then they just fade and fade until they're see thru

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

'Melt' is a layman's term applied by many to describe any sort of plant deterioration.
Don't worry.
The plant will try to put its energies into saving the damaged leaves. These leaves can also contribute to your ammonia load in the tank.
So cut these away with sharp scissors and the plant will then direct its energy into growing new leaves.
Start by removing those incomplete leaves and see how it goes.