Could my black moor have had ick for a long time?

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anniejensen

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Feb 23, 2009
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I have a black moor alone in a 55 gal. I have had him since he was small (about a year or so) and he has always kinda had white patches here and there. They go away and come back, sometimes he looks really good and sometimes not. I treated him for ick in the past and it didn't really seem to do anything. It does look like ick but I don't know why it wouldn't have gone away with treatments or for that matter, why he wouldn't be dead by now if he has had ick for so long.

I have snails in my tank so I can't do aany copper-based treatments but I am interested in the salt treatment. How long should I wait before getting the lil guy a much-anticipated buddy?
 

Somervell

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Without pictures, it's hard to tell. It's possible that your moor is aging. many american bred moors get white bellies as they get older. My three year old almost looks like a panda now. If they are salt like flecks, perhaps it is persistant ich. If you are looking at patches, I would guess it is something else.

Untreated ich will generally kill goldfish pretty quickly, so my guess is that something else is going on with his coloration-- just my 2 cents. If you post some pictures, maybe someone else with more experience could chime in.
 

platytudes

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I have two black moors in a 55 gallon. It's really tough to keep the tank clean. I have to change 25% of the water weekly. If you give them the necessary fresh veggies and plants to nibble on, these also make a big mess but if you omit these things from the diet, they are bound to have buoyancy problems. It's a pain because the filters get constantly clogged with plant and veggie material, I have to clean them every two weeks. This is more than double the maintenance of my other tanks, which have far more fish in them.

Have you tested your water? I'd be interested in the readings - I use those 5-in-1 Jungle test strips from Walmart ($11 for 25) and they do an ok job. If you don't have your own kit, you really should! Don't rely on the pet stores to test for you...they won't generally tell you anything useful and in my experience, at least, they use the free testing as a way of pushing products on you.

Also, what is your maintenance schedule like? I wouldn't get another fish until you figure out why your black moor doesn't always look right...should be the last thing on your mind! A pic would go along way towards IDing the problem. Salt and heat together are an effective ich treatment:
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php

It could be that ich comes and goes on him if it looks like flecks. But "patches" sound more like fungus - I'd be checking water chemistry to make sure you have enough alkalinity and a stable pH. Especially if you use CO2 since your tank is planted.

And as Somervell said, black moors often turn coppery and change colors as they age...black is the hardest color to keep, and these are long lived fish so they may have different stages of coloration as they grow.
 
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anniejensen

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I've had this set up going for a couple years now so I am well aware of the upkeep required. I keep it because I love it and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I have neglected the tank recently so have done a larger water change this time around. I have a liquid test kit but have not tested the water yet since the water change was larger.

The fish has been showing these signs for the better part of a year, even following ick treatments. I thought that somone may shed a little light on this problem as I figured it couldn't be sick with ick this long and still be alive.

I'm not going out and getting a new fish now but I don't think it's anyone's business what is first, third or last on my mind. I'm not a newbie at fishkeeeping so the additional(already known) information is merely a waste of time to type out and to read.

I will post pics ASAP. Thanks!
 

7itanium

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what are you treating ich with? if its anything besides salt and heat chances are it is coming back because you arent killing it.

ich medicines that you buy at the petstore are crap.. go with basic salt and heat if thats what it is
 

platytudes

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I didn't mean to offend you, sorry you took it that way. I didn't know whether you were a newbie or not, but just in case thought I would mention the need for having your own test kit and how very difficult keeping goldfish is, it's really underrated. Many people think four goldfish in a 55 gallon tank is fine...nope!

I don't think it's ever a waste of time to be descriptive. When I ask a question on a forum I always post my tank's specs. Otherwise people are going to think the problem is poor water quality...because often times it is the root of most problems. Since my filtration is more than adequate, my maintenance routine reasonable, and usually my water quality is pretty acceptable except for maybe high nitrates if I slip (and we all do) I don't mind at all sharing the info, it only takes a few minutes...but maybe I am fortunate to have more time than you.

When I said it should be the last thing on your mind I didn't mean it literally. Simply that when you have a fish that seems a little off, you need to focus on fixing that because adding more bioload only compounds the issues and exposes a potentially healthy fish to a potentially sick one. And you did specifically ask "how long should I wait...?" So all I meant was; wait until this issue is resolved.

No hard feelings, and good luck with everything.
 
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