H. Inspector has ich - Please advise.

Hey everyone,

I hope this is posted in the right place, if not I apologize - I wasn't sure if I should post here or in Freshwater newbie.

So I spotted what looked like specks of dust on my hypancistrus inspector 2 days ago. There were so faint and so few that I could see so I decided to wait it out.

Today he definitely looks salted, which sadly confirms that he has ich.
Inspector is by far my favourite and I thought I had been very careful to not stress him out and give him and his mates the best conditions.

I’ve done a lot of reading but found some contradicting info and just want to make sure I use the best solution for mr. inspector AND his tank mates.

Thanks in advance for your help!

1. Water parameters
a) Temperature: 77
b) ph: somewhere between 7.4 and 7.8, unfortunately my test kit isn’t more precise.
c) Currently no test kit for GH
d) Currently no test kit for Kh
e) Ammonia = 1 and both Nitrite and Nitrate are at 0
f) Water change frequency has been once a week

2. Tank set up
a) Size: 15,9G
b) Substrate: small gravel
c) Filtration: AquaClear 150 Power Filter
d) Furnishings: 1 grotto, 1 piece of driftwood, a couple live plants (unidentified)
e) Other tank mates: 4 white cloud mountain minnows and 1 zebra nerite
f) How long has it been set-up: Setup Jan 5th
g) When was the last new fish added? February 8th (inspector and zebra nerite)
h) Foods used and frequency? Nutrafin max everyday and wardley algae discs every other day

3. Symptoms / Problem description

Inspector is covered with salt like speckles which looks like ich, has been hiding in grotto and looks like he is shaking.

4. Action taken (if any)
I’m about to do a 20-30% water change and slowly started raising temperature.

5. Medications used (if any)
None used yet.

Hi Turbosaurus,

Thanks for the quick reply.

Temperature had only raised to 26 so far, so I'll maintain it there for now.

I made sure my tank was cycled before adding the very first fish.

I had waited 10 days and tested water before going to buy the h. inspector and tested again before adding it in - everything was at 0. Verified again 2 days later and everything was still at 0.

Any idea what could have caused the ammonia to raise since?

I dont use any cleaning products, and I think I'm rather careful to not overfeed; the fish always hurry to eat everything. Should I try feeding less?

I just did a water change, how long should I wait before testing the water again?

LeahK said:

How did you start the cycling process (i.e., what was your ammonia source)?

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I used ammonia and Cycle. Plants were also added about a week before the first fish if I remember correctly.

So it sounds like you cycled the tank with pure ammonia, then added the white clouds, and then about 10 days later you added the snail and the inspector? It could be just that the increased bioload from the snail and inspector caused a spike in ammonia.

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Yup that's correct. On top of that, when we came home with those two, we found what looked like 2 pond snails which most likely came from the plants. We spotted 1-2 ramshorns as well. I did remember reading somewhere that snails just by themselves could cause spikes in ammonia, so I wondered if that had anything to do with it. I haven't seen any of them in a couple days now though, but they are so small they could be hiding.

Looking back at my log, I'm noticing that 2 days after introducing fish+snail, the ammonia had raised to 0.25. I attributed it to the new inhabitants, I guess I should've kept testing everyday :T My Nitrite was at 0 then, and Nitrate at 5.

Originally, I had 3 potted plants. I've since seperated them and removed some so I couldn't say exactly.

I'm gonna test the water in just a bit and report back. I'll check the tap water too while I'm at it.

How often would you suggest I do water changes?

Thank you so much for all of the insight, I really appreciate it