Update: Both my moors are now dead 
Dont know what went wrong, just hope that my other fish will be alright now.
Dont know what went wrong, just hope that my other fish will be alright now.White Spot?
- Thread starter suzi_75
- Start date
does anybody have any advice on how i should treat my other fish at the moment? I am planning to drain my tank and start over with fresh, uncontaminated water.
You need to do three things: Raise the tank temperature (SLOWLY) up to 80 degrees. This shortens the life cycle of the parasite itself.
Treat the tank with a good ich/velvet medication. Any store-bought med should work. Be sure to keep up with water changes, as many of these meds will kill off your filter bacteria and you will start a new cycle.
Cover the tank and turn off lights. The parasites are light-sensitive and actually do use photosynthesis. Keeping the tank dark will help kill them off.
If the fish left in the tank can deal with salt, adding aquarium salt (NOT table salt) at 1 teaspoon per US gal (4 liters).
Between these methods, you have the best shot at saving the rest of the fish.
Good luck!
Treat the tank with a good ich/velvet medication. Any store-bought med should work. Be sure to keep up with water changes, as many of these meds will kill off your filter bacteria and you will start a new cycle.
Cover the tank and turn off lights. The parasites are light-sensitive and actually do use photosynthesis. Keeping the tank dark will help kill them off.
If the fish left in the tank can deal with salt, adding aquarium salt (NOT table salt) at 1 teaspoon per US gal (4 liters).
Between these methods, you have the best shot at saving the rest of the fish.
Good luck!
The two fantails that I have left are not looking good they are acting and looking like the moors did the day before they died and it looks like they have fin rot now too. I know this sounds evil but is there any way of humainly putting them out of there misery? They look like they are suffering soo much and im doing everything i can to help them but nothing seems to be helping? I am soo angry with the pet shop that I bought the sick fish from, they are a trusted store aswell which makes it all the worse. Do I have any right to any compo from them as it looks like im going to loose my entire tank??
Thank you all for all your posts, you have been a great wealth of knowledge. xx
they are acting and looking like the moors did the day before they died and it looks like they have fin rot now too. I know this sounds evil but is there any way of humainly putting them out of there misery? They look like they are suffering soo much and im doing everything i can to help them but nothing seems to be helping? I am soo angry with the pet shop that I bought the sick fish from, they are a trusted store aswell which makes it all the worse. Do I have any right to any compo from them as it looks like im going to loose my entire tank??Thank you all for all your posts, you have been a great wealth of knowledge. xx
my thoughts here. . .
a salt/heat treatment would have been the best method here. (but don't feel bad - you didn't know). i would bet that water conditions plus the ich medication caused the fish a lot of stress. the white "shedding" was due to too much slime coat from irritation.
can you give us more info on your tank?
how long has it been set up?
size?
ammonia/nitrite/nitrate readings?
how many fish/what kinds?
temperature?
i disagree on the use of aquarium salt vs. regular table salt. while it does have additives, you would kill the fish with the salt itself before the additives even came close to being at a harmful level. if iodine is a worry, just get iodine-free salt.
without knowing at this point what else you have in the tank, my basic recommendation would be to do a large water change and add carbon in order to remove the medication. raise temp to about 80 degrees, and lower the water level just a bit so the filter splashes as the water comes back into the tank. this will increase oxygen in the water. measure out 1 tsp. per gallon of water in the tank. dissolve this in some tank water and slowly add it to the tank. the heat makes the ich go though its life cycle faster, and when it is in the free-swimming stage the salt kills it. it can take 10-14 days for all the ich to be killed. don't worry too much about the heat though - if it seems to affect the fish, just lower the temperature. the entire treatment may take a couple extra days if you do though.
a salt/heat treatment would have been the best method here. (but don't feel bad - you didn't know). i would bet that water conditions plus the ich medication caused the fish a lot of stress. the white "shedding" was due to too much slime coat from irritation.
can you give us more info on your tank?
how long has it been set up?
size?
ammonia/nitrite/nitrate readings?
how many fish/what kinds?
temperature?
i disagree on the use of aquarium salt vs. regular table salt. while it does have additives, you would kill the fish with the salt itself before the additives even came close to being at a harmful level. if iodine is a worry, just get iodine-free salt.
without knowing at this point what else you have in the tank, my basic recommendation would be to do a large water change and add carbon in order to remove the medication. raise temp to about 80 degrees, and lower the water level just a bit so the filter splashes as the water comes back into the tank. this will increase oxygen in the water. measure out 1 tsp. per gallon of water in the tank. dissolve this in some tank water and slowly add it to the tank. the heat makes the ich go though its life cycle faster, and when it is in the free-swimming stage the salt kills it. it can take 10-14 days for all the ich to be killed. don't worry too much about the heat though - if it seems to affect the fish, just lower the temperature. the entire treatment may take a couple extra days if you do though.
Tank info: 35 litres, been set up for around 4 months but I had a 3gal tank before (which was set up for around a year) and transferred the fish to the bigger tank. Originally had 2 fantails and 5 minnows and after moving to the bigger tank I added 2 black moors and 1 butterfly plec. 2 weeks after adding the new fish they were all dead and my original fish got very sick. Until the new fish were added all water levels were perfect, got an amonia spike after adding new fish but it calmed down after a few days.
I lost 1 of my fantails this morning and im now left with a very sick looking white fantial and 4 minnows. I cant bellieve within 3 weeks ive lost the majority of my fish, im gutted
I lost 1 of my fantails this morning and im now left with a very sick looking white fantial and 4 minnows. I cant bellieve within 3 weeks ive lost the majority of my fish, im gutted
If you still want to euthanize, go to your local health/vitamin store, or large drug store/pharmacy, and look for clove oil. sometimes it is labeled eugenol. pure clove oil is sometimes used as an anaesthetic for toothaches, so look in that section, and also used for aromatherapy. i called around until i found a place that carried it before driving there.
get a small container with a lid and mix a teaspoon of the oil with water in the container. shake it up well, until the water turns white and the oil is well-mixed. put your remaining fish into a bowl with tank water. add some of the clove oil mixture, a little at a time, until the fish's gill movements slow down. continue adding the mixture until you haven't seen a gill movement for three minutes. finally, pour the fish with some of its water into a disposable container and freeze overnight.
clove oil is used often as a fish anesthetic. therefore it's a very humane way of euthanizing a fish. they basically go to sleep and don't wake up. the clove oil knocks them out, and freezing them after they're out ensures that.
get a small container with a lid and mix a teaspoon of the oil with water in the container. shake it up well, until the water turns white and the oil is well-mixed. put your remaining fish into a bowl with tank water. add some of the clove oil mixture, a little at a time, until the fish's gill movements slow down. continue adding the mixture until you haven't seen a gill movement for three minutes. finally, pour the fish with some of its water into a disposable container and freeze overnight.
clove oil is used often as a fish anesthetic. therefore it's a very humane way of euthanizing a fish. they basically go to sleep and don't wake up. the clove oil knocks them out, and freezing them after they're out ensures that.
i'm sorry that you've lost most of your fish. any time we lose a pet it's hard, especially when you are watching them get worse though you try to help them.
my suggestion at this point is to do what to have to do with the remaining fish - if treatment is not working then you may have to turn to euthanasia. once this crisis is over, however, don't buy any more fish until more research is done.
the black moors you had were already infected when you got them, i'm sure, but the 35 liter tank was way too small for one of your fish, let alone four goldies. if the fantails had been living in a 3g tank for a year, then they were definitely stunted and therefore very susceptible to any kind of disease they came into contact with. even though your fish were probably small, a 100 liter tank would have been a minimum for them, with an upgrade to 190 liters or more needed later on do they could reach full adult size and maintain health. i've personally seen fantails and black moors as big around as 1-liter soda bottles, and half as long. as far as the butterfly pleco, it was probably a hillstream loach - not a pleco at all. they need really clean and highly oxygenated water, and would be very sensitive to ich medications since they are scaleless fish.
what kind of test kit do you use? what exactly are the levels for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate? how often did you change water, and how much at a time?
my suggestion at this point is to do what to have to do with the remaining fish - if treatment is not working then you may have to turn to euthanasia. once this crisis is over, however, don't buy any more fish until more research is done.
the black moors you had were already infected when you got them, i'm sure, but the 35 liter tank was way too small for one of your fish, let alone four goldies. if the fantails had been living in a 3g tank for a year, then they were definitely stunted and therefore very susceptible to any kind of disease they came into contact with. even though your fish were probably small, a 100 liter tank would have been a minimum for them, with an upgrade to 190 liters or more needed later on do they could reach full adult size and maintain health. i've personally seen fantails and black moors as big around as 1-liter soda bottles, and half as long. as far as the butterfly pleco, it was probably a hillstream loach - not a pleco at all. they need really clean and highly oxygenated water, and would be very sensitive to ich medications since they are scaleless fish.
what kind of test kit do you use? what exactly are the levels for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate? how often did you change water, and how much at a time?
When I first started out with fish I was in the pet shop about twice a week for around 6 months asking questions and getting all the knowledge that I could and it was under their advice that i had 2 fan tails in a 3gal tank and again they told me that i could add several more fish to my 35litre one. I have been acting on their advice from the start so do you think that they are giving me the wrong advice on everything??
I do around a 30% water change once a week, vacume the gravel and do a general clean/tidy once a week. I use the API master test kit and the readings are normally bang on, got an ammonia spike after adding the new fish but it calmed down after a few days.
I am going to go back to the pet shop (Pets at Home) and let them know what has happened so hopefully they can prevent it happening to other customers.
I do around a 30% water change once a week, vacume the gravel and do a general clean/tidy once a week. I use the API master test kit and the readings are normally bang on, got an ammonia spike after adding the new fish but it calmed down after a few days.
I am going to go back to the pet shop (Pets at Home) and let them know what has happened so hopefully they can prevent it happening to other customers.
don't blame the pet store! even if the advice they gave is bad, keeping those fish is your responsibility alone, moreover, you had a year to correct any misinformation and there is a lot of goldfish info on the internet to not know the basics. Start by reading the new goldfish article sticky, it's pretty good and proceed slowly from there.
