Hello I have a 40 gallon breeder and about two months ago I had a pretty bad case of ick that ended up taking 5 of my fish; 1 German blue ram, 1 African dwarf frog, and 3 Julian Corys. I treated it with bacteriashield and now that the fish are back to normal I want to add in some new fish. I did some research about fungal infections in fish and from most website they stated you need to completely disinfect the tank and get new plants and gravel which I’m willing to do because I was to re-aquascape it anyways. I’m mainly wondering how I should go about disinfecting, is this true (few websites said you didn’t have to), what disinfectant I should use that is safe, etc.
Bad case of ick 2 months ago aftermath
- Thread starter Bailey7091
- Start date
Welcome to AC
Ich is a parasite not a bacteria or fungus. I have never used that natural product or any others. There are several different treatments you can use. I haven't had ich in many, many years & used dye based 1s.
How long ago did you have ich? It can remain in the tank as it goes through the 3 life stages, basically on the fish, then it falls off into the substrate & then into the water column to reinfect fish. Sometimes it is only in the gills so you can't see it. The trick is to treat long enough to kill it all & can take 10-14 days after all signs are gone from the fish.
Ich is a parasite not a bacteria or fungus. I have never used that natural product or any others. There are several different treatments you can use. I haven't had ich in many, many years & used dye based 1s.
How long ago did you have ich? It can remain in the tank as it goes through the 3 life stages, basically on the fish, then it falls off into the substrate & then into the water column to reinfect fish. Sometimes it is only in the gills so you can't see it. The trick is to treat long enough to kill it all & can take 10-14 days after all signs are gone from the fish.
Sadly I have no photos of it but the fish that I lost had missing fins/mouths as well as white spots all over their bodies. If you need any other info I would be happy to share. I know people are sceptical about having betas with community tanks and I want to move him but he has it as well and has been hiding so I’m unable to get a photo. Do you have any idea what could treat this
I believe it’s been close to two months but that is before I saw any visable signs just different behavior. The spotting started to occur a week and a half after. It was very easy to see as it was all over the body. I never took any photos of it but when I found 3 of the fish they were missing fins/ mouths
it was very sad so I went straight to the fish store local to be and they recommend that product to help the fish still living. I was told to only treat for 4 days so that’s what I did. Do you think I will have another wave?Ich can lead secondary bacteria infections sometimes. It could also be other fish eating parts of dead or dying fish. It's hard to say.
Were the ich-y fish showing the fin & lip damage while they were still swimming around fairly normally? Or did you find the bodies after they died (or almost)?
Did any of the surviving fish show any ich at all, even just a dot or 2? Any sort of sores (red or white patches?), lip or fin damage? Any "flashing" in the "healthy" fish? That's when the fish dash against decor to scratch at the ich or other irritations.
IF the ich & bacteria are truly all gone, then you don't really need to disinfect. But you should still do frequent water changes & study the survivors closely for any salt-like specs or other signs. I'm worried you may still have ich...it doesn't just go away...
Were the ich-y fish showing the fin & lip damage while they were still swimming around fairly normally? Or did you find the bodies after they died (or almost)?
Did any of the surviving fish show any ich at all, even just a dot or 2? Any sort of sores (red or white patches?), lip or fin damage? Any "flashing" in the "healthy" fish? That's when the fish dash against decor to scratch at the ich or other irritations.
IF the ich & bacteria are truly all gone, then you don't really need to disinfect. But you should still do frequent water changes & study the survivors closely for any salt-like specs or other signs. I'm worried you may still have ich...it doesn't just go away...
So my beta had signs of it but it looked different then the other fish. He didn’t have any dots on him and his tail was turning white. It has almost completely gotten its color back. Almost all the fish that died had dots on their body. Only one Julian Cory didn’t (but it was hard to see because of their coloring) I just had a fish die about a week ago but this one was different, it was a German ram and half of his body was black. I don’t think that was ick but I could be wrong.
I think you need to treat for ich with a real (effective) drug. There are several products that can work but no "natural" products that I know. the loach claims his Herbtana(?) does, but I have my doubts...since I've never used it...or heard of others success.
You had a fish die only a week ago? That says you've not treated the ich well enough or long enough. There are many excuses for fish deaths, but now it's time to do something better & more effective than you have so far.
Rams are very susceptible to ich, to the point of death often...Dying fish can have many signs. It can be hard for a novice especially to see the signs before it's too late to treat effectively.
I hope you don't wait too long to help your fish. Early stages of ich are not super hard to treat...but you do have to treat them. The longer you wait the higher the mortality rate may be...& like I said, maybe bacterial infections too
I'm sorry to be so harsh, I wish you'd asked a couple months ago...I don't think you or your fish are out of the ichy woods yet...
You had a fish die only a week ago? That says you've not treated the ich well enough or long enough. There are many excuses for fish deaths, but now it's time to do something better & more effective than you have so far.
Rams are very susceptible to ich, to the point of death often...Dying fish can have many signs. It can be hard for a novice especially to see the signs before it's too late to treat effectively.
I hope you don't wait too long to help your fish. Early stages of ich are not super hard to treat...but you do have to treat them. The longer you wait the higher the mortality rate may be...& like I said, maybe bacterial infections too
I'm sorry to be so harsh, I wish you'd asked a couple months ago...I don't think you or your fish are out of the ichy woods yet...
I would bet dollars to donuts what your fish had was most likely a strain of columnaris- Flavobacterium columnare (F. columnare).
Ich is unmistakable in how it looks on fish. It looks as if you salted them but the salt crystals never dissolved. You can see tons of pictures here: Google images -ich on fish
ich does not dissolve fins or lips. Columnaris on the other hand is often called by names such as mouth fungus or saddleback disease.
Google images= columnaris on fish
Ich is unmistakable in how it looks on fish. It looks as if you salted them but the salt crystals never dissolved. You can see tons of pictures here: Google images -ich on fish
ich does not dissolve fins or lips. Columnaris on the other hand is often called by names such as mouth fungus or saddleback disease.
Google images= columnaris on fish
Well, TTA, I would agree with likely columnaris, IF the fish were still alive when they showed those signs. It could be a secondary bacterial infection, sick (ich-y) fish can get other diseases. Dead fish are often nibbled on...
Erythromycin is a good treatment for columnaris I think, but not for ich.
Do you fish show signs of either disease right now?
Erythromycin is a good treatment for columnaris I think, but not for ich.
Do you fish show signs of either disease right now?
