Brand new fish with ?

[suziq]

HELP!!!Please! Brand new fish with ?

Yesterday, i finally got my royal pleco (around here they are pretty rare). He's really tiny, about 2 1/2 in. Well, When I got him home yesterday, I noticed a faded spot at the end of his tail, basically the last few vertebrae before the fin. i was worried but after a few hours the color came back mostly.

He was put in a 20g quartantine with cardinals that I also bought.
Well this morning 2 cardinals are dead (expected they were really tiny) and the plec has his color in his tail BUT is showing a few sugar specs (AAUUGH ICH maybe

What do you folks think I should do?How should I treat for ich with the royal and the cardinals? should i wait to see if it develops?

ANY thoughts are appreciated. I will be here until 11am central and won't be back til 4pm.

please I need to know if I should do anything before I leave!!!!

 

[Faramir]

Definitely sounds like ich to me. I suggest you medicate quickly. You could easily lose more cardinals; ich often preferentially attacks the gills and on small fish like cardinals death may be the first symptom you notice.

I can't recommend on meds, because we don't have the same ones you have over here.

 

[suziq]

I have ich cure, which is a formaldehyde mixture, maricide,and salt.
Any suggestions as to which I use?
Also, if I treat for ich, which directions do i go by? The ich cure says use half the recommended dose if you are using it on tetras?

Thanks and keep the ideas coming

 

[Faramir]

Go for the half. I think plecs are less than tolerant of heavy medication as well.

Some people on here are strong advocates of salt treatment and will be able to fill you in on any backup salt treatment. However, if there's salt in the med you're using that has to be taken into consideration as well.

 

[suziq]

Any info on salt combined with ichcure? Would this be OK?

PUlease answer. I need to get this resolved before I go and take my last final (on a side note - yeah!!)

 

[beviking]

I hope this isn't too late. Plecos are supposedly sensitive to salt (so are clown loaches but I've always treated with salt and meds full strength and had no problems!) so you may want to go with HALF the ususal 1 tBlsp/5 gal of salt along with ich cure. Also bump the temp up to at least 80.
If you are able to keep an eye on your pleco and he doesn't look too stressed, you could ad the other 1/2 tBlsp/5 gal salt after 3 hours. Again, I've never done this with plecos, but have with several loaches and also medicated full strength on tetras and loaches with this gradual acclimation method. If you're a "better safe than sorry" person, don't try it though. Good luck!

 

[Faramir]

I wouldn't go with the salt until someone with experience of this particular med has posted. You can start medicating with the Ichcure straight away, and I would strongly advise you do so.

I am concerned about ODing the salt, especially with fish that are not salt friendly like cardinals. It's a bit like taking Lem-sip for your cold and taking a couple of paracetamols....

 

[suziq]

Thanks guys. I am going to start with a 1/2 tx of of the ichcure and try one tbl spoon of salt . When I get back, I'll add another so that each is a half treatment.

My first set of cardinals ever I bought with ich (got the whole tank full for like 10 bucks and they gave me the meds for free) and I believe I also added salt but don't remember the concentration.
About 75% of them lived so I am pretty sure they can stand the salt. I was just worried about the plec.

Soes this sound like a good plan? I'll be leaving in a little bit so i need to know ASAP.

Thanks for all of the help!

PS Faramir - I didn't understand one bit of that last line - must be a brit thang

 

[keely]

Bit late now I guess, but...

I would just do the Ich Cure at 1/2 dose; it's a complete treatment by itself... you don't have to dump anything else in there.

Salt and heat is a separate treatment and I would not use salt on tetras -- cardinals are not very tolerant of salt. 25% percent death rate is not exactly success

 

[Faramir]

I'd say that plecs are more tolerant of salt than cardinals are.

(Oh, and LemSip is a proprietory hot lemon drink for colds and flu that contains paracetamol. People who don't read the label properly often take paracetamol tablets as well and risk overdosing.)