How long wait after ich/fin rot was treated to restock

[Wat2Go]

My daughter got a ten gallon tank for her birthday. We put a rock in and some plants, and the starter kit came with a cascade 80 filter, so we set that up too. Our LFS advised us to set it up and cycle it with 2 swordtails and two platies (two couples). Water levels stayed absolutely perfect (PH 7, nitrate 0 and amonia 0, and temp stayed between 74 and 76).

After three weeks we added (on advise of the LFS) a pleco, 4 neon tetras and three zebra danios. One of the danio behaved like he/she was on crack so we feared the worst. Within an hour one of the neons had died, the next day another died (went missing actually) and the next day the other two neons developed ich.

Back to the store for advice and medication. The next day the platies and swordtail also developed ich. Raised the temp to 80, took carbon out of filter, changed about 20 % of the water. Two days later the swordtails developed fin rot (almost overnight), the LFS obvioulsy forgot to mention we should also treat with antibiotica and stupid beginners that we are, we didn't know...

Long story short: one of the swordtails died, all neons died, two danios died and both platies died. The remaining danio is fine, the remaining swordtail seems to be healing (with a damaged tail and one damaged fin...) The pleco is just fine.

I am assuming I need to finish at least 10 days of ich treatment and finish the antobiotic cure (5 days?).

How long after we stablize the tank (which I think means no more fish dying and waterlevels ok), do we have to wait to put some new fish in? We plan to only replace the swordtails and the platies (or maybe choose guppies instead of platies) and not add any other fish...


L.

 

[Holly9937]

for starters, stop listening to the pet store b/c they are giving you bad advice. read some of the stikcys at the top of this page and it will give you some advice for how to get your tank going and keep it stable. the pleco will most likely need to go back to the store unless you want to buy a 75-100+ gallon tank. most pet stores selll common plecos which can easily get 12-24+ inches long. AND are really messy so you'll never keep up with the tank.

so right now you have a sword, a danio and a pleco?? IMHO, return the pleco (or upgrade tanks...) wait a few weeks and let the tank cycle (read cycling sticky, do lots of water changes as needed in the meantime) and in a month or so get another sword and a couple of danios

 

[WeeNe858]

i suggest some salt and cranking up the heat to about 87.. that will speed up the healing and kill any remaining ich.. do that for 2 weeks and then a water change... bring the temp down to 75 within 2 days and do a test.. you should be able to add fishes after that if all is well

 

[Mgamer20o0]

http://aquafacts.net/wiki/index.php/Ich

I always recommend, as do many people, extending treatment a minimum of one week after all signs of ich are gone

 

[pl*co]

In my opinion, it is best to wait at least 48 hours (the life cycle of this parasite) in case a new crop is in the making. It would be best to continue with a second treatment. If you introduce more fish too soon, you may unknowingly expose them to a reinfested tank. If no new case of Ich appears within that time, it means any new parasite was unable to attach a host and died or you successfully eliminated it the first time through. It is the only way to be sure you break the life cycle.

 

[Wat2Go]

Thanks!!

I think it is a bristlenose pleco, and - I hope they didn't lie about this - they said it would grow to a max of 4". It will go into a bigger tank eventually (29 or 40 gallon).
Right now the water perimiters are fine, and the tank doesn't get too dirty (I do a 20% water change once a week)

The swordtail is doing well today, will her fins ever grow back?

I will finish the ich treatment in a bit over a week (for a total of 14 days) and the antibiotic in 2 days (total of 6 days).

I do feel rather stupid for killing all these fish and not given them the treatment they deserve, guess this is a very steep learning curve!

L.

 

[pl*co]

Sounds like you have all the bases covered. Swordtails fins will grow back.

 

[SidRizal]

If you want a placo that only gets to be about 4" a golden nuget L33 gets about that size, I have one and I thought it was an L-18 that gets to be about 12 inches. as far as the ick goes once there are no signs on the fish i would wait about 4 days. once you see the white spots of ick it is in the last stage, it starts off inside, and you will see the fish start breathing heavy then the white spots show up then the white spots will fall off and lay on the substrate waiting for anouther fish to swim by and touch it that is how it spreads. but with out a host it can live on the ground for up to four days.