Ick and vacation disaster

sarcare

sarcare

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Aug 3, 2006
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Today has proven to me what a newbie I am in the world of fishkeeping, right when I was thinking I was finally getting something.

So I am planning on going on a ten day visit to my family (leaving the 16th and returning the 26) and I got a neighbor to come feed my fish a couple times during that time.

Today I ran to my lfs because they are having a massive sale and I wanted some more tank decorations and they are all 40% off. So I boilled the rock and driftwood, put on the new java moss and other plants and rearranged the tanks. They look fairly nice, if a little cloudy from the rocks and driftwood. I also moved the two corys in with three new bronze corries in my twenty gallon with the gourami.

So I was watching my barb tank, which is now only barbs, and noticed white spots on most of their tail fins. It looks like what I've read ich looks like. I imagine the stress of all the moving and re-arranging has helped bring this on, as the water perams are excellent.
0 ammonia
0 nitrites
10 nitrates

I have a bunch of questions, and would really appreciate your help!
1. Do I need to treat the tank that I moved the cories to, even before they show any signs of ick?
2. What course of treatment ought I follow considering I am leaving on Wednesday for ten days for a family event?
3. Am I stressing my fish too much by doing too many water changes (everyother day while it was doing a miny cycle) and rearanging the tank?
 
It now appears that the gourami also has ick--as I looked even closer at his tail. I want to treat it with salt, but I don't understand how to add it and how I can do it with being out of town.
 
I know there have been a lot of threads on Ich, so I suppose I just need an assurance that this is the right thing to do--because I'm absolutely paranoid about my fish and worry about them way too much!

I am adding enough salt to be 1 teaspoon per gallon right now, (through a syphon of the salt disolved into tank water into the filter) then I'll add enough to get it up to 2 teaspoon once the fish have time to adjust.

I think the problem I have is that I'm not sure if I am supposed to keep adding salt everyday or if this one dose and then a water change and more salt to keep it at the same dose with higer temp will solve the problem while I'm away or if I need to do something different since I am not here to moniter the fish.
 
here's a link to the Ich article that used to be on this site
http://aquariumboard.com/forums/articles/25-ich-fw.html

It's no longer on Aquaria Central due to politics between the author and the new management here :(

if you have any other questions after reading it, please feel free to post. I just did the treatment on my tank (finished this Saturday!) and it worked great, no losses of plants or fish :)

I would recommend to treat for 2 weeks, with temperature elevated, because it speeds the life cycle of the ich parasite. you can do it without increasing temp, but it would probably take 3 weeks to be safe.
 
I have read the article, and it is, I think, only one simple thing I am confused about. It may seem stupid, but I just don't get it. When you say continue the treatment, do you mean just making sure to add the salt when you change the water to keep it at the same levels, or continually add salt.

I am just worried about leaving the tank for ten days during my first time ever dealing with an outbreak of any illness. Thanks for your response!
 
The only time salt leaves your tank is via water changes, so yes, if you change the water you need to add in salt to compensate for what you remove and readd.

The idea is to get the salt level to about 2 teaspoons per gallon and keep it there.

Does that help?

Roan
 
sarcare said:
When you say continue the treatment, do you mean just making sure to add the salt when you change the water to keep it at the same levels, or continually add salt.

I am just worried about leaving the tank for ten days during my first time ever dealing with an outbreak of any illness. Thanks for your response!
Click to expand...
Yes, when you do a water change, pre-mix some salt into the new water before adding it to the tank. Otherwise, by adding fresh water (zero salinity) into the tank only to add more salt later, is stressful to your fish.

I'm sorry that your trip is scheduled at this rough time for your fish. I sometimes want to take time off work if I have sick fish :) Haven't tried that excuse yet, but maybe one day I will?

I think ten days would probably be OK without a water change, but since you'll be doing a treatment, you never know what might go wrong and call for an immediate water change. Does anyone know if the low salt levels prescribed in the ich treatment disrupts the biological filter?

Maybe delay treatment until you get back? I don't know, I'm sorry.
 
I googled that, but couldn't figure out how to visibly tell the difference. Would the salt water treatment harm the fish if it were Lymphocystis and not Ick?

I'd take pictures but the barbs wont slow down and it is hard to pick out the little dots on their tales. They don't appear to be behaving in any unusual manner, and are eating quite as usual.

1spot.jpg
 
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