Sick Black Widows . . .

J

~Jynx

AC Members
Jan 8, 2008
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Recently set up the 26L tank; 3 weeks old .
Had some tetras before i got 2 black widows and 2 platys about a week ago.

Yesterday found black widows have white spots on them . so went to pet store and they gave me 'wunder tonic' which is a general cure for fintrot, tailrot, whitespot and other fungal diseases..
It doesnt seem to be helping, their fins aren't looking so good, have gotten worse.
And platy's seem more stressed.

Question:
1 - could the platys stress be from the medicine ??
I did a small water change to see if it helped .
2 - Are my black widows gonna die / should i keep them with the other fish in the same tank ?
3 - Can you over-dose on the medicine... ?

Not sure what i should do ...
Cheers.
 
Can you describe the white spots. Does it look like little grains of salt, or is it more of a patch? If it is a patch is it smooth or fuzzy?

What are your parameters: ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph, water temp, how many tetras do you have, so actually how many fish do you have in the tank?

You need a good liquid test kit to keep track of the parameters of your tank. API Master is a good one. The test strips are not accurate and are more expensive in the long run.

Your tank is not cycled yet, so the ammonia may be building up to dangerous levels.

What water conditioner to remove chlorine and chloramines do you use? Prime is the one used by the majority of fishkeepers on this forum. It not only does all the above mentioned, but it also detoxifies ammonia and nitrites for about 24 hours giving you time to do water changes to remove them from your tank, and it gives immediate relief to your fish.

You need to do frequent, fairly large, water changes to help your fish. They are stressed from the ammonia, and possibly nitrites that are most likely at dangerous levels in your tank.
You probably need to do 50% water change every other day.
 
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26 liters is less than 7 us gallons, and you probably have too many fish for that size tank.
 
More like little Grains of salt all over. And they look shiny; like mucas/slime.. What is it ?
I have 5 neons; so 9 fish altogether. I did ask the pet store lady and she said it was fine; i could have more if i wanted even. Though i agree my tank is a little small for the amount of fish i have already.

Ive been changing my water every 3 days so im not sure;
ive been told by a lot of people that as long as you do the water changes you don't really need to test the water; as the kits are so expensive. ...?

Im using nutrafin cycle and aqua plus ..
and also just started using API stress zyme (live bacteria)

With the water changes should i be re-adding medicine for the black widows??
And the other fish won't catch what they've got will they?

Thanks for reply =]
 
~Jynx said:
More like little Grains of salt all over. And they look shiny; like mucas/slime.. What is it ?
I have 5 neons; so 9 fish altogether. I did ask the pet store lady and she said it was fine; i could have more if i wanted even. Though i agree my tank is a little small for the amount of fish i have already.

Ive been changing my water every 3 days so im not sure;
ive been told by a lot of people that as long as you do the water changes you don't really need to test the water; as the kits are so expensive. ...?

Im using nutrafin cycle and aqua plus ..
and also just started using API stress zyme (live bacteria)

With the water changes should i be re-adding medicine for the black widows??
And the other fish won't catch what they've got will they?

Thanks for reply =]
Click to expand...


You always need a test kit, although many reccomend the liquid ones as the test-strips are too inaccurate. You cannot be doing waterchanges twice a day for the rest of your life, therefore you need a test kit. Even with waterchanges your params could be bad, YOU NED A TEST KIT
 
I would get the liquid test kit and monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels until you know that tank is cycled. Then you can back off on the testing and maintain things with regular water changes and vacs.

Sounds like ich to me which can be treated with high heat and table salt.

Also think the tank is not adequate for the fish you have in there.
 
Agree with the rest. Will say that ich will get worse before it gets better. Personally I would have chosen the salt method, but if you already have the meds in, follow the directions on it.
 
its ich most likely.... salt and heat are the best treatments

on another note.. consider an upgrade-- your tank is overstocked

also.. buy a water test kit- it will save you money in the longrun because your gonna be losing fish without one

you may think that "my tanks only 7g so its easy to maintain"... BUT... smaller tanks are acctually MUCH harder to maintain and really should be reserved for seasoned hobbyists-- a lot of people dont know that

you will be fine.. just watch your levels and get that ich treated ASAP
 
jm1212 said:
fungus is actually a rare ailment in the fish world. most suspected cases are usually columnaris.

if it looks like white spot, it will not be fungal anyway. ich (white spot) is a parasite and needs to be taken care of with antiparasitic meds or salt/heat
Click to expand...

so i should stop the meds that the pet store gave me, coz that was for fungal stuff.. and get onto heat and salt instead ??
Although it has only been 2 days on meds so yet to see if it works...
If i do change to salt/heat method how high should the temp be ?? (celcius?)

to be fair even if you have a test kit your still gonna be making relatively the same amount of water changes if the water is an issue. But okayyyy its negligent not to test the water so i will.


Cheers for replys everyone.
The pet store is open again so i will visit them again . Im not sure if i can trust them so much though >.<!
 
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