Skirt Tetra Community Tank
- Thread starter Reido Dorito
- Start date
tanker
Josh Holloway--Be mine!!!
Thanks!
So, my longfin and my shortfin both have these tiny white spots on their fins, the longfin more so than the short one. I just noticed it today, and I'm pretty sure that it's only just showed up over the course of the last day or so. I'm not entirely sure that it's ich, though, as they're still active enough, and all of them eat well. I increased the temperature from 79 to around 81, a few moments ago, just as a measure of caution. If it is ich, I don't want to delay getting a solution in place.
Any ideas on what to do from here on out?
So, my longfin and my shortfin both have these tiny white spots on their fins, the longfin more so than the short one. I just noticed it today, and I'm pretty sure that it's only just showed up over the course of the last day or so. I'm not entirely sure that it's ich, though, as they're still active enough, and all of them eat well. I increased the temperature from 79 to around 81, a few moments ago, just as a measure of caution. If it is ich, I don't want to delay getting a solution in place.
Any ideas on what to do from here on out?
If it looks like salt sprinkled on the fish it probably is ich. It comes in 3 phases: on the fish for a few days, then it falls off into the substrate, then into the water to reinfect the fish. The only time it can be killed is when it's in the water. Higher temps speed up the process; some claim high heat alone is enough to kill it. That would not be my choice.
I'm old school & like a dye treatment like methylene blue. Others have good success with a salt treatment. In either case follow dosing & removal directions. I would treat for 10-14 days no matter how fast a treatment claims to be or it may come back. All 3 stages can be present at any 1 time.
It also helps to vacuum the substrate often to remove as much as you can. Just be sure to redose to the correct amount afterward. A full tank's worth of dye (it's usually dosed every day or 2) OR enough salt to make up for the amount of water you take out. With salt you should add & remove it over a few days but except for WC amount you don't need to keep adding salt.
Have I confused enough? There's sticky that goes into ich at the top of the forum, salt dosing & other methods to treat it.
I'm old school & like a dye treatment like methylene blue. Others have good success with a salt treatment. In either case follow dosing & removal directions. I would treat for 10-14 days no matter how fast a treatment claims to be or it may come back. All 3 stages can be present at any 1 time.
It also helps to vacuum the substrate often to remove as much as you can. Just be sure to redose to the correct amount afterward. A full tank's worth of dye (it's usually dosed every day or 2) OR enough salt to make up for the amount of water you take out. With salt you should add & remove it over a few days but except for WC amount you don't need to keep adding salt.
Have I confused enough? There's sticky that goes into ich at the top of the forum, salt dosing & other methods to treat it.
Gotcha, gotcha. Thanks for the info. I've been reading up on it online. It seems like they've got less spots today, which is nice, but that means they're in the substrate at this point, right? In any case, I've got the water line a little lower than normal, and the heater kicked up to 85.
I don't see any more white spots on the fish, but I'm going to keep going with treatment, like you said. At the moment, I'm just using heat and cleaning, so hopefully, that'll keep these parasites under control, but if not, I'll go for the salt (actually, I'd like to pick some up tonight) and methylene blue. My beautiful longfin's missing some chunks out of his/her fins. Any thoughts?
Thanks again for your advice!
I don't see any more white spots on the fish, but I'm going to keep going with treatment, like you said. At the moment, I'm just using heat and cleaning, so hopefully, that'll keep these parasites under control, but if not, I'll go for the salt (actually, I'd like to pick some up tonight) and methylene blue. My beautiful longfin's missing some chunks out of his/her fins. Any thoughts?
Thanks again for your advice!
Table salt is fine to use. BUT it's salt OR dye not both together. I don't think 85F is high enough as a lone treatment. Start soon, it can get worse untreated or under-treated.
& with salt you want to build up to a full dose over a couple days, say morning & night. Remove it over several days after 10-14 days full strength. The slow removal part is especially important; read up on TDS (total dissolved solids) shock (or less accurately osmotic shock) if you want to know more.
& with salt you want to build up to a full dose over a couple days, say morning & night. Remove it over several days after 10-14 days full strength. The slow removal part is especially important; read up on TDS (total dissolved solids) shock (or less accurately osmotic shock) if you want to know more.
Huh, I thought there was a ich sticky here on AC but I can't find it. I forgot we were on the plant subforum.
Thanks for the info. I read up on the various treatments you talked about.
I decided to go with the salt and heat treatment. I'm about to add in around a quarter of a teaspoon, and that will hopefully aid the fish in getting better. Just did around a 40% water change, as well. Lord willing, everything will go well.
Thank you again for your advice!
I decided to go with the salt and heat treatment. I'm about to add in around a quarter of a teaspoon, and that will hopefully aid the fish in getting better. Just did around a 40% water change, as well. Lord willing, everything will go well.
Thank you again for your advice!
I'm pretty sure you can add more than 1/4 teaspoon at a time, although I've forgotten your tank size. 20g I think?...& what's the salt dose? I don't recall, a Tablespoon/5g?...A TBsp is = 3 teaspoons just to give you some help with figuring out dosage...that's part of my difficulty with salt.
IF that dosage of 1TBsp/5g is correct (& I'm not sure it is, check it!!) , you might add 1TB morning & night until you get to full dosing 4 TBsps. I'm sorry if I scared you too much about TDS shock, you can add salt a bit faster than that 1/4teasp at a time.
With dyes, it's easier... but maybe not more effective than salt. It's 1 or 2 drops/gallon every day or 2. Less math/ & WC/dilution issues. But you've started with salt, & that fine, just add more salt more often...& double check the salt dosage!
So, just to give you an idea of how to dose...you could add a full tank's worth of salt to 2 cups dechlorinated water for 4 doses (or a liter, it's not that exact) & add a 1/2 cup of it morning & night for a total of 4 doses.
THEN, you'd have another 2 cups of salt water waiting for some WCs. For every 5g you vacuum out, you'd add 1/2cup & 5g of dechlor'd water to replace what you've removed to keep the concentration at the right level (or 1/4 cup for 2.5g) Do you get what I'm saying? It's doesn't have to be perfect, just "pretty close".
I'm worried I've confused the heck out of you! Read this a couple times, it's past my bedtime but it looks right...
IF that dosage of 1TBsp/5g is correct (& I'm not sure it is, check it!!) , you might add 1TB morning & night until you get to full dosing 4 TBsps. I'm sorry if I scared you too much about TDS shock, you can add salt a bit faster than that 1/4teasp at a time.
With dyes, it's easier... but maybe not more effective than salt. It's 1 or 2 drops/gallon every day or 2. Less math/ & WC/dilution issues. But you've started with salt, & that fine, just add more salt more often...& double check the salt dosage!
So, just to give you an idea of how to dose...you could add a full tank's worth of salt to 2 cups dechlorinated water for 4 doses (or a liter, it's not that exact) & add a 1/2 cup of it morning & night for a total of 4 doses.
THEN, you'd have another 2 cups of salt water waiting for some WCs. For every 5g you vacuum out, you'd add 1/2cup & 5g of dechlor'd water to replace what you've removed to keep the concentration at the right level (or 1/4 cup for 2.5g) Do you get what I'm saying? It's doesn't have to be perfect, just "pretty close".
I'm worried I've confused the heck out of you! Read this a couple times, it's past my bedtime but it looks right...
