Very sick fish! Help needed!

YuccaPatrol

YuccaPatrol

Over-filtered
Oct 17, 2004
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Three days ago I noticed some white spots on some of the fish in my 29 gallon community tank. Believing it to be ick, I immediately began the standard treatment with salt and increased heat.

I raised the temp of the tank to 83'F and added salt over 2 days to a concentration of 3 teaspoons per gallon.

I then noticed that many of the fish had deteriorating fins and also that the "ick spots" were raised, indicating that the fish have a bacterial/fungal infection.

Yesteday, I began treating with Maracyn. . .

I am religious about my water changes and do a 50% change every week, so nitrates and other water quality parameters are all at very good levels.

So far, I have lost 1 Serpa Tetra, 3 Marble Hatchets. One of my Synodontis upside down cats is looking sad and is swimming at the top of the tank, something they NEVER do. . . .

I am so upset, especially since this aquarium holds some of my favorite fish.

To recap, the symptoms are raised small white dots on the fish with deteriorating fins. . . Is there anything else I should be doing other than continuing treatment with maracyn, salt, and increased heat?

I am going to do another water change today before I do the next round of Maracyn. . . .
 
Sounds like a salt overdose to me. The raised ich spots are normal as the parasites prepare to fall off the fish. Get a hydrometer to test your water. It should have a specific gravity of 1.006 at most. Though I keep my water at 1.004 when I treat. The maracyn was probably not a good idea but since you started the treatment you might as well finish it to prevent any resistant bacteria from forming in your tank.

Different salts have different dosage requirements. 1/8 cup of table salt raises the salinity of aquaria to the same level as more than a 1/4 cup of aquarium rock salt. To me a hydrometer is a must for accurate salt treatment due to these variables. Some people dose at 1 teaspoon per gallon which might work because of the salt they use. To kill ich you need a specific gravity of 1.003 higher than your normal tank level or about 76 grams of salt per 10 gallons.
 
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I use the marineland instant ocean hydrometer. Its the only plastic hydrometer that can accurately read low salt doses. I got it as a replacement for my glass hydrometer which broke when I accidentally bumped it off the shelf.
 
I forgot to mention that I did a 30% water change yesterday, so my salt concentration is now 2teaspoons per gallon, which should be safe for all the fish.

I have had good success with the salt/heat treatment for ick in the past, but I have never had the fin rot occur at the same time. . . .

I'm guessing that my only hope is to continue with what I am doing. . .
 
Test your water see if it did not shut down the biofilter. I am finishing up a salt treatment. I had accidentally overdosed and my biofilter shut down. At least it bounced back in 3 days.
 
I tested ammonia and nitrate and both are at the lowest range of my test kit, so my biofilter is still going good. . .

I lost 2 more fish so now the death toll is:

4 marble hatchets
1 serpa tetra
1 upside down catfish

I've now added maracide (in addition to the salt/heat for the ick) and also maracyn-2 (in addition to the maracyn) to make sure that I am getting any bacterial infections that are causing the fin rot. . .

sigh.. . . those marble hatchets were some of my favorites. . ..

I am just praying that my very best fish, my synodontis eupterus and my rhino pl*co survive. . .
 
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