I agree FishDad, thank you for your continued input and support, it is much appreciated.
At first I was hoping it was just his skin recovering from the Ammonia \ Nitrite levels, however his darting around the tank began about 4 days ago, at 78-80 F from what I've read this is about right for Ich, he has spurts of activity, followed by periods of inactivity, almost as if he is not able to breathe well.
I also am now believing that his orange pigmentation is in part due to the elevated levels of nitrites that I was unable to lower \ did not lower. Even with 40 % water changes they did not really drop below 1 ppm. I believe he is not only suffering from Ich, but also brown blood, his gills are darker than I've ever seen them. Today test, nitrites are back between 1 and 2.
It may have been a mistake, however except for the water in the HOB I performed a complete water change. During the change I cleaned and soaked all of the parts excluding the HOB in 140 degree water for about an hour. I've read that Ich is not able to reproduce or survive above 86, and that increasing temp accelerates Ich's metabolism dramatically. I also read that Ich cannot endure being dried out, I doubt this applies to the spores after they attach however for good measure I laid all of the items out to dry, with the high temperature this did not take long, I allowed the tank to stay dry for about 2 hours.
I've removed all that I can from the tank, the only items that exist now are a new plastic pot for Jack to rest in, and a thin layer of gravel and the HOB. The snails and 3 remaining ghost shrimp are in a 3 gal tank where Jack was while I cleaned his tank.
I verified that the nitrites are now at 0 ppm, nitrates show slightly elevated levels. I am now treating with quICK cure, which I understand is harsher, Jack is now swimming about a bit in the clean tank, followed by an hour of rest each time, he is also eating again, only a fraction of what he usually does, but it's a step in the right direction I hope.
My plans are to continue to monitor the nitrites, perform 50 % water changes daily, continue Ich treatments, if nitrites rise above 0.5 I plan to perform a complete change as I did today. While a complete cycle would be beneficial long term, now that our large tank is registering nitrite's in it's fishless cycle, I'm only concerned with keeping Jack, he does not seem to be overly stressed by being moved between tanks, or he did not today. I did however move him in an opaque pot so I'm not sure he knew he was being moved.
I am now faced with treating for Ich, and brown blood, I understand I caused this, and it will not happen again, I also understand that each problem on it's own can be a challenge to overcome, however both make it much more difficult.
Should I only treat for Ich with medication, and try to treat the brown blood with large or complete water changes to remove nitrites, or would it be better to add aquarium salt, and treat the brown blood, add another few airstones, and slowly raise the water temperature to fight the Ich ?
I found this article for brown blood published in 1998 https://www.addl.purdue.edu/newsletters/1998/spring/nitrate.shtml
I have no experience with either course so I would welcome any input.
At first I was hoping it was just his skin recovering from the Ammonia \ Nitrite levels, however his darting around the tank began about 4 days ago, at 78-80 F from what I've read this is about right for Ich, he has spurts of activity, followed by periods of inactivity, almost as if he is not able to breathe well.
I also am now believing that his orange pigmentation is in part due to the elevated levels of nitrites that I was unable to lower \ did not lower. Even with 40 % water changes they did not really drop below 1 ppm. I believe he is not only suffering from Ich, but also brown blood, his gills are darker than I've ever seen them. Today test, nitrites are back between 1 and 2.
It may have been a mistake, however except for the water in the HOB I performed a complete water change. During the change I cleaned and soaked all of the parts excluding the HOB in 140 degree water for about an hour. I've read that Ich is not able to reproduce or survive above 86, and that increasing temp accelerates Ich's metabolism dramatically. I also read that Ich cannot endure being dried out, I doubt this applies to the spores after they attach however for good measure I laid all of the items out to dry, with the high temperature this did not take long, I allowed the tank to stay dry for about 2 hours.
I've removed all that I can from the tank, the only items that exist now are a new plastic pot for Jack to rest in, and a thin layer of gravel and the HOB. The snails and 3 remaining ghost shrimp are in a 3 gal tank where Jack was while I cleaned his tank.
I verified that the nitrites are now at 0 ppm, nitrates show slightly elevated levels. I am now treating with quICK cure, which I understand is harsher, Jack is now swimming about a bit in the clean tank, followed by an hour of rest each time, he is also eating again, only a fraction of what he usually does, but it's a step in the right direction I hope.
My plans are to continue to monitor the nitrites, perform 50 % water changes daily, continue Ich treatments, if nitrites rise above 0.5 I plan to perform a complete change as I did today. While a complete cycle would be beneficial long term, now that our large tank is registering nitrite's in it's fishless cycle, I'm only concerned with keeping Jack, he does not seem to be overly stressed by being moved between tanks, or he did not today. I did however move him in an opaque pot so I'm not sure he knew he was being moved.
I am now faced with treating for Ich, and brown blood, I understand I caused this, and it will not happen again, I also understand that each problem on it's own can be a challenge to overcome, however both make it much more difficult.
Should I only treat for Ich with medication, and try to treat the brown blood with large or complete water changes to remove nitrites, or would it be better to add aquarium salt, and treat the brown blood, add another few airstones, and slowly raise the water temperature to fight the Ich ?
I found this article for brown blood published in 1998 https://www.addl.purdue.edu/newsletters/1998/spring/nitrate.shtml
I have no experience with either course so I would welcome any input.
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