Big Help Needed & Stupid Mistake :(

[Silverkitten]

Ok, I made a big mistake, but you can flog me later. First I need help.
I got a great deal on a 55 gal tank set up w/stand and fish. Problem, the Electric Blue Cichlid was nipping fins on everyone and the Ram was in the worst shape. It ****ed me off big time.
Enter Mistake: I took him out and plopped him in my divided 10 gal tank to cool his jets till I can figure out what to do with him. Though maybe after the others settle in and claim their territory, then he enters last he will feel like low man on the totem pole ya know.
Enter Problem: After about 10 minutes I was looking around in the 10 gal at the other fish on the other side of the tank and notice a white dot on my one lone platys nose. Yikes! I start searching the other fish and notice a few little white dots on the glass actually moving! Snails, just baby snails right? I got some live plants recently and had some come in on them. Then the little white dots swim off the glass and onto my Cory, then off into the tank. CRAP!!! I'm thinking this must be Ich or some other parasite.
And now I've just exposed my Cichlid to it as well.

So, How to treat this fine mess I've got on my hands.
Do Cory's get treated the same as any other scaled fish? Here is what I have in this tank:
Electric Blue Cichlid (in divided half of tank)
Marigold Platy (not looking so hot, all the ones I got from this store have died)
Pristellas - 3
Cory's - 2
Rapheal

I have a small 2.5 gal tank that I can seperate the Cory's and/or others into for a different treatment mode if need be.
Please share how you guys/gals would proceed with this situation.
Thanks Tons!!!

Donna

 

[LongTime]

As far as I know no one has ever seen ich in its free swimming stage with the naked eye. Based on that, I don't think its ich.

 

[Fish Friend]

corys can be very sensitive to medication... so i say keep an eye out and just see how it goes.. and if possible.. give us your water parameters and some pics.. that will help

 

[svetlana]

I've read somewheres about these parasites, i think on cichlid-forum.com - i could not find the post right away unfortunately. What i remember it is worse than ick and kills very quickly. Hope somebody knows better :-(

 

[Silverkitten]

Hum? Well, the only spot that I can see on any of the fish is on the platy, one her nose. She is sluggish and not eating, and as I said, the other 3 platy's that I bought at the same time, died with in a week, she is the last one. The other fish are acting normal.
Should I just salt the tank? Can the Cory's handle that? If so, how much salt for a 10 gal?

 

[Silverkitten]

corys can be very sensitive to medication... so i say keep an eye out and just see how it goes.. and if possible.. give us your water parameters and some pics.. that will help

I have to run to the store and get another test kit. I just ran out of stuff to test for nitrites. I'll be back in about an hour and post the results. Not sure what good the pics will do though. What do you need a pic of? The Platy?

 

[FroggyFox]

yeah...maybe just the spot to see if its ich...but if you only see one its probably not. I've never heard of spots you can see moving...but that doesn't mean much coming from me. If the platy is the only one acting wierd I think I might just try to diagnose the problem before tossing a medication in there...esp one that might harm the corys.

What do you normally keep the temperature at in that tank? It sounds like if I were you I might seperate that platy and then watch the other fish closely. Maybe feed them some medicated/ garlic soaked food?

 

[Silverkitten]

Well, here are the stats on the tank.
Nitrites = 0 ppm
NH3/NH4 = 0mg/L
Ph = 6.5

I pulled all the plants out because I thought that if it was Ich I didn't want what was on the plants reinfecting the tank. They are in a bucket of water waiting for me to figure out what this might be. Everyone else is acting fine, even the platy is more active now. The temp. is 76* but I turned it up a bit just in case it is Ich.
I dunno?

 

[FroggyFox]

Yeah...I'd say just wait it out...keep feeding them lightly, keep an eye on those water parameters...and watch for any changes in behavior or changes in that spot on the platy.

 

[Silverkitten]

Well, everyone look great this morning. They all eat well, left no food behind. Everyone is active. And guess what? No visible spot on the Platy, or on any other fish for that matter.
How long do you think I should watch this tank before I can safely say that everything is ok?
And do you think I should check water parameters everyday?