Ich meds and turtles

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wondabread

Small Fish
#1
Jul 12, 2008
48
0
0
Reading, PA
#1
Had a few deaths tonight, sadly :(

I had 3 chubs in a 75g with 2 diamondback terrapins. On my way out the door to work I noticed they were covered in white dots/film. I had been noticing them flashing the last few days but noticed no visible symptoms other than that (so didn't think anything of it). I put in the recommended amount of meds for ich I had (turned the water blue). This was about 2pm this afternoon.

I got home tonight around 3am and all 3 fish were dead...and mostly eaten, by the turtles of course.

So, I've had these fish for over a year. My girlfriend caught them in a creek up in the poconos last year. They were awesome. There are two possible ways I exposed them to ich, both are being explored/remedied.

My main question is since the turtles ripped most of the fish up and ate a good portion of them, does anyone have any idea if the fish being sick will hurt the turtles OR will the meds have any effect on them?

I know they can handle much more than the fish can, but the instructions for the meds say absolutely nothing about being safe for other animals. I assume they are relatively safe given the circumstances, but just want to know if anyone else has had an experience to share. Oh, and I did a 50% WC tonight. Going to repeat that tomorrow and bleach all the stuff in the tank Sunday along with a complete tear down of the tank to clean the gravel.
 

Chris_A

Chris_A

Large Fish
#2
Oct 14, 2008
615
0
0
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
#2
So far as the meds, it really depends on what type you used. I know some are safe to use with turtles and such but others I have no idea what so ever. Namely copper based (Malachite green is also copper based) I have no idea. Things like Metronidazole would be fine but I haven't seen anyone trying to flog that as an anti Ich med in a long time (thankfully lol).

So far as the turtles catching Ich... Never heard of it... Never seen it... Don't *think* its even possible... but I woun't SAY it can't happen because I just don't know. All in all though, I wouldn't be too concerned there ;).

Chris
 

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BlueStraggler

Large Fish
#3
Mar 13, 2009
314
0
0
Poconos, PA
#3
If you tear everything down to clean you could cause your tank to re-cycle. no?

I think you can speed ich's life cycle up by turning up the heat and like Chris-A said, I never heard of turtles catching ich.

So in this case I don't think tearing everything down for a cleaning would be the best method.

Wow sorry to hear your fish died though. Thats cool (they were caught in a creek up here) They must have been coldwater fish. ? I wonder what they were.
 

M

Mturner615

Large Fish
#4
Dec 8, 2005
190
0
0
35
Harrison Twp. Michigan
#4
Most meds are NOT safe with turtles. Even vitamin and mineral supplements for live plants isnt recommended for turtles bc it can affect their shell development. I know there are SOME medicines that are compatible with turtles, but I don't know which off the top of my head. It would prolly be easiest to just move the fish to a different tank for treatment or move the turtles to a different tank.

As far as treating ich, I don't think it can spread to turtles, but you can't just raise the water temperature on your turtles. They're very fragile and won't be able to handle that. There's a turtle forum that is ran off of the site: Turtle Times that might be able to answer your question more detailed. TT - Turtle Forums (Powered by Invision Power Board)
 

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