Rigel has ICK - pH the culprit?

[Iggy]

OK, now I am really wondering what is up with my tap water. I started off with tap water, my first betta died after 1 week. I got a 2nd betta (Finchy) , he got sick with fungus, treated him and switched to Reverse Osmosis water (pH 7.0) and he got better.

Got 4 other fish, all fine, all tanks with R.O. water. Yesterday, I do a partial water change with 30% tap water in 1 tank only, next day Rigel gets white spot ICK.

The only reason I am trying to use Tap water again is because I hear its better for the fish (minerals et all) and besides R.O. water is not cheap over time.

My Tap water is testing pretty high in pH - about 7.8 - 7.9 - so I am betting it needs some pH down additives from now on.

Does any of this make sense? Can pH affect the fishes immune system that drastically?

FYI, I did a 30% water change to Rigels tank with RO water and used Junkle Ick Treatment (blue tint). Welll see if the spots clear-up tomorrow.

 

[tony-da-tiger]

it sounds like its bad tap water from what youve said. although ive used tap water with conditioner and been fine im lucky my city has some of the best tap water in the country.

 

[catfishmike]

no your all wrong on this most likely.ask you lfs what their ph is first and odds are it's the same as yours.odds are there is some other underlying problem causing your fish to catch ick.if you start adding ph adjusting chems. you'll find a bunch of dead fish.do you have a testing kit?i could belive that there may be an extoridinary amount of ammonia,cloramine or nitrate in your water which could be the cause of stress and ick.find out what you city uses to treat your water before you begin using ro water.also go to www.wetwebmedia.com and read the article on water conditioners.i found it eye opening considering i though i knew enough about water conditioners to not worry.now i have to go and recheck my fave dechlor.the article should be in the freshwater faq.post back once you have found out you water parameters after testing

 

[smalltank99]

You should find a ph tester and conditioner. Are you using tap water connditioner? That is very important.

 

[FroggyFox]

Well also...if your ph is at 7 from the RO water, and then you do a water change with water that is at 7.8 that is a HUGE difference to the fish. The fluxuations in ph could definitely cause ich...if not kill the little buggers.

Best thing you can do is decide to use one or the other. I have decided not to screw with my water and ask my fish to acclimate themselves to it...so far so good and my tap water is above 7.6. If you decide to use RO water I believe you do need to add some stuff to it because of those missing minerals etc that you mentioned. I don't know much about RO water though...sorry. Maybe ask fishman_2000 I know he knows something about it.

 

[Iggy]

K,my lfs claims they keep the water at around 6.8 to 7.0 using pH down and our local tap water. I posted the pH level, it was above 7.8 when I used 30% tap water mixed with 70% R.O. water.

I did not anticipate my tap water would raise my tank pH so dramatically. Ammonia is fine, no chlorine/cloramine at all, nitrite/nitrate fine. Yes, I treated my tap water and let it age before adding it.

I also read the articles on pH physics and water conditioners suggested, however in the long and short, the problem was still because of the drastic change in pH and not anything else.

Ok, obviously I have a tap water pH difference between what I was supplied vs what I have readily available at home (assuming I want to drop my R.O. water). Because the pH difference is so big, I agree that conditioner will likely cause more problems because I will probably overshot one way or the other and the variation will do more harm than good.

My research leads me to either:
a) Stay with RO water or
b) Do more frequent, but significantly smaller (10-15%) water changes with aged tap water.

Anyone know the 'facts' about Reverse Osmosis water? Chime in!

 

[Iggy]

What about "Spring' water? I wonder it it's pH is good but had more required minerals?

I do add a bit of salt to the tanks, that should help.

 

[FroggyFox]

I tested the bottled water that I drink and its ph was just as high as my tap water...you could test something else though. I think the general consesus about bottled water is "no." I'm assuming you mean spring water like bottled water...unless you have a natural spring nearby then I'd go for THAT water

 

[Iggy]

Ya, guys & gals, I major stressing about my bettas now. I have had 3 fish get sick ,and 1 die in the first 4 weeks I have ever owned my own fish.

This is no fun right now. I sure hope Rigels pulls through. He is now sitting in his cave at the bottom, covered in white spots. I treated him 16 hours ago and the instructions were explicit NOT to overmedicate. I can only repeat the treatment after a 25% water change in 8 more hours.

This is killing me.

 

[FroggyFox]

7.5 more to go I hope he pulls through. If not, you can feel better knowing you did everything you could to save him.

 

[Iggy]

I am not giving up on Rigel yet. He is not a bad-off as Finchy was with the fungus, and I am NOT going to let him die!

Something I just found out about Aquisol... if you use Clorine/Cloramine treatment in the water, it will also neutralize the medical ingredients in Aquisol (copper salts).... so all along, I have been adding both thinking the Aquisol will prevent ICK when it was being neutralized.

I know I am not a bad betta owner... but sure did not realize how much chemistry, biology and physics was involved in taking care of them!

 

[redtailed shark]

wats ick

 

[Iggy]

Parasites, form white spot cysts on the fish that look like tiny grains of salt. Untreated will eventually kill the fish. Freshwater fish are prone to this disease.

Rigel is doing better, going on his 3rd day of treatment. Some of the spots are gone, I suspect the cycle will take a bit of time to clear up.