Tank meltdown, babies, questions!

[prhelp]

Our three swordtails -- one male and two females -- have died in the past 48 hours. I think it was ich -- no distinct spots, but cottony-stuff clinging to fins, etc.

Now treating for ich with Rid-Ich. Did a ~30 percent water change, removed the carbon filter from the biowheel, boosted the temp a few degrees (to 81), added the Rid-Ich, and added 2 1/2 tablespoons of aquarium salt (roughly 1 tablespoon per 10 gal).

Then, I noticed two extremely small fry -- they looked like large specks of dust. Ground up some flake very fine and added it.

Four hours later, the third swordtail -- male -- died. Disinfected my net in boiling water for 5 min, then removed the fish.

Is this all correct? My plan is to treat for 5 days and, if all is still healthy, continue to use the aquarium salt. Do you think that amount will hurt my fish? Will the Juliis be okay with it?

Is there any chance at all those little fry will make it?

Anything I'm missing? Please help -- I'm bummed. Tried to do everything right -- guess this is one of those things.

 

[FroggyFox]

oh no! that is horrible prhelp. I'm sorry I'm not going to be much help besides what I've read on here so it sounds like you're doing it right. How are the rest of the fish doing?

I'd hate to doom the little fry, but I wouldn't hold my breath that they'll make it through unscathed. If your other fish are fine then maybe your swordtails were just really susceptible to this thing for some reason?? you raised the temp, you took the carbon out of the tank...

keep us updated...

 

[prhelp]

Thanks, froggy -- arrrgh! Frustrating and sad. Anyway, the juliis seem okay, though one hasn't been as active since I added the rid-ich and salt -- though the other is fine.

The gourami has been looking a LOT less blue for a few days, but behavior has been okay -- a little more sluggish than usual.

The lemons definitely have the ich -- but since the first treatment 8 hours ago, they seem a little more perky. Not sure if it is the treatment or the salt or what.

Thanks again.

 

[FroggyFox]

one of my guppies seems to be sick...but I can't really tell, and I just feel so helpless knowing that I don't have anything I can really do but watch and hope he gets better or gets some recognizable symptoms so that I can diagnose what he might have.

losing color might mean stressed out...so you might want to leave the light off some more than you usually would to make him feel more secure? just a suggestion. I turned off the light in my tank and the sick guppy seemed to perk up a little bit.

If they're looking a little better then there is hope!!

 

[prhelp]

Sheesh, is anyone out there? Lost three more lemons today. Learned (too late, last night, reading) that Corys don't like salt. Did a 35 percent water change last night/this morning at 1 am to start correcting it. Doing another tonight. Still treating for ich. One cory still sluggish.

Treating for ich through Wednesday night (five days total).

 

[GuppyGuy]

Tank water readings? ammonia, nitrite, nitrate ? ph ?

swordtails are not easy to care for as some people think. they do like the water alittle cooler than some tropicals 73 F. I also think they do need salt in the water.

Corys seem to be hardy enough but salt isnt the best thing for them

The swords could have had some kind of fungus as a result of the ich. The question is why the outbreak? new fish? extreme change in water quality? ph? for such a fast massive death toll it would seem something happend to the water quality. bug spray? paint? vaccum? what type of filter or filters do you have and how often do you change the carbon? New fish can also have the same effect to a tank.

Sorry about the tank mess ive had my share they are not fun and watching them die one by one really hurts.

 

[fishboy]

Check if your medication has malachite green, this can also harm cories. The salt method like you said above is more useful with clowns rather than cories. If your medicine does have malachite green look for another medicine to use. Also raise your temperature up to about 83 (gradually), which will speed up the life cycle of the ich, making it free floating, which is the only time it can be affected by medication. I would also like to know your water parameters. All fish though have ich in there systems but, if they are healthy they can fight it off and stay immune to it. Unless there is extreme stress resulting from poor water conditions, new tank arrivals, or anything else that is unhealthy for the fish. Have you added anything lately that would change the environment?

Anyway, I feel for you, i hate watching fish suffer, but you will get through this, believe me...


Good luck,
Daniel

 

[aspiringangel]

Are you 100% sure that was ich? I would be suspicious of something else if there weren't distinct spots on the fish. And, fungus on fins - more likely a type of fungus than ich, i would imagine. When my gouramis turned 'fluffy' (two of them, the other's didn't) I added salt, though as you say, that might not be good for the other fish in your tank - and I used a med called MarOxy that I got at my LFS. Got rid of the fungus in 4 days or so. It recommends use of a hospital tank, but I didn't use one, and they all survived. Good luck! Sorry to ehar about the loss of all those fish though.

 

[FroggyFox]

Are the fry still around?

 

[prhelp]

Thanks, all. I'll try to answer all questions:

GuppyGuy -- when I last did the readings on Friday, all were zero. Ph was and has been 7.6 -- very steady. Yes, I adding the swordtails (3) to the tank on the same day. They seemed to be bugging the lemons when I was viewing from around the corner. The gourami and the tetras never seemed to pick on the swordtails. The swords seemed to catch the "bug" first, and were the first to go, due to the disease, I believe. No weird bug spray stuff or anything like that -- I try to be extremely careful with chemicals anywhere near the tank, etc., but maybe I missed something? I use a Penguin 170 and have a few live plants.

Fishboy -- The Rid-Ich bottle says that, at the dosage I used, it produces a hair less than .05mg/L of malachite green. So I'm not sure if it was the salt or this Rid-Ich that mellowed out one of my cories. (See below for what I've done this).

Aspiring -- No, I was never 100 percent sure. I was maybe about 80 percent, for whatever that's worth (not much, I know). When I described it the same my to my LFS, they insisted on Rid-Ich -- over and over. I was unsure -- hence, my post. I thought fungus or velvet or something, because of the lack of distinct spots. But in the end, I wasn't sure, and had to go with some treatment, so I took their recommendation.

Froggy -- no, I haven't seen the fry since Saturday. Bummer.

Tomorrow is my last day of treatment. I've been doing anywhere from 20 to 35 percent water changes everyday, followed by the treatment. All the (remaining) fish seem pretty healthy -- the gourami, 4 tetras, and both cories. All seem healthier than they did about 4 days before everyting melted down. The cories seem to have recovered from the salt (since I added the meds this morning, and have NOT been adding salt since the water changes started, I tend to think it was the salt that was bugging them).

Thanks again, folks -- any other feedback/questions are welcome. For now, I'm just treat through tomorrow and then lay low on fish additions for a while. Thanks!

 

[FroggyFox]

Aww well thats too bad I suppose the good news is that the remaining fish look good...look on the bright side right?

 

[TommyB]

I had a similar problem, but it wasn't ick. I quarantined two of the fish and treated them for in in a small tank. It didn't help. (If your fish has ick you will definately know its ick)

I treated my tank with a anti fungus tablet, and multiple water changes.

I think the water changes help more than anything. But I'm no expert. I lost 8 of 15 fish including many 3-4 year old big fish. Very depressing.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

 

[aspiringangel]

prhelp - glad to know your others are doing pretty well. again, if you happen to see the fuzz crop up, tell your LFS 'IT"S NOT ICH! THEY'RE FUZZY!!!' in exactly that tone. I've had ich in past tanks, and as TommyB says, if it was ich, you'd know. Plus, any time I or my boyfriend have had ich in our tanks, it's gone within 3 days of Rid-Ich treatment.