Well, my overstocked problem is gone :(

[TommyB]

I made a post a while back about being over stocked. My 55 gallon tank consisted of the following:

4 Blood Parrots
2 Veil Parrots?
1 Small Parrot
2 White Gouramis
1 Blue Gouramis
2 Tiger Barbs
2 Bleeding Heart tetras.

In the last week or so i've had many deaths. My water looks ok, ph is a little on the greenish side, but the ammonia test is clear. I lost the following:

2 Bleeding Heart tetras
1 Blood Parrot (Recent Death)
1 White Gouramis
2 Veil Parrots(1 Recent)
1 Tiger Barb

One of the Bleeding hearts was developing white stuff on it and i went away for two days and when i came back oth were dead.

Two days later the Baby veil parrot was dead.

Yesterday the white gouramis died.

The other veil parrot looks like he's getting the whitish stuff on him too. (EDIT He's dead now)

I tried to make the water more basic, and added a little more aquarium salt.

Would a big water change help? (It did, but a little too late)

 

[Jawz]

test all ur levels, see if anything is spiking, ph doesnt really matter too much as long as its constant. Might sound like u have ich, and that cah kill the whole tank

 

[TommyB]

oh poopy,

will water changes clear ick or do i need medicine?

 

[amishfignewton]

only way to fully cure ick is medicine. Ick (basicly) infects your fish, hardens into white stuff, falls off into the gravel and then hatches and swims around your tank and reinfects them. I use "QUICK CURE" or "RID ICK" in my tanks whenever there is a problem and it usually works out fine. you have to take any carbon out of your filters since it will pull the medicine out of the tank. Make sure to use the treatment for the full amount of time listed, because the fish may apear better, but there could still be ich swimming in the tank to re-infect your fish. Increasing your temperature (slowly) will make the ich fall off your fish faster (and hatch faster).

 

[geoffgarcia2]

you need medicine if it is ick

 

[Angelfish]

What kind of white stuff? Was it little dots or white stuff kinda hanging off the fish, as though its skin is falling off? Either one it can be medicated, just do it quick! Ive lost fish to both of these diseases (ich, and the other white one). Most LFS's sell the medication. Even if its not ich, its always good to get a type of ich medcine that is preventive. Ive been using it ever since my ich episode and have never seen it in my tank since.

 

[Slacker]

Medicine will be the only real solution. But if you really cant get the medicine, try salt baths. It'll make the pustules soak up water till they explode and die. Tried it myself on a beta with Ich. I figured id experiment. It worked and he lived. He gone now, though. Anywho, get medicine, as the Ich is probably spreading.

 

[toodles]

First, you need to figure out what it is that your fish have!
Ich looks like little grains of salt that can be anywhere on the body and fins.
Fungus will look like white cotton that will show up on the fins or body.
There is a bacteria commonly called mouth fungus, that isn't really a fungus at all. It looks like white cotton too, but is confined to the mouth area.
All of these require different treatments. Ich medicine will not work on fungus. Fungus medicine will not work on mouth fungus. Anti-bacterial medicine will not work on ich. You get the point. So take a moment and really observe your fish. Also check out their behavior....are they flicking off objects in the tank, gasping for air, laying on the bottom, etc.....

 

[TommyB]

my gourami bounced of the filter intake tube for a few days

my baby veil parrot layed on the gravel

the bleeding hearts didn't do anything

all of the fish in the 55 gallon tank seem to be very scared, and timid now. they all lay on the gavel hide a lot.

the white spots looked like little cotton dots, not like flaking scales

 

[Angelfish]

I think you should probably go to a trusty LFS and tell the person down there a good description of what the disease looks like and how your fish are behaving. Then they can sell you the apropriate medicine. You use the word 'cotton' which would make me think more along the lines of fungus, but you also said 'dots' which would be more associated with ich.

 

[toodles]

This is the hard part about trying to help long distance.....we can only go by your description. Do these areas look fluffy or are they hard small salt sized white spots?
If these areas look fluffy then you need to get a fungicide. If these areas look like grains of salt then you need ich medicine.
Either way you will want to do a water change before medicating and follow the directions on the box of medicine exactly.

 

[dana307]

Treat right away if the fish have the above described salt or sugar like dots on them. Just lost 2/3 of my tank to ick. Symptoms ie white spots didn't show up until several deaths had happened. Deadly little stupid arghhhhh thing ick is.

 

[fishaddict]

If it is a fungus which judging by the cottony dots id say can be fungus try Kanacyn or Maracyn Two. id go with Kanacyn though because Maracyn worked with me but Kanacyn worked better.

Good luck

 

[TommyB]

My fishguy recomended this product that comes with eight caplets. Sorry i forgot the name. i'm treating the tank with that. in that tank, the tiger barb has a crusty white circle around his eye.

i took the other sick parrot out, and he's in a plastic tub getting treatment flake food and some ick drops.

my fish guy said i could also have been PH Burn since my water got pretty acidic last week when i left for vacation.

Since the 30% water change on saturday, the remaining fish have been quite happy. I have them eating the medicated fish flakes too just in case.