My neons have a lot of little white specks on them and their gills seem to be inflamed?? I came home from work today and one was dead so now I have 4. None of my other fish seem to have the dots except for my Pleco he has like three of them. What is it? If you know, what is the best thing to treat it or the best method to treat it??
What could this be?
- Thread starter chrissw22
- Start date
It sounds like it is ich. There is a great article here that explains everything about it, shows a picture of it, and offers treatment options 
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php
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Well.....
I went to the pet store and bought Rid-Ich+. I was reading on the website you gave me a link to and it says that one of the chemicals in the treatment (formalin) can kill invertabrates. I have a snail. What is his chances of surviving? Also, the site wasn't to clear on what it meant by "remove the carbon fron the filter". So what I did is just changed the filter and left out the carbon. So all I have is the mesh filter bag on the cartridge thing w/o the carbon and was planning on adding carbon after the treatment is over. Is this ok? Will the tank be ok while the treatment is going on w/o carbon? Also I did a 25% water change right before adding the treatment but my nitrates are at 40 ppm. I have not been able to get them to go down. On the test strips guide it says that this is an acceptable level but border line to the unsafe zone. Is this ok and do you have any tips on how to lower the levels? I did a gravel vac on the 16th of this month and it didn't seem to help?
I went to the pet store and bought Rid-Ich+. I was reading on the website you gave me a link to and it says that one of the chemicals in the treatment (formalin) can kill invertabrates. I have a snail. What is his chances of surviving? Also, the site wasn't to clear on what it meant by "remove the carbon fron the filter". So what I did is just changed the filter and left out the carbon. So all I have is the mesh filter bag on the cartridge thing w/o the carbon and was planning on adding carbon after the treatment is over. Is this ok? Will the tank be ok while the treatment is going on w/o carbon? Also I did a 25% water change right before adding the treatment but my nitrates are at 40 ppm. I have not been able to get them to go down. On the test strips guide it says that this is an acceptable level but border line to the unsafe zone. Is this ok and do you have any tips on how to lower the levels? I did a gravel vac on the 16th of this month and it didn't seem to help?
Sounds like you're doing everything right. Carbon will take the meds out of the water, so thats why they say to take the carbon out of your filter.
Not sure how the meds will effect the snail...usually if its says its unsafe for inverts then they dont make it. Do you have another tank you could move him to for the time being? Maybe just a jar with an airstone dropped in or something...
You should be fine at 40ppm (nitrates)...but it does seem high for a well maintained tank. How often do you do water changes? Maybe (when all of the medication stuff is finished) you should try doing a really good vaccuum and water change (50+ %) to see if that changes what your kit reads for nitrates. If it doesn't...then I'd lean towards your test kit is having issues. You could try taking a sample of water into your lfs and have them test it to make sure its not your kit.
Not sure how the meds will effect the snail...usually if its says its unsafe for inverts then they dont make it. Do you have another tank you could move him to for the time being? Maybe just a jar with an airstone dropped in or something...
You should be fine at 40ppm (nitrates)...but it does seem high for a well maintained tank. How often do you do water changes? Maybe (when all of the medication stuff is finished) you should try doing a really good vaccuum and water change (50+ %) to see if that changes what your kit reads for nitrates. If it doesn't...then I'd lean towards your test kit is having issues. You could try taking a sample of water into your lfs and have them test it to make sure its not your kit.
Update
Three out of the four neons left died last night and the ghost glass catfish died this morning. I think the cat died from the treatment possibly. The three neones were the most infected with ick. They were gotten out of the water as soon as my girlfriend founf them when she came home from work. I think most of the ick was on them but I am going to continue the treatment cause I know my pleco has some on his tail and like the site said you need to treat for at minimum of three days. Just kind of bummed that some many of my fish are dying, but what can ya do? Oh well.
Three out of the four neons left died last night and the ghost glass catfish died this morning. I think the cat died from the treatment possibly. The three neones were the most infected with ick. They were gotten out of the water as soon as my girlfriend founf them when she came home from work. I think most of the ick was on them but I am going to continue the treatment cause I know my pleco has some on his tail and like the site said you need to treat for at minimum of three days. Just kind of bummed that some many of my fish are dying, but what can ya do? Oh well.
Sorry to hear it Whenever you see any disease on your fish, you need to take action as soon as possible to treat it, which gives you the highest survival rate.
Make sure you don't see any disease on fish you buy. A quarantine tank is really good for making sure you don't give all your fish disease, but if you only have one tank, you can't do it. The catfish is a scaleless fish, and they are often sensitive to medications, although Rid-Ich should be safe for them if you dosed the right amount.
Whenever you see any disease on your fish, you need to take action as soon as possible to treat it, which gives you the highest survival rate.Make sure you don't see any disease on fish you buy. A quarantine tank is really good for making sure you don't give all your fish disease, but if you only have one tank, you can't do it. The catfish is a scaleless fish, and they are often sensitive to medications, although Rid-Ich should be safe for them if you dosed the right amount.
Sorry to hear about the losses Yes, make sure to treat the tank for as long as the medication says to...probably longer. Ich has this life cycle where part of it is floating in the water and you can't actually see it on your fish....so just because it goes away visibly doesn't mean its all the way gone. You can also raise the temperature of the tank to make it go away faster...I dont remember if anyone said that to you up above.
Yes, make sure to treat the tank for as long as the medication says to...probably longer. Ich has this life cycle where part of it is floating in the water and you can't actually see it on your fish....so just because it goes away visibly doesn't mean its all the way gone. You can also raise the temperature of the tank to make it go away faster...I dont remember if anyone said that to you up above.I have also heard that heat and salt will aid in the prevention and cure of Ich.
What I heard was that if you raise the temp to 82-84 degrees F and add a dose of aquarium salt this will help in ridding the tank of the Ich outbreak.
When my fish got signs of Ich I did this, as well as added some Rid-Ich tablets, and they all survived. Now when I see even the smallest sign of Ich or Fungus I raise the temp a little and add some salt.
Generally though I have been fortunate and have kept a well maintained tank and done frequent water changes and tests and Have had very little problems **knocks on wood**
*celebrate
What I heard was that if you raise the temp to 82-84 degrees F and add a dose of aquarium salt this will help in ridding the tank of the Ich outbreak.
When my fish got signs of Ich I did this, as well as added some Rid-Ich tablets, and they all survived. Now when I see even the smallest sign of Ich or Fungus I raise the temp a little and add some salt.
Generally though I have been fortunate and have kept a well maintained tank and done frequent water changes and tests and Have had very little problems **knocks on wood**
*celebrate