whats this disease?

[tetra girl]

okay i thought i had a ich outbreak in my big tank but now im not so sure. I have been treating the tank for about a week now and the fish aren't getting any better. In fact I think its spreading

the tetras have little black spots on them. they are still eating and otherwise prefectlly fine.

one of the fishes now has a larger black spot from all the little spots joining.

any ideas?

 

[prhelp]

Are they dark red or black? On the fins or the body? Are there lesions/sores, or any swelling? Which fish have the problem?

Not meaning to grill you -- just want to help.

 

[tetra girl]

black/grey - on all parts of the body - lemon, glowlights, cardinals, rummys - all tetras - all help appreciated

 

[prhelp]

Okay, been reading about diseases lately, having just suffered a meltdown. To me, this sounds like a parasitic infection. For those, salt or copper treatments are recommended. I tried salt recently, and was advised to use 1 tbl. per 10 gallons of water (about 1/2 the usually-recommended dosage). I used freshwater salt (not marine salt, and not table salt). If you go the salt route, I'd recommend getting a good two cups of your aquarium water into another clean container, adding the salt to that, letting it dissolve/mix, and then slowly adding that. If you have all tetras in the tank, they should be fine with this dosage.

I don't know much about copper, have never used it, and from what I've read, it's pretty harsh -- so I can't advise you one way or another on that.

If they're still eating and not scratching, that seems like a good sign! If I were you, I'd try the salt treatment above -- it may not HELP, but it might -- and I do not believe it could harm them.

 

[tetra girl]

thanks ill try that!

 

[prhelp]

If you don't notice improvement in a day or two, I think your next shot is to try a copper-based med -- though I could be way ahead of myself, and would advise you wait for others to chime in, too.

IF you do the meds, I'd personally recommend a 50 percent water change before adding them. I say this because I used salt AND meds at the same time on my tetras, and I think that overloaded them and killed many of them.

I advised the smallest step possible (eg, salt) precisely because the tetras are so sensitive in the first place.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes!