tom28

hi, so i was doing alright for a bit. i had a 20 gal with 4 neons, 2 penguins, a beta a and a clown pleco. it all started off from me not changing the water enough i think. first the pelco died and i stated to do water changes more often after advice from a local fish shop (20% every week). then the beta stated to have fin rot so i put him in a qtank (2 gal what i originally had the beta in). i added some aquarium salt to both and some betfix to the q-tank. then the tetras health started to go down with fin rot so i put them in the q-tank. by the end of it i had 3 neons left. one still in good health that i left in the 20 gal tank. I now believe that they had ICH because of the small white dots on the 2 in the qtank....thats not all now, i have noticed weird little white lines (2mm) on the glass of my 20 gal tank...i have no idea what they are. have never read about them and dont know what to do with all my problems. please someone help.

thanks alot to anyone that can help

Shawnie

welcome to fishlore!!!!!! sorry about all your fishies being sick sometimes thats the frustrating part about keeping fish.....

first a few questions....what test kit do you have? what are your water parimeters at this stage ?

if its ich, and you can see it, its already in the 20 gal by this point and turning up the temps to 83 for two weeks, some extra airation for warmer water has less oxygen, and some 2 gravel vacss a week to get the ich spores out of the gravel, will help the ich....

if you arent cycled by whatever your water parimeters are, thats another issue that we can help with once we know your readings....

do the white lines look like lil worms? google planaria as thats probably what they are and are harmless and your fishies will eat them most of the time...but also, water changes will get rid of them as welll..so get your readings and go from there and I hope things look up soon!

dancerhas

If you do have planaria and can't get rid of them by any other means Jungle Labs Parasite Clear will kill them as well. But I wouldn't do this with fish in the tank if they aren't sick.

Plecolover12

Wow. What bad luck. I feel sorry for you. I like fish and it feels bad to lose fish when you get your first tank! I don't know what the problem could be. I am sorry I am no help.

-Plecolover12

Biscato33

Hi! Welcome to fishlore!!!
Remember,always keep an eye out for the other fish for any symptoms of sickness. If it's ich, ich will spread to your other fish, and then your net will be really tangled! Do a 25% water change, and clean the gravel. Keep an eye on those white little 'lines', and I hope all your fishies get better!

~ Ali

tom28

..i actually dont have a test kit...ill get on that and buy one. unfortunatly im going away for a couple weeks tomorrow and will be leaving the tending up to a friend to come in. there going to be coming in every couple days and feeding the fish. really i wish i could get them to come everyday but nothing really i can do about that. i went to a store and got ich-x and have been treating the little guys in a qtank as well as treating the larger tank. on the directions it doesnt say how long to use it for. the guy in the store said 4-5 days after a partial water change. In the empty 20gal i turned the heat up all the way to try to speed up the lifecycle. does this all sound legit? oh and how long do i need to use the ich-x for? thanks again for the help

Shawnie

hi tom...im not a med user so I dont have a clue on that info...usually the meds have directions...just be careful as MOST meds ruin the cycle of a tank so your water parimeters could go wacko if the tank was cycled ..which it probably was after 4 months....getting the test kit would help alot...by going away, can you trust your friend to do water changes once a week? if so, get some prime and that will help with ammonia if you have it...usually just the higher temps will kill ich and now you have two tanks you have to deal with it because once you can see it, its throughout the entire tank ...goodluck!

musicman4567

I'm a chronic med user... I've never had cycle problems from them, but I might just be unique. I would recommed Rid-Ich+ if ich is in fact the problem. As for the white lines, as has been suggested, they are most likely planaria. They usually appear if you are over-feeding. As said, they are harmless, but can be very upsetting to a aquarium owner. Frequent water changes (10% per day) for a couple of weeks will help clear them out. Just don't clean your gravel with every change. You are looking to get rid of the nutrients, not your bacteria. A medical way to get rid of them would be a parasite clear or Cupramine (a good copper medicine). Cupramine isn't harmful to fish if you dose it as directed, but the directions must be followed exactly or you can go over the tolerable amount of copper for fish. Good luck!