aqualoaf

**Edit: Well, I originally began this thread because the star of my tank - the rainbow shark - was acting increasingly out of sorts and flashing on the gravel and driftwood.

I confess I spent so much time staring at the shark, I didn't note that the answer to the problem was shouting at me from the rest of the fish. Little white pin-sized spots on my tetras and platys.

It was partly due to the following poster who said it was just like an ICH infestation they had, that it made me take a closer look at my fish.

So there you have it. I'll add to the bottom of this thread to chart my progress and, as I have sharks and tetras, it'll be the raised temperature method....

Thanks all...

Lifesabeach

I had an Ich problem a while ago, where there was a lot of flashing, but then the problem was obvious to see. After medication, I thought they all came good, but occasionally, I'd get one or two fish flashing, but otherwise there is nothing visibly wrong.
Hard to know what's best apart from being vigilant with water changes and the cleaning of the substrate to see if there is an improvement.

aqualoaf

I'm a fool! I've just spotted little salt-like spots on my platys. There's Ich in the tank.

aqualoaf

They're small, but they're there...

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aquarist48

Hello AquaLoaf. Hate to hear you're having ICH issues! You may be aware of the treatment already but just in case I've posted a link below.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery!
Ich: An Old Cure for an Old Disease
Ken

aqualoaf

Hi Ken, At least I've identified the source of their malaise - comes as a relief although I've got some work ahead of me. Now I can at least do something about it.

Where I am the temperature has noticeably dropped over the past couple of weeks and I also noticed that the general temperature of the tank had dropped a couple of degrees also - perhaps this was what triggered it.

aquarist48

Hello Aqualoaf. That is a very good possibility. The fish could have caught a chill and brought on the ICH.
Keep us posted.
Ken

aqualoaf

So then, I've serviced the air pump on my airstone, raised the temperature to about 82 yesterday, done a 40% water change today with some aquarium salt as buffer and a stress reliever.

As I came back home from work I noticed that some platys were resting on the bottom as if it were nighttime, but they immediately perked up when I fed them. The rummy nose tetras (I believe they're good water quality indicators) have bright red noses and are shoaling well. I hope I've caught all of this in time...

Shawnie

keep a very close eye on the rbs ..if im not mistaken, they are scaleless and cant tolerate it ...salt just makes them overproduce slime coat...the temps will usually cure it if kept over 83 for 2 weeks with a few extra gravel vacs...hope it clears up soon!

aqualoaf

Hi Shawnie. Thanks for your words of advice - I didn't realise that salt does that to scaleless fish - I'm going to be doing 40% water changes daily so I'll bear the salt levels in mind tomorrow and reduce the concentration. I tell you what, my gravel hasn't sparkled so much since I started the tank!

The reason why I'm going wholly for the temperature method in particular is that I believe you can't use malachite green etc on loaches, 'sharks' and tetras.. I have a rainbow shark and rummy nose tetras.

I have to say that even within a day the fish in general seem a lot less irritated after raising the temperature - on Sunday, the shark was rubbing a few times a minute, this evening I didn't see him do it once. I hope it's a good sign.

RaeJeanne

I have the rainbow shark that is acting strangely like Aqualoaf's, so far I cannot see any spots on the other fish (3 angel, 4 neon tetra and 5 black neon) or him. Could this still be ich in an early stage or something else? It started yesterday. We have kept fish for years, but recently the tank(40 gal) got down to one old black neon. I had started to think my husband was going to retire it, but then he did an over 50% water change and I don't know what else, he is the technical one(I feed the fish), then got the fish we have now in two batches. No, we did not wait to put the fish together as we got them within a few days of each other.

aquarist48

Good morning. Salt (as I've learned since I joined Fish Lore) is and old school technique and really isn't recommended for medical treatment these days nor is it suggested that you have fresh water salt in a fresh water aquarium period. It's kind of viewed more as an irritant now more than anything else. I use to keep it in my tanks religiously but I've stopped and my fish are doing as well as ever.
I agree with Shawnie to raise your tank temperature to at least 84 for the two week period instead of 82.

Rae keep an eye on your tank. If you see a fish starting to get little white dots and or it looks like it's been sprinkled with salt then indeed your fish have ICK. If this is the case then you do not need to quarantine the fish but treat the entire tank. If one fish has it they all will have it.

Best of luck to you both. Keep us posted!
Ken

aqualoaf

Hi Ken – Well at least you know I’ve read the link you provided as it seems to advocate heat, increased aeration and aquarium salt as a way to combat ich. Ok, well it’ll be 40% less the concentration that it is at present by this evening!
Checking the tank this morning there already seems to be signs of improvement – the shark is now grazing again and there appears to be noticeably less spots on the fish – a couple of the rummy nose tetras were of particular concern. I’m aware that this is a cyclical thing so I just have to keep the temperature up while the parasites are off the fish, I guess.

aquarist48

Good morning Aqualoaf. Keep your water temperature raised for the full 2 weeks period even if all of the ICH appears to be gone. Don't forget the gravel vacuums as well I'm glad to hear that you're seeing signs of improvement! That's good news!
Ken

aqualoaf

That gravel's going to sparkle by the end of this fortnight!

aquarist48

LOL glad to hear it.
Ken

aqualoaf

Lost my largest harlequin today and a rummy nose tetra last night. Not sure if it was the ich or the temperature that did it in the end.

Another water change tonight.. The fish in general seem to have little in the way of visible signs - i.e. the white spots - any more, but I saw more platys 'resting' at the bottom and a couple of others flashing this evening. The shark is now seemingly back to his normal self. No salt introduced these past water changes, Temperature 86...

Shawnie

im sorry for your losses
higher temps have less oxygen..so going to 83-84 is good ...can you add extra airation with a bubble wand ? sounds like they are struggling with the higher temps and the extra oxygen will do allot of good...

aqualoaf

I'm trying to reduce the temperature a little. I have an airstone but perhaps it isn't enough. Might get a bar-shaped one tomorrow just to cover that possibility.

iloveengl

I'm sorry

Best wishes with your other fish.

RaeJeanne

Sorry about your loss, Aqualoaf. My husband is slowly raising the temp in our tank, although it is only 76 right now. Still no signs of ich and the Rainbow is not flashing as much. I am wondering if it is just a plain old itch or if he was being a bit temperamental. I am keeping a watch though.
On water changes, my husband does things a bit very old school. He relies on natural stuff as much as possible. That 50% water change was the first time we had taken water OUT of the aquarium in years. We add water because it naturally dries out and (you may gasp) our cat drinks out of it. She can't get to the fish because the only part exposed is the part where the filter waterfalls it back into the tank and she drinks from the waterfall. He lets the algae grow a bit so things cycle around more naturally. When I mentioned the gravel maybe being too thick in the bottom he said it was part of the filtration system and the oxygen comes up through the gravel. Don't know what your thoughts are on it, just thought I would mention it.

aqualoaf

Thanks for your words of encouragement!

P.S. I often put slices of fresh cucumber in the tank, weighed down. All the fish seem to like that.

Shawnie

some members have hijacked this thread and I have moved your discussion to your own area http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/fr...important.html

please remember to stay on track with the op's questions....thank you

aqualoaf

Thanks Shawnie,

I’ve managed to settle the temperature at 84. No casualties since my last post. It’s difficult to spot any white spots on the fish now. With daily cleans and water changes most of my gravel doesn’t offer much dirt as I clean it, but I did find a particularly dirty patch of gravel underneath some driftwood, made the water smell in fact – perhaps this is where the clown plec has been hoarding uneaten wafers?!

I notice that the RBS has started flashing a little again, but it’s in between grazes and general snooping around the tank. The harlequins aren’t as keen to be fed at the moment, perhaps they’re having the worst time at the raised temperature?

Shawnie

your welcome aqualoaf.....im glad the spots are disapearring ..but leave it the 2 weeks....maybe adding another airstone on the other side of the tank will help the harlequins? and if the tank is cycled, you only have to do 2 gravel vacs a week not every day ...I cant remember if you are cycled or not ..im sorry

aqualoaf

Hi Shawnie - I'm a stickler for staying the course, no worries about that, and particularly as fish are still flashing I'm not going to stop anything for a while. As far as the daily gravel vacuuming is concerned, I'm just following the advice of aquarist48's link to 'Ich: an old cure for an old disease'

(If I shouldn’t' be doing that, and I shouldn't be using salt, then there's not much left of that article that I should be following, save for the increase in temperature and aeration!)

I'm doing a daily 35-40% change - three buckets out, three buckets in, basically. The tank had cycled before but with all this cleaning might reduce its abilities. I use a Safe Water treatment to keep bacteria levels up and the tap water free from nastiness, though, and the filter is a decent, multi stage one.

aqualoaf

Thought I'd add to this - Things are stable in week two - reduced my water changing and tank vacuuming a bit as it obviously causes upheaval for the fish. Temperature's a steady 84.

No visible signs of Ich although the treatment continues, of course. No casualties since the harlequin last week and the other harlequins have an appetite again at feeding time. I'm guessing the shark has his appetite back again too as the unintended snail population in the tank has reduced dramatically! Haven't seen any fish flashing at all these past couple of days.

I was originally advised the use of aquarium salt by our local store, but I don't know whether they realised I had a RBS or a clown pleco. With the tank being basically free of aquarium salt by now, they both seem better for it.

Again, to all the contributors to this thread I thank for your concern and advice - it looks like we're on the final straight for this...

Shawnie

Im so glad things are looking up!