nitz

Ok so it's been a long time since I've come on the forum but I have a problem. I recently bought a pair german blue rams. Well both died and I got them replaced then the male died from the 2nd pair but the female lived on. I got a male gold ram cuz that's all they had left at the store.

Anyways, on Sunday I look in the tank (the 29 gal) and the GBR had a white spot and it was kind've hanging off her. So i freaked out and thought this was ICH so I raised the temperature (gradually of course) to 85F, added an air stone and did 10% water changes daily. The spot fell off sometime over the night but now the GBR and the gold ram are covered in white spots. They just seem to be spots with a smooth looking texture.

Is this ich or a fungus? What should I do? I did a 25% water change today and the temperature is around 85F. Do I need to medicate?

nitz

These dots are all over their bodies and fins. I think it's a fungus but I can't be sure. I can't get any decent pictures of them because they move too fast. Please help!!

The dots are similar to those found on the driftwood in my other tank and have shown up on the driftwood in this tank. Pictures of the driftwood can be found in this thread: http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/cl...driftwood.html

Shawnie

its hard to tell what it is..but if its ich, it takes about 2 weeks to kill it with the warmer temps...83 should be high enough...and make sure you vacuum the subtrate as ich spores can hide in there...it doesnt dissapear over night but a pic deffinately would help of the fish...goodluck!

Alessa

Oh nitz! so sorry to hear that!

well, yeah, a pic would help a lot... darn! thats a bummer, after you tried so hard with your cycle...

nitz

Thanks Shawnie. It's good to hear that it could take up to 2 weeks. I was going to go out on friday and buy some meds. I'll give it another week before I start stressing out. I'll post some pics as soon as I can get something decent.

Thanks Alessa. That cycle was a pain in the rear and you were there to help me through it. I thought it was smooth sailing from there but then this popped up. I thought I had some sort of super tanks that repelled disease :P

Alessa

So did I, until a month ago. I lost all of my fish but 4 in less than a week when I brought in 5 neons.... I will never know what killed them... and I am in the proccess of reestocking again

nitz

Oh no!! Sorry to hear that.

I tried stocking my tank with 5 cherry barbs and 5 albino cherry barbs. All the cherries and 2 of the albinos died. I have no clue how that happened. Same thing as you I guess. The parameters were all normal but they just kept dropping.

What's your stocking plan?

Alessa

This is my plan:

Planted 30 gallons with:

Top: 5 silver hatchetfish
Middle: 1 Dwarf gourami, 4 guppies 2 platies
bottom: red lizard whiptail catfish + crystal red shrimp and ghost shrimp.

The only problem is that the Whiptail is like $40 USD OUCH!

nitz

Oh that sounds interesting!! $40 does hurt the wallet but at least you'll have a gorgeous fish. You've got it all worked out.

I'm thinking of adding a clown pleco to my 29 gal after this whole fungus/ich thing blows over. I'm just not sure it would work too well with the rams since it's a big waste producer. I'd have to make water changes really frequently but it is a good looking fish.

nitz

Well I've determined that it's ich. I tried really hard to get a good picture but nothing turns out well. The fish are too blurry or you just can't see the spots in the picture.

I caved today and bought some meds from Big Als. I got the API super ick treatment. Used half the dose because there's cory cats in the tank and that's what was recommended.

A couple hours after dosing the tank, the GBR lost most of its spots. The gold ram and the albino cherry barb that were affected before medicating didn't show any difference. I'll keep you posted.

Lucy

I'm glad to see your GBR is doing better.

Even with the meds, you should probably continue with the increased temp like you said in your 1st post and don't forget to vacuum for the reasons Shawnie stated.

Good luck!

nitz

Thanks for the encouragement and help Lucy. Unfortunately my gold ram died over the night. When I took him out, it looked like his belly had been eaten up and his fins were in bad shape. The GBR has no more spots but one of the albino cherry barbs still has tons of spots.

I've kept the temp at 82F cuz that's what the bottle suggested. Do you think I should raise it back to 83F? Also the bottle said to do a water change 4 days after the first dose so I thought that meant I should stop the gravel vacuuming until the treatment was done. Do you think I should start up the gravel vacs again?

ScarfaceShaz

Hi . I have the same problem. Just lost a platy just now. How did your situation turn out..?

nitz

Well it didn't turn out too bad. I did lose a gold ram but that was the only casualty. The meds worked fairly fast. How are you going about it??

soldieroffortune1974

Hmmmmmmmmmm.............. I am going into' lecture mode' if the answer to my question is no............. Everyone here who posted on this thread,seem to have 1 thing in common. Is anyone using a quarantine regimented practice,before introducing these new fish into the main display aquarium? Hmmmmmmmmmm.......................

nitz

I know i know. I just don't have room (or money for that matter) for another tank. I've thought about having a QT but my parents would kill me if I bought another tank. I know it probably would've saved me the hassle or even having to deal with the ich in the first place. I'll see what I can do...

Alessa

A rubbermaid container with a heater and ammolock is all you need... what I am using right now


Edit: (the ammolock is in the extreme case you cant cycle a filter because the medicine will destroy the bacteria... or that you cant do water changes...)

If it is just to q-new fish, keeping an extra filter in the main tank and transfering it when you need it to the rubbermaid, oughta do it.

soldieroffortune1974

precisely.............. lecture mode aborted

A little bit of prevention goes a long way. Just like anything,make sure you can handle the potential outcome,before doing it.

Alessa

Precisely... Believe me nitz... it happened to me though I "knew better" and the fish came from a "reputable dealer"

here... for the record: Well, my fish keep dying.

Alessa

Lucy

For small fish critter keepers will work.

Hi Nitz, good to see you.


Edit: Sorry, i didn't see your questions on Oct. 31st.

nitz

Thanks for the concern guys. Thanks for the tips Alessa. It sounds so simple and fool proof. I'm gonna give it a try.

And hi Lucy. Don't worry about it.