All fish dead from white spot...

Depressing but true... Kept the temp up to 82 consistently for nearly three weeks... Medicating for two of them. First to go was the ram cichlids... Leaving the ten cardinals and the two ghost shrimp.. Lost 6 tetras progressively over the last 4 days... Leaving four today... They were so covered in white spot and looking so terribly ill that I thought it best to put them in the freezer. They were going in the next 2 days I think, so I just put them out of their misery.The shrimp are fine. I cannot believe how the white spot has remained in the tank for so long. Must be a very hardy strain. D >mned pet store gave it to me. When I went back I looked in the ram tank mine came from they were all covered in the dreaded ich- two were dead and the rest were at the surface with swollen gills on deaths door. The neons that were in there with them were all dead and sucked up against the pump with chunks out of them. A real horror show. That'll teach me A: to not put the stores water in my tank and B do not buy ANYTHING from that shop EVER AGAIN!!


Anyway..Rant over and now a question, if you would be so kind...: Now all my fish are dead..How long should I wait before I put in any new fish?... With the hopes that the white spot is done and dusted.
Thanks. And sorry this post is so depressing

 

Don't beat yourself up too much, Ich is a killer that shows up for all kinds of reasons and actually goes dormant only to resurface and hit any new fish you may put back into that tank.. first up, never, EVER, add the water that LFS-bought fish come in, to your aquarium.. it's always a good idea to have a quarantine tank(5gal - 10gal), in which you put any newbies for a minimum of two weeks, before adding them to your main tank.. that way, any diseases they may possibly have from the LFS tanks can be treated before they're added to your main tank.
If you're serious about raising fish, and don't just want them as decorations to your place with a limited life-span, you should seriously consider having that additional small tank complete with air, filter and even plants and ornaments(no gravel though), as a quarantine tank for any new fish you may acquire and as a hospital tank for any sick fish that you may have to remove from your main tank for treatment.

The next thing you'll have to do is soak that aquarium along with everything in it in a bleach+water solution for a minimum of 12hours (the exact measurement of bleach to water I can't remember, but I'm sure someone else in Fishlore can provide that), after which you flush out the tank and ornaments with water, and dry out in the sun(hope you have sunny days where you are!).. that's what it'll take for that tank to be safe for any new fish you may wish to add.

If you have any Ich problems again, treat the tank and all fish in it with Ich-treatment right away.. you'll also need to increase the temperature in your tank, but by how much I don't know since I live in the Tropics anyway and it's always hot!.. no worries, someone else will tell you how much to adjust your heater to deal with that problem.. one last thing, Ich is extremely contagious, so if you have more than one tank and one is affected, never share nets etc. or you'll spread the disease to the unaffected tank.

 

I'm so sorry to hear about your fish. I can sympathize with you. I made the mistake of not quarantining my last fish purchase, and paid the price dearly for it. That's a mistake I won't make again.
I can't remember the exact time frame, but if Ich doesn't have a host to attach to, it will die off. You should probably still keep the temperature of your tank up, to help speed up the cycle of the parasite. Like Richard said, I would do a good cleaning of your tank. Hopefully you won't have to cycle your tank again.
Good luck!

 

Thanks guys...
If I have to do this bleach clean out thing... Should I then isolate the filter and keep it in water so as to keep the bacteria, or will the dormant ich remain in the filter material? Does this mean I have to start out again from scratch? The whole cycling process again?
Thanks
Felix

 

I feel your pain. I am in the same spot (no pun intended) right now. I am fighting off the Ick and so far, I have lost 10 cardinal tetras, 5 neons, 5 guppies, 4 cherry barbs, 5 harlequin rasps, 1 swordtail, and a rainbow fish. The only fish that seem to be holding their own are my zebras, which I believe would survive through anything but a small nuclear blast. Good luck with the cleaning process, and remember you are not the only one to suffer through.

 

zebras are crazily hardy it true. They were the only ones in my tank that didn't get white spot... Then again I gave them away because I thought they were upsetting the rams... A day later I realized it wasn't the zebras upsetting them, but the onset of a brutal strain of deadly ich.
Do I really have to clean out my tank with bleach though? I'm reluctant to do this to be honest, it being such an upheaval and possibly having to cycle again... I will do it if I have to though, even though I won't be happy about it.
Thanks

 

If you clean the tank with bleach it will have to cycle over again. Ich is in every tank to some extent all the time. Only when a fishes immune system is compromised in some way(addition of sich fish, being chilled etc) does it take over. Without a host it will die. If it were my tank I would leave it running for about three weeks with the temp up and with no fish adding ammonia or fish food to keep it cycled.still do water changes and gravel vacuums. Good Luck!!
Carol

 

thanks butterfly, that sounds like a more moderate and acceptable plan to me... It's what I was planning on doing!
But do you think it will be ok to do that with the ghost shrimp in there? They don't get ich, and I assume because they do not get the actual spots that they cannot harbour ich...Do you think this is the case? Or would I do better removing them from the tank aswell?
Thanks so much!

 

  I agree not to use bleach.  If you are taking down a tank, or starting a brand new one (used before), it may be helpful.  But then you have to rinse THROUGHLY, and start from scratch with the cycling process.   As far as rinsing wood or any porous substance in the tank in bleach, I wouldn't do it!   Boil the wood.   This will kill any harmful pest, and will not chance retaining a substance that would harm your fish.   As for the Ick.  Be sure to address the start of why your fish were susceptible to the infection in the first place,  water temp, high nitrates, stress of ANY kind.  Do this and you should be able to keep your tank healthy.

Fish in the Frozen North.  -2 & wind !