Ick Turned To Fatal Sepsis? What Went Wrong?

Long story short I adopted 4 young fancy goldfish from a Nextdoor a few weeks ago. They were in a 3 gallon unfiltered bowl and appeared healthy minus a few ammonia burns on the Oranda. I only had a 10 gallon QT cycled so I put them in it and added a 60 gallons of filtration while I seeded their new 40 gallon with media from my 29 gallon established tank. 40 gallon isn't fully cycled but ammonia has spiked and nitrates are zero. Nitrites about 10-20. So it's on the way.

Living near Houston. Hurricane Harvey took our power for several days but we didn't lose our home or any fish. They were without filtration and airation for several days. Did huge water changes daily used Prime and whisked the top of the water by hand. Everyone seemed to make it through the ordeal ok. When filters started up again ammonia was less than. 25 ppm but not zero. After a day or two with filtration and a water change ammonia went back to zero. Current totals on terribly overstocked goldfish QT rescue tank are Ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 10. PH 7.8-8.0 hard water here. I'm apprehensive to mess with PH.

I check all tanks upon waking and I fed the Goldies their veggies to get it done early so I could do my water change. Everyone looked healthy and wonderful. Very active following water change.

Got back from shopping late tonight and checked tanks. And the Oranda and one ryukin definitely have white spots on tail fins. I'm thinking ich for sure but I've never dealt with it before. I have aquarium salt and I do have one bottle of Jungle Ick Gaurd in my fish first aid kit. I currently don't have an adjustable heater (I can purchase tomorrow).

Out of utter panic about losing my babies who have been through **** with me I dosed them with the Jungle Ick Gaurd and removed carbon filters leaving the old filter pads and bags of established media cubes. From what I've read Jungle Ick Gaurd isn't the best and perhaps the salt and temp raising would be best but I wanted to get something on board asap because I juat saw the signs.

What is the consensus of what I should do next? Continue the full five day treatment with Jungle ick gaurd or nix that tomorrow and change water and start with Paragaurd or heat and salt? Did I mess up by doing the tank?

Sorry for the long post and not great picture.

 

When one of my goldfish had ich I did a hydrogen peroxide bath with 1 part hydrogen peroxide and 9 parts water. I dipped my goldfish for 30 seconds and they healed up just fine. The ich went away the next day with no side effects on the goldfish. I think raising the temp would be another great way.

 

I'm very happy to hear that you and your house survived those floods.

Re: fish - because those poor golds just went through the stress of having no filtration for a couple days, and now being stuffed into a QT, I would advise against heat+salt treatment even though it's my choice treatment for ich.

I'd get some good ich medication (better than jungle) and get it over with without messing with parameters.

 

Ok, yes just stick with the med. I believe it has malachite green. Please don't mess with the temp or add salt. Keep it simple. Fortunately, it appears you caught it relatively early, assuming you've been observing the fish closely, which I think you did. As scary as it sounds, I think things should be back to normal within a week. I personally use Kordon Rapid Cure if you lack faith in Jungle prodcuts.

 

I'm very happy to hear that you and your house survived those floods.

Re: fish - because those poor golds just went through the stress of having no filtration for a couple days, and now being stuffed into a QT, I would advise against heat+salt treatment even though it's my choice treatment for ich.

I'd get some good ich medication (better than jungle) and get it over with without messing with parameters.

Thank you. I agree messing with temp and salinity worries me since these guys had a rough start with previous owners and then our hurricane mess. I'm afraid to stress them. I'm going to look for a better med.

Ok, yes just stick with the med. I believe it has malachite green. Please don't mess with the temp or add salt. Keep it simple. Fortunately, it appears you caught it relatively early, assuming you've been observing the fish closely, which I think you did. As scary as it sounds, I think things should be back to normal within a week. I personally use Kordon Rapid Cure if you lack faith in Jungle prodcuts.

Thank you. Yes I believe I caught it very early. I check all tanks close and observe feeding time twice a day minimum. Saw nothing this morning and they are still active and eating. My bottle says it contains nitromersol and victoria green.

 

Thank you. Yes I believe I caught it very early. I check all tanks close and observe feeding time twice a day minimum. Saw nothing this morning and they are still active and eating. My bottle says it contains nitromersol and victoria green.

I believe victoria green is just another name for malachite green. I would make sure just in case, but I think I recall that it is.

 

Ok, yes just stick with the med. I believe it has malachite green. Please don't mess with the temp or add salt. Keep it simple. Fortunately, it appears you caught it relatively early, assuming you've been observing the fish closely, which I think you did. As scary as it sounds, I think things should be back to normal within a week. I personally use Kordon Rapid Cure if you lack faith in Jungle prodcuts.

Is this the Rapid Cure you speak of?I just found it in my kit...I didn't remeber buying it. Should I juat begin this tomorrow night (24 hours after the jungle trestment)?

 

Is this the Rapid Cure you speak of?I just found it in my kit...I didn't remeber buying it. Should I juat begin this tomorrow night (24 hours after the jungle trestment)?

Yes that's the one. I like to do the maximum 3 dose/day if possible.

 

Ahhh perfect. The fish Gods are watching over me finding that at the bottom of my kit. Thank you again. I'll start this tomorrow!

Yes that's the one. I like to do the maximum 3 dose/day if possible.

Funny thing is my 7 year old (who is training herself to be a master fishkeeper) said hey mom you bought a bottle of something Kordon at Walmart when you started the danio tank last year... I'd totally forgotten.

 

Funny thing is my 7 year old (who is training herself to be a master fishkeeper) said hey mom you bought a bottle of something Kordon at Walmart when you started the danio tank last year... I'd totally forgotten.

Like most of my hobbies, I forget about most of the things I buy. And when I need it the most, someone else finds it for me

 

Like most of my hobbies, I forget about most of the things I buy. And when I need it the most, someone else finds it for me

So true. I'm a collector of all items for my various hobbies so this is a constant issue. Thank goodness for my kiddo who has a fresh young worry free mind to keep up with me.

 

Things have really taken a turn for the worst here. After 4 days on the Kordon Rapid Cure the ick just got worse. I stripped everythibg out of the tank except filters minus the carbon and went totally bare bottom. Because things deteriorated so quickly I switched to seachem paragaurd at the advice or my LFS. Things have not improved. One Ryukin developed severe find rot overnight along with read streaks in the tail. Another Ryukin has red streaking as well and ick everywhere. They definitely have sepsis. I have kanaplex and metroplex and erithymyacin. Strangely the Oranda Chubby still has no symptoms at all. No ick spots no changed behavior and no red streaking. He's my absolute love and I'm really considering pulling him to a QT tank. Any advice on what to do in this mess

I came home from Petco with a 10 gallon QT for the only healthy fish chubby the Oranda and both Ryukins were dead against the filter. Hemorrhage from gills and in fins. Absolutely heartbroken. It all started with the ick. The healthy oranda was moved to a 10 gallon brand new QT with seeded media from my healthy tropical tank. He has tons of airation going. Should I continue to treat him with Paragaurd and an antibiotic?

 

Sorry to hear it didn't work and for your loss. I'm very surprised and stumped. Ick is quite curable and not usually fatal. I have no idea what paraguard is so I can't help you there. It could be posssible your remaining goldfish doesn't have ick because of a strong immune system.

 

Sorry to hear it didn't work and for your loss. I'm very surprised and stumped. Ick is quite curable and not usually fatal. I have no idea what paraguard is so I can't help you there. It could be posssible your remaining goldfish doesn't have ick because of a strong immune system.

Yes it's so bizzare. It was definitely ick and it got bad. Paragaurd is an antI parasite med from Seachem who makes prime. My only theory is that they came to me from such terrible conditions their immune system was a mess and chubby just happens to be one of those fish built like a tank. He's chilling in his temp tank while I break down the old one and sterilize it. Blah what a ducky experience everything I've ever read about ick says it's very curable. Crossing my fingers my sweet chubby gets through this and then he can move to the big tank that's cycling for him and the used to be goldfish. The others went from thus yesterday to hemorrhage overnight then dead before I could get back from Petco.

 

Where were the fish exposed to Ich? I must of missed that somewhere along the line.
When you received the fish they were in a bowl for a short period of time from another source? Or had the previous owner had them in this bowl for awhile?
You took media from your own tanks for cycling their tank- had you been treating for Ich recently?
Ich does not lay latent in a tank waiting for stressed fish to find an opening-- there is always a host.
I question the diagnosis of Ich in the first place--- unless, like I said, I missed something, which is highly possible.

 

I got them from a lady in our neighborhood she got them for her kids at the start of summerlate May when school went out. They were in a 3 gallon cube with no filter or airation etc. Only fed flake food. I saw them on nexdoor and couldn't pass them up. I just felt awful for them. Chubby the Oranda had some ammonia burn. I didn't have a cycled tank for them except a 10 gallon QT. I added them there and things were great for almost a month. Then the ick appeared last Wednesday suddenly. The photo above shows what I belive to be ick. It multipled rapidly.

I get get a 40 gallon and seeded it with material from my very well established tropical tank. I've never had ick. Never treated for it. I randomly had one danio out of a large school dropsy and die but that had been my only loss. I hadn't moved goldfish to new tank as it was still showing some ammonia and not cycled. I doubled up on filtration in QT tank and it remained stable.

So everyone is gone except Chubby. Overnight the others started with shredded tails I woke up to red streaks and bleeding around gills. At this point I panicked and decided I had to get chubby the Oranda out because he was still looking perfect. I went to Petco to grab a new 10 gallon QT so I could continue treating him away from the sick fish and came home and found the Ryukins dead against a filter. The only new intro was two small Java ferns from Petco about a week ago. But I rinsed them well. They get daily veggies. Omega one seaweed and HarukI goldfish pellets.

 

I'm sorry, but you did not have Ick.
That is why the fish are not responding to the Ich medication. The white patches were either fungal areas that grew on areas of ammonia burn that drew bacteria or excess mucus where the tissue, once exposed to toxic ammonia, were attempting to heal the damaged tissues.
It makes sense that your fish has survived despite the death of the other fish, he has been cared for very well so his immune system was better equipped to deal with the power outage.
Again, I'm sorry about your fish.

Edit: The sepsis most likely was due to the damage on the gills themselves, they are very vulnerable to damage from ammonia and once this infection gets into the blood, a very rapid death.

 

That does make sense. I had them maybe three weeks before the hurricane and power outages. Everying went down hill after that. And yes... The death from sepsis was shockingly rapid. I didn't even have time to get meds in them and they were gone. So my main question is now chubby is in a clean new QT with healthy media from the tropical tank. He looks great and is eating and active. Should I continue to medicate him and if so with what?

I pretty much have everything in my kit now. Kanaplex, Metroplex and Erythromycin. Also Paragaurd Kordon rapid cure aq salts...etc

 

I don't see any reason for medicating him. It appears the bacteria were able to get a foothold on the other fish due to the ammonia burns, your fish didn't suffer from this.
I would stick to frequent water changes, good food, and a watchful eye on your part for impending problems.

 

Sounds good. He seems. To be fine I hate to flood his system with unneeded meds. I'll just keep a close eye on him. Thank you.