Should I recycle my tank? When should I get new fish?

So after cycling for 2 months and adding to platies both died of either ich or columinaris. I am now sterilizing all the decor/ equipment and trying to move on. Should I recycle my tank? When should I get new fish? How long does it take for the ich/columinaris to be completely gone form the system? I feel really defeated.

Thanks

 

Ich can live a couple days without any fish present. If it hasnt been that lock, id wait a few.

if you used antibiotics, you will need to recycle. If not stick to doing some water changes and monitor your current readings to make sure that its still cycling ammonia.

 

Ok sounds good I will do the water change method thanks

 

Also when can I add new fish to the tank? Should I wait the normal nitrogen cycle length (6-8 weeks) or is it already safe? Could I add some snails (nerite or Apple) to keep the aquarium cycled?

 

Sorry I made a another thread, feel lost, need help

Sorry I know I already made a thread on this, I'm just still so confused and don't know where to turn. I'm in the verge of tears. So I just lost two platies I recently added to my tank to either ich or columnaris (not sure, but it looked more like columnaris) I feel devastated and have a ton of questions

1. Is the ich/columnaris flushed out of the system yet?

2. When is it safe to add new fish?

3. Should I completely start a new cycle?

4. Would daily water changes fix my issue?

5. Since they'll be unaffected by remaining ich, could I add any snails soon? (To keep the beneficial bacteria alive)

6. I don't have and cannot get a quarantine tank (parents won't let me) any other ways to "sanitize" fish before adding them to the tank?

7. I cranked the temperature in the tank up to kill the ich/columinaris, should I continue this?


Tank is 15 gallons and all parameters seem ok. Any advice appreciated. I feel like giving up

 

I have never dealt with it but CindyL may be able to help. Alison

 

Did you treat the columnaris?

 

Sorry I made a another thread, feel lost, need help

No I didn't have time. I was on vacation and I came back to one dead fish and the other on deaths door. The fish that was alive when I got home was covered in white slime. She died the next morning . The fish didn't show any signs of sickness before I left

 

No I didn't have time. I was on vacation and I came back to one dead fish and the other on deaths door. The fish that was alive when I got home was covered in white slime. She died the next morning . The fish didn't show any signs of sickness before I left

Aw I'm so sorry you lost your babies. I hate that! I had to treat my fish for columnaris a month ago. It's actually a bacteria that lives in your tank. It doesn't just go away you have to treat for it I had to put several fish down because their tails were completely gone in hours. I used kanaplex.

 

HI Dylfish2000
We have merged your two threads. We are very sorry about the issues you are facing but it will be much easier for you and other members if all the information is in one thread.

Good luck!

 

If I don't treat it and I don't have fish in there for a while, will it go away on its own? Or should I get kanaplex? Or could I use table salt to kill it? There's no fish in there currently

 

What's bad about columnaris is ich you can treat with salt and high temps but columnaris can not be treated with salt and high temps make it grow (hence why it got worse on your one fish. I've read that if you leave a tank with nothing in it for a month it will go away but I wouldn't take that chance I'd just treat it. It's a nasty thing.

 

Ok so where can I get kanaplex? Fish store? Or would it be a safer bet to just start fresh, that way I k so it's gone?

 

Ok so where can I get kanaplex? Fish store? Or would it be a safer bet to just start fresh, that way I k so it's gone?

Does your tank have a filter?

I also found this for you

 

Thanks all so much Calliefornia yes I have a HOB filter. One other question if I treat the tank with kanaplex or wait 32 days for the bacteria to die off, will it be safe to add fish then? Or should I start a new cycle?

 

Thanks all so much @yes I have a HOB filter. One other question if I treat the tank with kanaplex or wait 32 days for the bacteria to die off, will it be safe to add fish then? Or should I start a new cycle?

You're very welcome anytime! I would start a new cycle. It'd be probably safer. When you can look in your filter (in the stem and inside) and see if there's a bunch of white stuff like what was on your platy.
Also keep me updated. I'd like to know how your tank and new fishies are doing.

Oh and I forgot! I had to order kanaplex from amazon. But definitely check you pet store first. I live in a very small town we don't have much of anything.

 

Thanks so much! It's late now so I'll check the filter tomorrow and do another water change. Not sure if I can get that kanaplex but I'll definitely keep up with my daily water changes. Keep you posted

What's bad about columnaris is ich you can treat with salt and high temps but columnaris can not be treated with salt and high temps make it grow (hence why it got worse on your one fish. I've read that if you leave a tank with nothing in it for a month it will go away but I wouldn't take that chance I'd just treat it. It's a nasty thing.

Also I meant to say that I've heard salt kills columnaris, can anyone confirm this? This would be a much easier treatment option

 

Ich can live a couple days without any fish present. If it hasnt been that lock, id wait a few.

Ich can live weeks without a host. Forgive me if this has already been mentioned as I only skimmed the rest of the post, but to make sure a tank is free from Ich it should be left empty for at least a month.

If you want to maintain a cycle in an empty tank you need to dose ammonia.

 

Ich can live weeks without a host. Forgive me if this has already been mentioned as I only skimmed the rest of the post, but to make sure a tank is free from Ich it should be left empty for at least a month.

If you want to maintain a cycle in an empty tank you need to dose ammonia.

Ive never heard of weeks, I believe this is incorrect, please cite a source.

 

I tried salt dips and baths but the salt content has to be so high that it stressed my fish so medicine was easier and more comfortable. If you want to try it then the salt content has to be 1% or higher. It might actually be okay to increase the salt (not the temp) while there's no fish in there. My husband wanted me to tell you to majorly salt your empty tank. That might actually be perfect. I really hope I'm helping and not confusing you.

 

Thanks I'll definitely try that. Two questions. All I have is table salt, will that work? And also, if I get a uv sterilizer, will that prevent diseases in the future?

 

Thanks I'll definitely try that. Two questions. All I have is table salt, will that work? And also, if I get a uv sterilizer, will that prevent diseases in the future?

I honestly have no idea about the sterilizer. That's something someone else will have to answer (I'm sorry!) Yes table salt without iodine or caking agents will definitely work!

 

Ive never heard of weeks, I believe this is incorrect, please cite a source.

If you're looking for a scientific source I don't think you or I will be able to find one as I don't believe any studies have ever been done on the matter, but there is one user (name: RTR) on this thread who discusses time and the effect temperature has on it.



For a standard aquarium temp they recommend 3 weeks. I personally wouldn't go with any less as I feel there is too much of a risk that Ich would indeed still be in the tank, but would only be attached to the more susceptible gill area where you can't see it.

The prevention area of this page as well as a few others list 2 weeks, as it is the full life cycle of the parasite - again though, this is dependent on temperature.



The life cycle is listed as being between 3 - 28days on this site, again, dependent on temperature.



Edit: As pointed out in the article below, the free swimming form alone survives 48 hours without a host. This doesn't account for the parasites remaining in the other three life stages.

 

Article of interest on Ich https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fa006

 

You're very welcome anytime! I would start a new cycle. It'd be probably safer. When you can look in your filter (in the stem and inside) and see if there's a bunch of white stuff like what was on your platy.
Also keep me updated. I'd like to know how your tank and new fishies are doing.

Oh and I forgot! I had to order kanaplex from amazon. But definitely check you pet store first. I live in a very small town we don't have much of anything.

I checked the filter, didn't see any white stuff in the inside, but there was weird stuff stuck on the intake

 

If you're looking for a scientific source I don't think you or I will be able to find one as I don't believe any studies have ever been done on the matter, but there is one user (name: RTR) on this thread who discusses time and the effect temperature has on it.



For a standard aquarium temp they recommend 3 weeks. I personally wouldn't go with any less as I feel there is too much of a risk that Ich would indeed still be in the tank, but would only be attached to the more susceptible gill area where you can't see it.

The prevention area of this page as well as a few others list 2 weeks, as it is the full life cycle of the parasite - again though, this is dependent on temperature.



The life cycle is listed as being between 3 - 28days on this site, again, dependent on temperature.



Edit: As pointed out in the article below, the free swimming form alone survives 48 hours without a host. This doesn't account for the parasites remaining in the other three life stages.

Yes 48 hours, not weeks. We were talkng about a fishless tank, so as I said, a couple days.

 

Yes 48 hours, not weeks. We were talkng about a fishless tank, so as I said, a couple days.

As I said though, that doesn't account for the other life forms, and it is all heavily reliant on temperature, which that article doesn't cover. The trophonts will be in the gravel producing tomites, which means that ich will survive in the tank even without fish for more than a couple of days.

 

We'll have to disagree

 

So it's been a couple of weeks since this incident, and unfortunately I've been very busy over be past few weeks and haven't really been able to add meds to kill the bacteria. However, I noticed there was a bunch of weird white stuff on the back of the glass (columnaris?) and it has died down to the point now that's it's just about gone. I have been dosing ammonia every other day. Is it safe to add fish yet? I'll test my parameters later today