andy53

I just started a small Eclipse 6 gallon tank for my desk. I recently bought two silver hatchets, to start with. They both got ich two days after they had been in the tank, and one died today (three days after purchase). I have been treating the water with ich medicine, but what else should I do? I tested the water, and all levels are fine, so I'm not sure what is causing the stress. Please help me cure my fish. Thanks.

Jay

Hi Andy..

Ich is not caused by stress it is introduced, your fish were infected when you put them in the tank.

If you have started with meds then you should continue. Just be really cautious most meds are more toxic and dangerous than the Ich, that is why IMO the salt treatment should be used.

Sounds like two issues ICH and Water Quality , was the little tank cycled?

What does all levels were fine mean
pH GH KH Ammonia Nitrite Nitrate Temperature

Let us know

Regards,
Jay

andy53

I know I'm a newby to the world of aquariums, but I'm a little confused. Everyone I have talked to and from what I have read, ich is in the tank at all times and comes out when the fish det stressed. Is this true?

My tank was not completely cycled, because it has only been up and running for a short time. I let the tank run fishless for a week and then introduced the fish. So I know it hasn't cycled because I didn't do a fishless cycle, and the fish have only been in the tank for 5 days. After they started to get sick I took a water sample to my local fish store, Aquatropics, and they tested the waters pH, ammonia, and nitrates. The guy said it all was fine, and if he had to rank it on quality it would be about a 95% perfect. I used ich drops that you add to the water to rid the tank of the disease. I have been doing that for 3 days, and my fish looks much better today. All the white spots have cleared, and he is swimming more, just seems all round happier. I don't know if what I did was right, but it seemed to work.

What should I do now that the ich has left? Is there any more treatments I should do?

Jay

NOT True!!

OK..first five days no cycle started just an empty tank.

.

OK fish in the tank for five days. You should have seen a little elevation on the ammonia but not much.

.

So I'm guessing here that the tank has really not started to cycle and the lfs guy gives you a good bill of health on what is essentially tap water. Did he say he was sorry about the Ich, or did he blow it off.

Please do not misunderstand, Ich meds do work, but sometimes they are very toxic if not used precisely. Other critters like snails and shrimp can sometimes be harmed by meds.

Read the stickies on Cycling a tank, and get that done before you add more fish. It is possible that you will lose some more fish to the cycling process.



Regards,
Jay

andy53

The guy at the store actually showed concern and told me somethings to do to test my tank for stree factors and other things. So I now need to cycle the tank. I already read it, so do you recommend a regular cycle, or fishless? I already have one fish in there, so should I do anything special or just let him be and give the tank time? Also the silver hatchet that is in there doesn't seem to be eating the flakes I give him; does this have anything to do with him having ich?

Jay

Well...if the fish are already in I would let the cycle happen as is.

The fish is not eating, perhaps, because of the ich, I thought you said you cured that perhaps because he is suffering from ammonia and or nitrite poisoning. Re-read this thread, read the thread on cycling again.

You and your fish are not out of the woods yet! Try to focus on what cycling is all about, and what Ich is, and what you need to do for each.

You have two serious issues here that need your full attention.

Regards,
Jay

andy53

I feel so bad my other fish died last night. I thought he was cured because he didn't have any more white spots, but I guess that wasn't good enough. Do I need to change the water since I had two infected fish in there?

Tommy Gun

IMO, this may be a good time for you to restart your tank from the beginning this time, be sure to cycle your tank. Keep in mind this time that you must add some food for the benificial bacterial to grow, so simply feed the tank without any fish. You can also get an additive like Bact-seed and Bact-feed, that can help you start a cycle as well.

Then I would NOT take my water to an LFS for testing. My first tank was the same situation and believe it or not, the LFS employee couldnt believe how great my water was and praised me for being so smart! Its all bologna to get you to buy some fish, who will get sick and then they can sell you medicines and more fish. You just became a repeat customer without your knowledge.

I also wanted to add that I found treating Ich with salt and raised tank temps to be much better and even if they take longer, there are not the bad effects of medicines to deal with (my first hospital tank is basically a light shade of blue!) However, if you are going to use meds, then make sure you take out the carbon filter media as this will defeat the meds quickly. Overdosing does not work in humans and can kill a fish quickly as well. Overdosing can also occur when you do not follow the meds directions exactly as far as the water changes required for further doses.

Small tanks are also somewhat harder to deal with since problems occur much faster than in larger tanks. The good side is also that it becomes easier to treat less water than large water, but like I said, things happen so fast that most times we catch them too late. The very first step you need to do is cycle your tank and test the water yourself so you can see the changes and be sure of your water quality. Another thing I found is that test strips can be inaccurate if you do not store them properly. In my neck of the woods, living close to Lake Michigan, test strips get ruined by the high humidity of the air in summer time. Doing the good old test tube testing is in my opinion, the best and potentially the most accurate.

andy53

Thanks Tommy Gun. I did exactly what you said. I read up on fishless cycling and am now 3 days in. I went to my LFS and bought the test kit with test tubes and decided I would do it all myself. Thanks again for the great advice. Right now my tank is

82 degrees
pH-7.2
Ammonia-4 ppm
Nitrite-2 ppm
Nitrate-8 ppm

Does this sound ok for the 3rd day of a fishless cycle?

Tommy Gun

To be honest, there is no scale or set time limit on any cycle in any tank and there are so many factors that it would be impossible to predict how long it will take a tank to be 'ready'. The higher amount of ammonia means that you are definately started cycling (I think, I get these all switched around as to what will happen first). The best resource for what you are looking for in your tank will be the little booklet that came with your test tube kit (or the internet, of course) and like i said, I get these mixed up all the time, but you should see no ammonia or nitrite, but some nitrate (or switch the nitrites and nitrates....this gives me a headache!) Anyways, the booklets I have from buying those test kits usually tell me not only how to perform them, but what I am looking for in the way of results.

My point is, you could have 100 six gallon tanks and none of them would be done all at the same time. This is why these test kits will come in really handy for you to understand what is happening to your water. This will ultimately help you understand your fish and how to give them the best possible environment you can.

I always like to point out that many times, people get into this hobby 'for something to look at' and do not always understand that they are playing with another creatures life. You will always be making the right decision by taking the best care of your fish as you can, no matter how many you have, how big your tank is, or how much you pay for a fish.

Good luck and be patient. I also wish you the best because most everyone I have met online or in person who keeps fish usually starts small and then the next thing they know, you are moving your wife's pictures on the wall to make room for your gigantic new tank!