My ninety gallon is having a problem and Im not sure what is going on exactly.
I know this is long but I have only lost a handful of fish to disease since I started keeping tanks and most of those came from less than wonderful sources and had problems from the beginning.
This is really stressing me out and Im not sure if this is even really ick or if it could be something else. I dont know how ick would suddenly appear in an established tank with no new residents.
So on to my current dilemna
All my fish are bought now from a really reputable store and then in QT for at least 2 weeks before going into one of my big tanks.
The tank is 90 gallons not overstocked, filtered with a fluval 405 and a big marineland HOB as well as two added powerheads with sponge pre-filters.
Water changes are 30-50% a week.
test readings are
Amm 0
Nitrite 0
nitrate 0
PH 7.2
right in the middle on the hardness scale
I use prime to dechlorinate and add flourish comprehensive a couple times a week and excel once a week or so as well as injected DIY co2.
The temp outside has dropped here in the last couple of weeks so the house has been cooler and since I didnt adjust the heater the tank cooled off from about 81 to 77 or so. Could the cooler temps have brought on a dormant case of ick? I was under the impression that it doesnt actually have a dormant phase though so I am confused as to where it came from.
The only fish that has been added in the last two months is a Fantail Goldfish that I had already owned for well over a month, he was to be a temporary addition to this tank and was put in to eat the duckweed that was taking over.
I saw a few white spots on my betta early last week and confirmed a couple on my black molly as well as a few on my clown loaches, no fish had more than 3-5 white specks on their body when treatment was started.
I immediately did a large water change (more than 50%) with a thorough cleaning of the gravel and slowly upped the temp from 77 to about 86.
Since I have salt sensitive loaches I decided to go the medication route right away and added Paraguard at full dosage and lowered the water level about an inch to increase splash and O2.
day 2 everyone was fine and eating and there were already no spots on any of the fish.
I redosed the medication and went about my business.
Day 3 while feeding/medicating I noticed first the spots were all gone from the fish but also a dead baby guppy, it was young but not newborn, around a 1.5 months old. I didnt think much of it and scooped it out as they tend to be snacks for the other fish.
Day 4 I notice my Big beautiful pearl gourami looks tattered and worn, his slime coat seemed to be coming off. So I did another water change, medicated with paraguard and added about 1/2 tsp salt per gallon, slowly via a drip line, to help with slime coat and healing.
Day 5 everyone seems to be doing ok if not fabulous, still no visible spots but they dont seem quite as active as normal and the loaches dont click at dinner time. Medicate and feed as normal
Day 6 same as day 5
Day 7 (today) this morning my gourami is dead, my goldfish has quite a few scales missing from one side and one is still in the process of falling off. My loaches are eating but not with enthusiasm and on the smallest two their gills look redder than normal. No spots on anyone and slime coats look to be ok.
Two of my otocinclus cats have really fat tummies but no protuding scales and dont seem distressed, but it still bothers me as it is unusual.
Test readings before the WC were 0, 0, 15, so my parameters were fine and that can be ruled out as an issue.
I did another water change this morning after removing the dead fish and then redosed the paraguard.
By 10 this evening I notice a small owie on another one of the guppies and I am seeing flashing for the first time by the loaches.
So there were only spots for the first day and by all measures it was a mild outbreak of ick, I have seen fish in stores absolutely covered in the stuff.
There were literally no more than three or four distinct white dots on the fish that had it. bigger than a grain of sugar, and bright white like kosher salt.
My gold ram, harlequin rasboras and flying fox are seemingly totally unaffected by any of it.
Should I continue treatment as is or try something else, and is this even Ich?
Ive had one other outbreak but managed to kill it off by accidently raising the temp to 92/93, thankfully I only boiled the parasite and my Blue rams were fine with those temps. It seems to me that the spots were smaller with that other outbreak but Im not certain
I know this is long but I have only lost a handful of fish to disease since I started keeping tanks and most of those came from less than wonderful sources and had problems from the beginning.
This is really stressing me out and Im not sure if this is even really ick or if it could be something else. I dont know how ick would suddenly appear in an established tank with no new residents.
So on to my current dilemna
All my fish are bought now from a really reputable store and then in QT for at least 2 weeks before going into one of my big tanks.
The tank is 90 gallons not overstocked, filtered with a fluval 405 and a big marineland HOB as well as two added powerheads with sponge pre-filters.
Water changes are 30-50% a week.
test readings are
Amm 0
Nitrite 0
nitrate 0
PH 7.2
right in the middle on the hardness scale
I use prime to dechlorinate and add flourish comprehensive a couple times a week and excel once a week or so as well as injected DIY co2.
The temp outside has dropped here in the last couple of weeks so the house has been cooler and since I didnt adjust the heater the tank cooled off from about 81 to 77 or so. Could the cooler temps have brought on a dormant case of ick? I was under the impression that it doesnt actually have a dormant phase though so I am confused as to where it came from.
The only fish that has been added in the last two months is a Fantail Goldfish that I had already owned for well over a month, he was to be a temporary addition to this tank and was put in to eat the duckweed that was taking over.
I saw a few white spots on my betta early last week and confirmed a couple on my black molly as well as a few on my clown loaches, no fish had more than 3-5 white specks on their body when treatment was started.
I immediately did a large water change (more than 50%) with a thorough cleaning of the gravel and slowly upped the temp from 77 to about 86.
Since I have salt sensitive loaches I decided to go the medication route right away and added Paraguard at full dosage and lowered the water level about an inch to increase splash and O2.
day 2 everyone was fine and eating and there were already no spots on any of the fish.
I redosed the medication and went about my business.
Day 3 while feeding/medicating I noticed first the spots were all gone from the fish but also a dead baby guppy, it was young but not newborn, around a 1.5 months old. I didnt think much of it and scooped it out as they tend to be snacks for the other fish.
Day 4 I notice my Big beautiful pearl gourami looks tattered and worn, his slime coat seemed to be coming off. So I did another water change, medicated with paraguard and added about 1/2 tsp salt per gallon, slowly via a drip line, to help with slime coat and healing.
Day 5 everyone seems to be doing ok if not fabulous, still no visible spots but they dont seem quite as active as normal and the loaches dont click at dinner time. Medicate and feed as normal
Day 6 same as day 5
Day 7 (today) this morning my gourami is dead, my goldfish has quite a few scales missing from one side and one is still in the process of falling off. My loaches are eating but not with enthusiasm and on the smallest two their gills look redder than normal. No spots on anyone and slime coats look to be ok.
Two of my otocinclus cats have really fat tummies but no protuding scales and dont seem distressed, but it still bothers me as it is unusual.
Test readings before the WC were 0, 0, 15, so my parameters were fine and that can be ruled out as an issue.
I did another water change this morning after removing the dead fish and then redosed the paraguard.
By 10 this evening I notice a small owie on another one of the guppies and I am seeing flashing for the first time by the loaches.
So there were only spots for the first day and by all measures it was a mild outbreak of ick, I have seen fish in stores absolutely covered in the stuff.
There were literally no more than three or four distinct white dots on the fish that had it. bigger than a grain of sugar, and bright white like kosher salt.
My gold ram, harlequin rasboras and flying fox are seemingly totally unaffected by any of it.
Should I continue treatment as is or try something else, and is this even Ich?
Ive had one other outbreak but managed to kill it off by accidently raising the temp to 92/93, thankfully I only boiled the parasite and my Blue rams were fine with those temps. It seems to me that the spots were smaller with that other outbreak but Im not certain
