But They're So Cute! ;_;

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I'm actually tempted to just get another tank if I fell like getting more pearlscale. xP

They are soooo awesome! >w<

If you do want to get pearlscales in the future then you'll need to start out with at least a 15-20gallon long tank since they can grow up to 6-8inches long so must have a tank that ideally measures at least 3ftx1ftx1ft- all goldfish produce a lot of waste as well so need good filtration in their tanks .

 

[ALEXF]

Personally i wouldn't treat the tank with a half-dose because it may not completely kill the ich off and so you could just end up wasting valuable time treating the fish with treatments that don't work properly- killing off the ich 100% ASAP is your top priority right now .



but if they have an animal that has sensitive skin, rushing to cure everything might lead to more problems with burning their skin. true or no? it may take longer to treat but at the same time the senative ones wont die becasue of it.

 

[soraxcloud]

I'm actually tempted to just get another tank if I fell like getting more pearlscale. xP

They are soooo awesome! >w<

If you do want to get pearlscales in the future then you'll need to start out with at least a 15-20gallon long tank since they can grow up to 6-8inches long so must have a tank that ideally measures at least 3ftx1ftx1ft- all goldfish produce a lot of waste as well so need good filtration in their tanks .

Okey-dokey.

Also the babies have hatched and I have moved them into a smaller tank so now I don't have them to worry about atleast. xD

Personally i wouldn't treat the tank with a half-dose because it may not completely kill the ich off and so you could just end up wasting valuable time treating the fish with treatments that don't work properly- killing off the ich 100% ASAP is your top priority right now .



but if they have an animal that has sensitive skin, rushing to cure everything might lead to more problems with burning their skin. true or no? it may take longer to treat but at the same time the senative ones wont die becasue of it.

Yeah that's what I was thinking... So I wouldn't be able to treat them all or something? xPP

but if I move the ones with the sensitive skin to a smaller tank for the time being and they have the ick won't they just infect the new tank then reinfect the old tank once I move them back?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Personally i wouldn't treat the tank with a half-dose because it may not completely kill the ich off and so you could just end up wasting valuable time treating the fish with treatments that don't work properly- killing off the ich 100% ASAP is your top priority right now .



but if they have an animal that has sensitive skin, rushing to cure everything might lead to more problems with burning their skin. true or no? it may take longer to treat but at the same time the senative ones wont die becasue of it.

Well i wouldn't advise using the Ich Cure med, i know there are anti-ich meds which are safe to use on common types of fish (however i'm not sure which such meds are available in the US), however marine salt can be used to kill the ich off if there are no safe chemical anti-ich meds available, and marine salt is available at most pet shops anywhere in the world.

The salt burning fishes skin is largely a myth, although it is true salt can be harmful in varying degree's to certain types of fish- however the harm salt causes to fish with a low tolerance of the stuff largely happens when it is used in the long term (like for months on end). The harm salt causes to fish in the long term is on the fishes kidneys, freshwater fish are not designed to take in lots of salt over a long periods of time and so long term salt usage will cause a strain on their osmotic processes/kidneys (which in worst case scenario will lead to decreased life expectancy, kidney stones and even kidney failure resulting in death of fish etc).
But used in the short term, like for specific medical purposes like treating ich, it is not really harmful to most fish (no more harmful than quite a few of chemical based medicines anyway). When treating fish which have a low tolerance of the stuff, its not the most ideal option, however its better than treating them with a potentially much more toxic chemical based medicine or not treating them at all with anything etc.

All types of freshwater fishes tolerance of salt varies a lot, some a lot more tolerant of it than others- it all largely depends on the sort of habitat the fish evolved in and the natural salt levels present in the water, and whether the fish migrates to different habitats at all etc. For example, most fish which come from the Amazon have a very low tolerance of salt though due to thousands of years of pure freshwater water flooding their habitat has made the Amazon pretty much 100% devoid of salt. Not all catfish have a low tolerance of salt, but most catfish readily available in the hobby come from the Amazon and so most catfish available in the hobby generally have a low tolerance of salt etc. But fish like mollys and guppys cope very well with been treated with salt (salt is even beneficial for mollys), since there are small levels of it naturally present in their habitat which they have evolved to deal with etc.

At the end of the day, you just gotta weigh up the pro's and con's of medicating a fish for a particular issue/s- untreated the fish will just continue to die of whitespot, so thats certainly not a good option. Treating the fish with half doses of medicines could end up with the fish not being completely cured, and even worse allowing the disease/parasite to build up a resistance against the medicine/s. Treating particular fish with a chemical medicine on full dose which warns against treating those particular fish with it could be a particularly lethal option (we don't know what chemicals are in this Ich Cure medicine, some chemicals found in certain medicines are very toxic to certain types of fish, while other chemicals are not too bad etc).
So treating the fish with a chemical anti-ich medicine which is not harmful to any of the various types of fish in the tank is the most ideal option. If no all-fish-safe anti ich med can be found locally though, marine salt would be the best second option, since is less likely to be as damaging as the Ich Cure med and on a proper dose and treated in the right way it is a sure-fire way to get rid of the ich/whitespot within a few weeks .

Okey-dokey.

Also the babies have hatched and I have moved them into a smaller tank so now I don't have them to worry about atleast. xD

Has this other small tank just been set up for the fry or has been running for a while with some fish in it? Does it have filtration? You don't really want the new fry tank to cycle while they are growing, you will need to keep a very close eye on its water quality and do regular small water changes etc .

 

[soraxcloud]

Okay then... is there any sort of guide as to how to use the salt to fix ick?

Oh and I forgot a few of the species of fish and other creatures that were in my tank in my other post I made... if I put a list of all my fish maybe you could help me figure out there tolerance?

Lets see...

I have:

Peppered cory cat
Green cory cat
Albino cory cat
Pictus catfish
Pleco
Molly
Platty
Neon Tetra
Loach
Newt
Snail
And this little fish I got on accident and... I'm not sure what it is. xPP

I have so many different kinds. xD
The platty and the molly seem to like each other alot. xDD

About the baby fish, no it's a tank I just bought today but I used water from the old tank. xPP
No it doesn't have a filter they are so tiny they would get sucked up into it. xD
I figure with this ick problem if they live they live but if not then meh I'll just try and get my cories to do it again. *shrugs*

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

All the catfish, the neon tetras and the loach have a pretty low tolerance of salt, but the rest have a much better tolerance of salt- i'm not sure about the newt and the snail though. You should move the snail to the fry tank (the newt could eat the fry though so don't move it just yet).
You will need to get a small sponge filter for the cory fry tank, if you don't ammonia will just build up in the tank and kill the fry off, without any filtration the beneficial bacteria responsible for controlling toxins in the water will not survive. If you are worried about the fry getting sucked into the filter, then you can cut up a bit of fine netting and put it over the filter intake (i've seen many people do this before with success) .

With the stocking of the tank, i have to warn you about a few things- pim pictus catfish are predatory fish and as yours grows it will become capable of eating quite a few of the fish you are keeping in the tank (like the neons and platys), so you should either rehome this fish at some point or get it a decent sized tank of its own with more suitable tank mates;

http/www.fishforums.net/content/Catfish/41743/Pim-pictus/

Do you know what type of pleco and loach you have? There are hundreds of different types of pleco's and loaches, varying massively in size and care, so its very important to know exactly what type of pleco and loach you have if you are to look after them properly .
Do you know what type of newt you have as well? Some newts are capable of eating fish when they grow large enough, and may need area's in their tank above water level to bask on etc.

What are the numbers of all the fish you have and how many gallons/liters is their tank ?

With the salt, 1tsp per 10gallons is good- if you can get hold of the med though, Waterlifes Protozin is very good. On second thoughts though, since you have so many low salt tolerant fish, it is really the best option to find a chemical anti-whitespot medicine (like Waterlifes Protozin) that will kill off the ich .

 

[soraxcloud]

All the catfish, the neon tetras and the loach have a pretty low tolerance of salt, but the rest have a much better tolerance of salt- i'm not sure about the newt and the snail though. You should move the snail to the fry tank (the newt could eat the fry though so don't move it just yet).
You will need to get a small sponge filter for the cory fry tank, if you don't ammonia will just build up in the tank and kill the fry off, without any filtration the beneficial bacteria responsible for controlling toxins in the water will not survive. If you are worried about the fry getting sucked into the filter, then you can cut up a bit of fine netting and put it over the filter intake (i've seen many people do this before with success) .

With the stocking of the tank, i have to warn you about a few things- pim pictus catfish are predatory fish and as yours grows it will become capable of eating quite a few of the fish you are keeping in the tank (like the neons and platys), so you should either rehome this fish at some point or get it a decent sized tank of its own with more suitable tank mates;

[URL="http/www.fishforums.net/content/Catfish/41743/Pim-pictus/"]http/www.fishforums.net/content/Catfish/41743/Pim-pictus/[/URL]

Do you know what type of pleco and loach you have? There are hundreds of different types of pleco's and loaches, varying massively in size and care, so its very important to know exactly what type of pleco and loach you have if you are to look after them properly .
Do you know what type of newt you have as well? Some newts are capable of eating fish when they grow large enough, and may need area's in their tank above water level to bask on etc.

What are the numbers of all the fish you have and how many gallons/liters is their tank ?

With the salt, 1tsp per 10gallons is good- if you can get hold of the med though, Waterlifes Protozin is very good. On second thoughts though, since you have so many low salt tolerant fish, it is really the best option to find a chemical anti-whitespot medicine (like Waterlifes Protozin) that will kill off the ich .

Okay I'll find some netting then. I had, had fish and such in another tank a few days ago but have sense returned that fish to a friend. All these creatures had kinda been separated at that point but I had to put them all together so I could move the fish in the tank to give to her.

So at this point in time they are all in a 20 gallon.
7 tetra all together (I had 8 but one impaled itself on a plant I have. >.>)
4 Cory cats two of which are the albino and had the eggies. xD
1 Pictus Catfish
1 Pleco (small I think is what the tank he was in said but i could be wrong. >.>)
1 Molly
1 Platty
1 Loach (he's a small kind too the thing on the tank they had him in said he wouldn't get big. *nods*
3 Newt (They've been small sense I got them and that was almost a year ago)
1 Snail (but I already moved him, I had two but I think the ick meds killed the other. ;_
Oh and I forgot I have 5 ghost shrimp in there too. >.>

I do have another 5 gallon tank I'm planning on resetting up. Now that I say them all out it dose sound like alot. >.>

Maybe I should move all the tetras to the 5 gallon? *tilts head*

 

[soraxcloud]

Actually maybe... sense I'ma do the ick clear stuff some more... maybe I'll just move the newts, loach and shrimp. They seem the most vulnerable to this stuff and the least likely to get the ick right?

Ehhh whatever you think I suppose. Waiting impatiently but happily for your reply cause you seem to know what you're doing! xD

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I apologize for not replying back earlier, haven't had much time to come on the forum recently. At the end of the day, you need to decide what to do quickly and treat the tank with something- if you feel safe enough about using the Ich cure med, then move the loach, shrimp and newts to the 5gallon tank.

You should get the loach and pleco ID'd though, since until you know exactly what they are you won't know for sure if you are looking after them properly (like feeding them the right diet etc)- also some loaches are very sociable while others are the complete opposite and very territorial, so you need to find out what type of loach it is as it may do a lot better with the company of its own kind etc.

You should rehome the pictus catfish at some as it will eventually grow large enough to eat certain types of fish you are keeping with it in the tank. Mollys and platys are sociable fish and do best with the company of their own kind, however its important to have the right ratio of males and females when keeping them in mixed gender groups as the males will over-harass the females if there aren't enough of them around- 2-3females per male is good. Kept in an all-female group, at least 3 females is good .

 

[soraxcloud]

I apologize for not replying back earlier, haven't had much time to come on the forum recently. At the end of the day, you need to decide what to do quickly and treat the tank with something- if you feel safe enough about using the Ich cure med, then move the loach, shrimp and newts to the 5gallon tank.

You should get the loach and pleco ID'd though, since until you know exactly what they are you won't know for sure if you are looking after them properly (like feeding them the right diet etc)- also some loaches are very sociable while others are the complete opposite and very territorial, so you need to find out what type of loach it is as it may do a lot better with the company of its own kind etc.

You should rehome the pictus catfish at some as it will eventually grow large enough to eat certain types of fish you are keeping with it in the tank. Mollys and platys are sociable fish and do best with the company of their own kind, however its important to have the right ratio of males and females when keeping them in mixed gender groups as the males will over-harass the females if there aren't enough of them around- 2-3females per male is good. Kept in an all-female group, at least 3 females is good .

No need to be sorry I was just worried cause some places when your post moves off the first page they forget about you! ;_;

The tetras are all going to live with a friend now sense I don't really find them all that amusing, I don't want them to get eaten and they are setting up a tank at the daycare in her shop place. I've moved the Newts, loach and shrimp. I think all the baby fish got sucked into the filter... I'll breed my cats again later and come up with better housing for the babies this time. ;;;

I think I'm going to get a 29 gallon long tank... that way there will be more room for baby cats. xPP

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

If you get a 29gallon tank for corys then that will be great- corys are also more likely to spawn when kept in large groups of their own variety, since they all help get each other in the mood for breeding when the conditions are right .
A soft sand substrate is by far the best sort of substrate for corys since it allows then to feed more naturally and its softer on their barbels/whiskers so they are less likely to get mouth infections etc . If you do decide to get sand, the only thing you need to remember about getting sand is not to use marine/coral sand (since this will mess up the ph of the tank) or builders sand (since this has all sorts of toxic setting agents in it etc)- childrens playsand and blasting/silica/pool sand are fine though for freshwater tanks, you should wash the sand thoroughly though before putting it in the tank as otherwise all the dust in it will probably make the tank look very cloudy for days on end.