endler rescue

[newfishies]

hi all!
i was at petsmart today and strolling through the fish tanks, i noticed a tiny little guy in with some gourami's and eel/snakelike things. upon closer inspection, i saw it was a male endler! he looked so lonely, i said i would take him. even better, they gave him to me for free!!
anyways i just brought him home and i am floating his bag inthe tank. the problem is that he seems to have this white growth on his tail fin. one nice reound spot that sticks out from the rest of his scales. i have not let him in the tank, and won't until i figure out what this is...if it's ich, i don't want to spread it.
any advice for treating this would be greatly appreciated. i am going to try to get a pic, but my camera is acting up. please help my new little buddy!
thanks!

 

[lee_an]

hi all!
i was at petsmart today and strolling through the fish tanks, i noticed a tiny little guy in with some gourami's and eel/snakelike things. upon closer inspection, i saw it was a male endler! he looked so lonely, i said i would take him. even better, they gave him to me for free!!
anyways i just brought him home and i am floating his bag inthe tank. the problem is that he seems to have this white growth on his tail fin. one nice reound spot that sticks out from the rest of his scales. i have not let him in the tank, and won't until i figure out what this is...if it's ich, i don't want to spread it.
any advice for treating this would be greatly appreciated. i am going to try to get a pic, but my camera is acting up. please help my new little buddy!
thanks!

try methyl blue

 

[3fsh]

Is it fuzzy? If it is, then use anti-fungal meds... some aquarium salt would help as well. If it's not, then definitely don't put him in the tank... he will give ich to all of your fish. If he does have ich, try a bath in saltwater (use aquarium salt, not regular salt) for about 2 minutes or so... make sure that he's breathing okay, though. That should kill all of the ich on him so that you can transfer him directly to the tank. (You might want to rinse him off in fresh water first. ) Hope everything goes well!

 

[newfishies]

its not fuzzy...it looks like a pellett that got stuck on the tail fin, but it's white. i am keeping him in a separate small tank until i can figure this out and treat it the right way. is there some where to find the correct concentration for a saltwateer bath?
thanks again!

 

[3fsh]

If you have an extra tank... I would actually recommend a more gradual approach. Slowly turn the temperature up to 86 degrees, add 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt per 5 gallons, (make sure to dissolve the salt in water before you add it to the tank), and cover the tank with something to prevent any light from getting in. An airstone would be a good idea to keep the water oxygenated. In a couple of days, your fish should be ich free! I would do a water change after a few days, though, and leave the fish in for at least a week or two to be sure that it doesn't have any ich left. You DO NOT want a whole tank of sick fish!

 

[newfishies]

well, he is now in a 10 gal all by himself. he looks so tiny in there!!! i put the auarium salt in there and raised the temp. i had put in a divider, because he is so small and dont you know he found some way to get through it!!!!!i am planning to do daily water changes as the tank is not cycled (the tank is in the kitchen, so easy water access).
any more help/suggestions are welcome.

 

[3fsh]

Daily water changes are good... just make sure to add salt to the water you add! It might also be helpful to buy a hydrometer so that you can moniter the amount of salt in your water.

 

[newfishies]

why don't i want there to be light getting into the tank?

 

[3fsh]

Well, for some bizarre, unknown reason, ich needs light in order to... erm... multiply. No light = no ich. Basically, the light halts it's reproduction, the salt kills it, and the high temperature speeds up its "life-cycle" and also kills it. Here is a good article on ich: http/www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwich.htm

 

[NinjaSmurf]

I've had one fish get ich without any of the others getting it, I heard it was from stress, but if you can keep him out of the main tank then I'd do it just in case, with mine it's just a dump them in situation... Good find!