fish keeping has become depressing

[wrs]

I am having a terrible fish keeping experiance! All my fish have ich, they seem to get better one day, then boom horrible the next. Ive had like 9 die now. I treat them, do the water changes, give them the meds, and its been like two weeks now and no change at all.

All my plants are dying. They were doing so good, but now they are turning dark and mushy and just fall apart and die.

All my drift wood has turned blue from the med. My whole tank looks terrible, and there is nothing i can do about it because of the sick fish.


I miss my little 5 gallon that I got first with the platties and guppies.

I have no idea at all what to do wiuth my fish anymore, nothing is working. I am afraid though that the ich wont go away if they all die out and when I put new fish in the will get all ich infected as well.

It has just become so depressing.

 

[breezer40]

Try not to get too depressed..although it is hard when everything you try doesn't work out

You may have a type of ICH that is resistant to some of the meds (I have known this happen) so maybe a different med or different approach might be worth trying?

I'm not sure if this is suitable for your fish but have you tryied the high temp (86+) and salt method?

I hope you get things sorted out.

 

[wrs]

The tank temp raised to 83, but it wont go higher, but it got cold today, so it went down to like 80.

I only know of two ich meds, and have tried tem both.

And I have tryed salt, but have herd that that isnt good.

 

[scott67892002]

i had this problem and i'm sure you'll get better advise than this! I borowed a tank from the LFS filled it half full with tank water then topped up as you would with a water change. put all the fish in it with no decorations or substrate (kept regular water changes for the duration they were in there) then stripped the tank cleaned all the substrate. decorations and glass and stared cycled it again! i found the fish responded better to the treatment in the unfernished(?) tank and they were fine when i put them back in! and have been since. i don't know if it was the correct thing to do but it did work. some one please correct me!

 

[littlefishie]

Best I can do is offer you a hug, and tell you that it'll all work out in the end.

 

[Grey Legion]

Ya it sucks...I had the same thing happen to me when I first started...try to do you best now and if they all die they all die...clean everything and re-set it up and let is sit for a week or 2 then get some test fish to cycle the tank for you...

the medication could be killing you plants by turning the water blue..did you remove the carbon from you filter ??

just try you best...you can never fail if you at least try..

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Freshwater Ich
Symptoms: Fish look like they have little white salt grains on them and may scratch against objects in the tank.
White spot disease (Ichthyopthirius multifiliis) is caused by a protozoan with a life cycle that includes a free-living stage. Ich grows on a fish --> it falls off and attaches to gravel or tank glass --> it reproduces to MANY parasites --> these swarmers then attach to other fish. If the swarmers do not find a fish host, they die in about 3 days (depending on the water temperature).

Therefore, to treat it, medicine must be added to the display tank to kill free-living parasites. If fish are removed to quarantine, parasites living in the tank will escape the treatment -- unless ALL fish are removed for about a week in freshwater or three weeks in saltwater systems. In a reef tank, where invertebrates are sensitive to ich medications, removing the fish is the only option. Some people think that ich is probably dormant in most tanks. It is most often triggered by temperature fluctuations.

Remedy: For most fish, use a medication with formalin and malachite green. These are the active ingredients in many ich medications at fish shops. Some products are Kordon's Rid Ich and Aquarium Products' Quick Cure. Just read the label and you may find others. Check for temperature fluctuations in the tank and fix them to avoid recurrences. Note that tetras can be a little sensitive to malachite green, so use it at half the dose.

Use these products as directed (usually a daily dose) until all of the fish are spot-free. Then dose every three days for a total of four more doses. This will kill any free-swimming parasites as they hatch out of cysts.

Another remedy is to raise the tank temperature to about 90 deg F and add 1 tsp/gallon salt to the water. Not all fish tolerate this.

Finally, one can treat ich with a ``transfer method.'' Fish are moved daily into a different tank with clean, conditioned, warmed water. Parasites that came off of the fish are left behind in the tank. After moving the fish daily for a week, the fish (presumably cured) can be put back into the main tank. The disadvantage of this method is that it stresses both fish and fishkeeper.

From FINS

 

[dwarf-puffers]

sry bout all your fish

u might want to empty alkl the water and let the tank dry out 4 a while that might help but i dont really no also be carefully with all the medicines i have one i used and it made my silicone in my tank go blue

 

[rrdrummer5]

the same thing happened to me when I got my original tank from my uncle. All my fish kept dying from ich and all my decor had turned blue from all the meds.

So i drained everything and totally scrubbed out the tank with soap first and then scaulding hot water to get the residue out. Then i got all fresh new gravel/filter/decor/fish and I have never seen Ich since and I have had my tank running for over a year now.

 

[Bignose]

Some people think that ich is probably dormant in most tanks.

This is a misconception, since ich is a living creature and has to keep going through its life cycles. There is no dormant stage, at least that has been found yet, and ich cannot survive if it gets dried out. The dormant ich myth may have came about because of a similar marine ciliate parasite called Cryptocaryon irritans, sometimes called "Ich's marine counterpart." Crypto can remain dormant for up to 30 days, especially at lower temperatures.

About the dormant ich: "What utter rubbish" noted Dr. Peter Burgess in Nov 2001's Practical Fishkeeping He studied Ichthyophthirius multifiliis for his Ph.D. thesis topic.

There is good news, that once you rid your tank of ich, and I mean really rid it, whcih means medicating for at least 2 or 3 life cycles (that is 6-9 days) it cannot come back. Unless you reintroduce it from an unquarantined fish from your dealer. Makes a pretty good case fo quarantining, eh?

Also, once you have medicated your tank, there is evidence that the surviving fish aquire some immunity to the disease, so between aquired immunity and the meds it should not rear its ugly head again.

Once you do get some new fish, you will have to 1) quaratine them before putting them in your show tank and 2) review your procedures as to what stressed them in the first place. Often, the fish from the dealer's tank may have a very low level infestation, and until they are stressed the parasite does not gain any ground on the fish's immune system. Unfortunatly, netting and transferring and re-housing can be awfully stressful. So, I hate to sound like a broken record (or should I say broken MP3 these days?) but quaranting is looking better and better.

 

[wrs]

I would love to re start the tank, but I do have some fish that are still okay, and some plants, like2 that are really nice still, and dont want to get rid of the few things I have that are good.

I was thinking about getting some new gravel though. But gravel is quite expensive around me. an 11 lbs bag for 18.99.

I am hoping that it will get better really soon, but I dont even have 2 days worth of meds, and cant go get anymore.

I suppose they will all die if I cant get any, but I really like my krib pair and corries.

 

[Grey Legion]

You don't have to use gravel...try using play sand...may not be as nice but it will work and be a lot cheaper

go to home depot and ask for "play sand" and they will show it to you..

there is always a cheaper way to go...don't get locked in by thinking you have to buy everything from a fish shop...

good luck

 

[wrs]

I use sand, but i would prefer gravel, I like the look of it better.

 

[Kinda Fishey]

While your at Home Depot, looking for gravel' go to the building dept. Look at the gravel you mix with concrete ( sackcrete ). It's about $3.00 for a 60 lb. bag. Its finer than the gravel in the landscape dept. Courser than play sand. All cheaper than LFS .
Luck KF

 

[abstract]

While your at Home Depot, looking for gravel' go to the building dept. Look at the gravel you mix with concrete ( sackcrete ). It's about $3.00 for a 60 lb. bag. Its finer than the gravel in the landscape dept. Courser than play sand. All cheaper than LFS .
Luck KF

very good advice, and the rocks look very nice too