HELP HELP HELP HELP Half-Dead fish!

[CFC]

Sorry i dont know what treatments are available in NZ but if you haven't already then turn the heat up to 30dgc and add aquarium salt at a dose of one teaspoon per 5 gallons,a good local fish shop will be able to tell you which medication to use.

As mentioned before rams are a very sensitive fish and very few last long ,they were one of the first fish we had when we first started fish keeping but after a few attempts at keeping them decided to leave them as not one lived any longer than 6 months.I think that if you really want to keep these fish it would be best done in a largish (at least 30g) species tank with just rams and a lot of attention paid to getting the water conditions perfect for them.

 

[StiX]

i suggest that you get down to your lfs and get an white spot treatment

With there allready being a treatment in the tank (melafix) I dont think it would be wise to mix meds, but as CFC says, raise the temp and get some salt if possible

 

[carey]

Ok thanks for your help. Is raising the tank temp to 30dgc a good thing? I brought some malkon (malachite green solution) today and treated the tank. After a few hours the spots have disappeared and he is looking happier. Should I increase the tank temp. I can't get any aqu. salt because I am 13 and obviously can't drive so my parents get really annoyed with my highly social life being my "taxi" so when I want to go out for something small like this they say 'its just a fish' and I reply, and soon to be the rest. Anyway so I can't get any salt. Is the fish getting beta? Thanks for your quick responses everone. PS: none of the other fish are showing signs of infection

Thanks 4urhlp!

Carey

 

[ostrow]

You need to read about ich. To hope to treat it effectively, and to spare the other fish in your tank, you need to do a water change, lightly vacuuming the gravel. You need slowly to increase the temp to around 84F, and you need to keep the lights off while treating. You also need good aeration, either via airstone or having the return from your filter intake nicely disturbing the surface, to agitate the water. Otherwise the combination of meds and high temperature will overly stress the fish.

Mixing ich medications like the one you have with Melafix is fine, in fact, desirable.

How to dose the medication is impossible for us to say without knowing the other fish in your tank. If you have tetras, or loaches, or other sensitive fish, then go half of the recommended dose on the medication.

You also need to treat until EVERY white spot is gone, and then for a full 3-5 days after (5 to be safe). It is desirable to do water changes of 15% or so at least every other day while treating.

Also, remove any carbon from your filtration.

Others on these forums will know that I in fact have had no luck at all with malachite green products (most others are successful). I now swear by the old standard, Aquarisol. But that should not deter you. As a first cut what you are using should be fine. Just be patient and keep treating and doing water changes.

 

[Pufferpack]

In a pinch table salt should work OK for Ick, no need to get a ride to the lfs...unless you can talk your folks into buying a bigger tank for you...hehehehehe

 

[carey]

OK thanks, I will keep that in mind for the future. The malkon alone fixed the disease in three days without using any of your guys suggestions... ) It seemed to be working so I stuck with it and he is spotless and healthy now. I will contine to does for a few days to kill any remaining traces of it. I always wondered what the difference between table salt and sea salt was, apart from one is from salt deposits and other from the sea. Although I did go diving today and found a rather interesting rock, which I rinsed and put in so that might put a bit of salt in the water ( I hope it doesn't hurt, well shoudn't) . I also have a larger tank but my parents won't let me set it up because they say that the one I have got setup (9gal) is fine, when they could have a (20gal) O well g2g, Carey