HELP! neon tetras

[platyfreek]

I have a 50 gal. with 1 dwarf gourami, 6 neontetras, 4 tiger barbs,and 3 bala sharks. 2 days ago a few of the neons appeared to have ick and one seemed to be having trouble swimming. he does this dog paddling type thing where he moves his pectoral fins vigorously and jolts his tail about once every 2 seconds. I dosed with mardel maracide for ick with malchite green base.(i have used this in the past and seems to be effective) but the bottle was so small that you can only get one dose per bottle and the bottles cost anout 6 dollars each. It said to dose on days 1 3 and 5 so i had my dad take me to the petstore to buy more but he didn't want to spend the money to get more mardel he decided to get kordon rid-ick because it was cheaper and came in bigger bottles. well it is now day three and i am wondering whether i should dose the rest of my mardel (i have one dose left and need 2) or stop the mardel mid-treatment and start treating with rid-ick. I'm afraid that the fish will build up an immunity to the mardel and it won't be effective on them anymore. the neontetra that was swimming oddly seemed to be swimming a bit more normally on day 2 and is about the same now on day 3. I would qauarantine the neons so they don't infect the others but there are 2 platy fry in my 10gallon right now suggestions and advice are greatlyappreciated! theres also the 2.5 gallon with a sick betta (popeye and finrot under treatment) but i don't know what i would do with him. help, suggestions, and advice are greatly appreciated!



Edit: The korodon is Malchite green/Formalin mix base and says to treat once every 24 hours as needed and remove the carbon fromthe filter.

PH- 7.2-7.4
Amm-zip
Nitrite-nil
nitrate- 40-80ppm
i have a 75 gallon filter for the 50 gal.(my dad wanted to do this)
I do 20%water changes every 4 weeks
temp-80

the neon thats swimming weird eats but not as much as usual(i think he has trouble getting to the food) all the other fish are acting normalexcept the neons have ick cycts.

 

[afireinside]

first of, it's not ick, it's ich. and second off, you should do more water changes than 20% every four weeks, i'd say at the minimum a 20% water change every two weeks, but i do 10% water changes everyweek. and the only thing i can suggest is, go to walmart, they sell just plain old 10 gallon tanks with nothing else for about $11. i bet u could buy a heater and a flilter there two for cheap, along with plants and all of that stuff. then go to petsmart and buy some precycling stuff. that's about all of the help i can give. i hope ur fishy's are gonna be ok.

 

[Boxcar Muzzdogg]

Stick withthe mardel, even if it is your last dose. Mardel is excellent medecine and rid ich is not as good.

Also, if you can, raise the temp of the water to 82-84 degrees untill the fish are better. Unfortunately neons are fragile and may not survive but keep the temp up and use the mardel. If you can convince your dad to return the rid ich and get more mardel then that would be the best thing to do.

 

[tttnjfttt]

I'm going to do my best to type this coherently, but I've got a sinus infection and i'm trying to type through a fog...

First of all, have you added salt and turned the temperature up in your tank to 82-84? That will help speed up the life cycle of the ich. Also, regardless of the medication, you should ALWAYS remove the carbon filter, because it will absorb the medicine.

When you are treating ich, if you need to treat the whole tank. You can seperate the worst ones and treat them seperately, but in general, once you see it, every fish is at risk of getting it.

Ok, as for which meds to use... I THINK I have read that Formalin is very rough on the fish, but don't quote me on this one, I easily could have been thinking of something else. Because of that, I would stay with the mericade for ich meds, plus you know it works and your fish can tollerate it. With ich, you really don't have to worry about resistance building up. That is more of a bacterial/antibiotics thing. Ich is a parasitic disease.

 

[platyfreek]

thanks for all your help i will stick to maracide and i have already raised the tempto 80 *it used to be 78* but ill raise it a tad higher i know this speeds up the sife cycle tanku!

 

[IMCL85]

I said two week 25% water change is a minimum. I my self use quick cure which rox like mad on curing ich. Beside its 1 drop per every 2 gallon for tetra fish. for ur case its about 25 drop. And it work wonder. If you planning on switching brand. Make sure u finish treating with ur old one because even tho it lag of 1 more does but if with the right medicine ich should clear with in 2-3 days. So just use ur remain treat before open up new treatment beside if you dont use them it will be wasted any ways. If after u use it it still dont seem to work. Switch treatment but doing a 25% water change and add back attive carbon back to the filter for 24 hours. Then begin with new treatment. Good luck.

 

[platyfreek]

ok will do the neon tetra that is swimming oddly is still swimming oddly but he ate a lot this morning