Ich??

[bgarthe72 90]

That just does not appear to be Epistylis to me….it looks like an Ich infestation on those fish. Sorry you’re going through this.
Perhaps moving the Acaras to a hospital tank and changing your treatment while continuing to treat your main tank is an option.

What are you using to treat? Is it that API stuff you mentioned?

Someone said…..correctly……that UV light will neutralize meds as does carbon. I would advise against using UV and carbon in this situation.

The Acaras are in dire need of ridding the infestation in order to save them. You may have to resort to a two or three pronged approach. If it were I, I would go multiple-prong, but others might disagree.

In hospital tank……
Kordon’s Rapid Cure or Ich X or Seachem’s Cupramine
…….and……..
Aquarium salt for both making the environment less favorable for Ich and for helping the fish slime/skin and helping to reduce potential bacterial issues.
Add aeration as well.
Keep your light level low for both not degrading the meds and to facilitate the free swimming stage of Ich which is the only real stage that is susceptible to the meds.

Be ready with antibiotics if needed.
Be sure your food has garlic in it as it helps fish appetites and is something Ich does not appreciate.

Good luck….we’re pulling for ya.

 

[Tomsfish30 30]

I use rid ich plus which is formalin and malachite green.
It says on the instructions that the dose can be doubled in severe cases.
Check your meds instructions if you can up your dose.
Formalin and Malachite green are the best meds used in combo for ich.
This is a good article on ich ;

Ich | The Skeptical Aquarist

web.archive.org

Know your enemy.

 

[MuddyWaters2]

Yeah in the morning I'm going to move them and dose the hospital tank. Maybe I'll feed them Kanaplex again or maybe I should try something for Epistylis ....I really think it's Ick tho. Crazy- worst case I've ever seen. I changed 50% water every week. Don't know why they'd get it- especially that bad

 

[GaryE32 31]

I think it may be epistylis, Some of the spots in the photo seem elongated. But then again, they could be spots on the glass. It's the joy of online fish doctoring.
I favour hanging in there with the meds if it's ich. It's only two doses. I've had to go up to five in some cases.

Some signs that point to epistylis are the one species. They are soft water fish, and that appears a very crowded tank. That's ideal for epistylis. If the mollies (real beauties) are doing that well, then the water's hard. There would be some stress from that. I've only seen epistylis a couple of times but it always stayed on one species. Water change, water change.

Have you been getting white spots on the glass or decorations?

 

[Tomsfish30 30]

UV can degrade meds.
I think it is ich still as it does not look fluffy/fuzzy at all in pictures.
Know that ich can only be killed when it is off the fish in its 'freeswimming' tomite stage. No meds do a thing to the ich while it is on the fish. Possibly a dip would be different but medicating a tank has be done properly on the ichs schedule.
This is why I install my ich meds daily and if heavily infested 2x a day as per the instructions of the manufacturer [ Kordon Rid Ick Plus ].

 

[MuddyWaters2]

Still dealing with this. It's still ONLY the Royal Acaras and no other fish in the tank. I had to go out of town (to the beach), so I fed them kanaplex w focus in frozen food before I left. Got back- all still alive, but it looks even worse. Just as a reminder, I treated for Ich for over a week- 4 straight treatments with no effect. Kanaplex seems to have done nothing either, although it doesn't help that I was gone for 3 days. I will continue with the kanaplex (fed them again today and will tomorrow) and looking into another type of treatment like the API Super Ick Cure to see if that works, but my experience with it has been very good in the past, and the reading I've done suggests it should work fine for Ich and would help if it's Epistylis too. Those are the only things that it resembles. This is just straight crazy.

 

[gwand71 188]

Still dealing with this. It's still ONLY the Royal Acaras and no other fish in the tank. I had to go out of town (to the beach), so I fed them kanaplex w focus in frozen food before I left. Got back- all still alive, but it looks even worse. Just as a reminder, I treated for Ich for over a week- 4 straight treatments with no effect. Kanaplex seems to have done nothing either, although it doesn't help that I was gone for 3 days. I will continue with the kanaplex (fed them again today and will tomorrow) and looking into another type of treatment like the API Super Ick Cure to see if that works, but my experience with it has been very good in the past, and the reading I've done suggests it should work fine for Ich and would help if it's Epistylis too. Those are the only things that it resembles. This is just straight crazy.

I’m sorry you’re having such a relentless issue. How much kanaplex do you add to how much food? What are the measurements?

 

[Tomsfish30 30]

I always favored Kordon Rid Ich Plus.
That being said it is my understanding that most ich meds with MG and formalin are the same?
Most instructions call for daily installments.
At 5-6 days in if I don't see improvement I up to 2 doses a day as per instruction.

 

[GaryE32 31]

Different companies go with different formulas and concentrations, but they're all similar. I see Ich as a 3 week battle. 5 or 6 days are round one. You need to get the stragglers.
But if the parasite is on only one species after this time, Ich's unlikely. I'd hate to say it isn't it because we can't really see. I have seen that one fish species outbreak before, but it's uncommon, and I was never convinced I knew what it was. Ich has to have cousins. Our battles with aquarium parasites are sometimes based on serious oversimplifications. Those meds kill the main Ich species, but given the diversity of life...

Epystilis has similar aspects. There are different Ich cyst sizes with different outbreaks. There are different degrees of toughness with the parasite. Ich used to be more common when air cargo was less streamlined and no one changed water. We see it way less now. But if you were in the hobby when it flourished, you got too see Ich in many forms, sizes and degrees of virulence.

How is the progress now?

 

[MuddyWaters2]

I’m sorry you’re having such a relentless issue. How much kanaplex do you add to how much food? What are the measurements?

I added what amounts to about 2 scoops. It calls for one, but it doesn't say within how much food. These are pretty big fish, with other pretty big fish in the tank, so I added more. I added an equal amount of Focus to bind it to the frozen food. For the food, I added 4 little cubes of blood worms, 1 cube of Emerald Delight (or whatever it's called), 1 cube of Spirilina Brine Shrimp, 1 cube of daphnia. I squirt it in and turn off the filter for about 30 minutes to let them eat.

Today some are looking a bit better. All but 2 are very active and dying for food (as they should be). The Royal Acaras remain the only ones with the spots. Crazy man. They're all alive so far, knock on wood.

BTW, if I added it into the water, I'd have to add WAY more- it's 1 scoop per 5 gallons. I think I'd need more than one tube of Kanaplex for that- that stuff is expensive if I remember right.

 

[bgarthe72 90]

Kanaplex for injestion/inside attack via food and IchX or Kordon Rid Ich Plus, or the equivalent in water for external attack. I would not dose Kanaplex in your water. Lastly, I would consider aquarium salt to help the fish slime/skin and to make the water a tad less hospitable.

 

[MuddyWaters2]

Well, I ruined everything. Yesterday I gave what was to be the last dose of Kanaplex/Focus because I had 2 Royal Acara that were still covered in white spots. The others had finally healed or were well on the way. All the other fish were fine.

I fed them all with the frozen food/medicine concoction as I had done before and unplugged the filter for 30 minutes while they ate. My timer went off for the 30 minutes, and I must have gotten sidetracked. Later, I was sure that I had plugged it back in. I had not.

Early afternoon today I went in to check on them and most of them were floating. I can't believe I killed all those fish- I was really bonding with them if that's possible- the severum would follow me around, not just for food.

I am embarrassed and ashamed. I HATE when I do stupid stuff.

2 Royal Acaras lived, the 2 hatchet fish lived, all the black Mollies lived (4) and the Farlowella lived. Oh, and I am keeping a koi fish in there to let it grow some before adding to a pond and it lived. All the rest died.

I did about a 75% water change. The fish living look ok. Can't believe I did this. I am pretty sure it was lack of oxygen, probably exacerbated by the die-off. I would imagine that my bacteria are pretty stunted from all the Kanaplex (and the dang Ich medicine before that), so it probably quickly became a horrible environment.

I'll do another 50% water change tomorrow just to make it clean. Man, this sucks.

 

[gwand71 188]

Wow. That is a tough blow. I’m sorry for your loss.

 

[bgarthe72 90]

Yes……that’s SO sad. Sorry for your losses.

 

[Tomsfish30 30]

This is a bum deal.
I have forgotten more than I care to admit.
And I have admitted some serious lapses.
Sorry about your fish man.