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Redtailedshark

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Hi guys, I am a very new aquarium owner and am relatively nuanced about aquariums. My 29 gallon aquarium has an ick outbreak and I responded by adding doses of ick clear and removing the carbon from the filter. I added air stones and a sponge filter. My mollies and loaches seem to be acting weird, and I am unsure if it’s the ick, medicine or something I did wrong. I have cloud minnows, mollies, dojo loaches, and a red tailed shark. Please help, the mollies seem to be at the surface breathing harder than normal despite my tank being oxygenated by three bubblers and the filter(with carbon removed), and one of my dojo loaches is super lethargic compared to its normal crackhead energy. I am super super new to this and am so sorry if I’m doing soemthing that’s super wrong. I’m completely open to criticism, jsut keep in mind I’m doing my best and did do my research in the beginning.
Thanks
 

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Stop the meds completely, ich meds can be very harsh and should be used as last resort...
I would recommend slowly turning up the temp in the aquarium to about 86-89 which kills ich. But if you notice the fish gasping for air or acting very strange start turning the temp down. Do the temperature shift slowly. Also add salt to kill the ich faster at a measurement of 2 tablespoons per five gallons and don't exceed two weeks for either of these treatments.
Also keep the water aerated, the hotter the water, the less oxygen there is and no one wants their fish to "drown". So keep airstones and sponge filters running.

I would also wait to see what others who have more experience have to say.
 
Stop the meds completely, ich meds can be very harsh and should be used as last resort...
I would recommend slowly turning up the temp in the aquarium to about 86-89 which kills ich. But if you notice the fish gasping for air or acting very strange start turning the temp down. Do the temperature shift slowly. Also add salt to kill the ich faster at a measurement of 2 tablespoons per five gallons and don't exceed two weeks for either of these treatments.
Also keep the water aerated, the hotter the water, the less oxygen there is and no one wants their fish to "drown". So keep airstones and sponge filters running.

I would also wait to see what others who have more experience have to say.
Also about the salt, you CAN NOT use normal table salt or ocean salt at the pet store. Stuff like the API salt in the cartons is what you need. I always have some on hand
 
Stop the meds completely, ich meds can be very harsh and should be used as last resort...
I would recommend slowly turning up the temp in the aquarium to about 86-89 which kills ich. But if you notice the fish gasping for air or acting very strange start turning the temp down. Do the temperature shift slowly. Also add salt to kill the ich faster at a measurement of 2 tablespoons per five gallons and don't exceed two weeks for either of these treatments.
Also keep the water aerated, the hotter the water, the less oxygen there is and no one wants their fish to "drown". So keep airstones and sponge filters running.

I would also wait to see what others who have more experience have to say.
Thanks for the advice, I’ll see what others say, but yeah I’m worried that the meds are too harsh, but I was worried that the salt would also be a little too hard for them, is that a legit concern. Also the temperature worries me because of the cloud minnows being cold water
 
Thanks for the advice, I’ll see what others say, but yeah I’m worried that the meds are too harsh, but I was worried that the salt would also be a little too hard for them, is that a legit concern. Also the temperature worries me because of the cloud minnows being cold water
Salt is the best remedy for fish. It keeps parasites and bacteria at bay. But it shouldn't be kept on the tank for more than 4 weeks if you have softwater fish.
If you stick to the measurements mentioned above the fish will be perfectly fine. But it will only REALLY do its job if the temp is raised.
 
I’m worried that the meds are too harsh
100%. Most meds used in aquariums are unregulated and are way too harsh for fish. Sometimes it kills them before the disease does
 
Should I siphon out the meds and get salt tomorrow then when the pet stores open?
Yes, do a large water change. And TRY not to disturb the substrate... That's where all the ich eggs are and I'm not sure what disturbing them will do.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum :)

Can you post pictures of the sick fish so we can confirm white spot?

What is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the aquarium water?

You might have overdosed the medication. The best thing to do is a 90% water change and gravel clean the substrate.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

If it is white spot, then raise the water temperature to 30C (86F) and keep it there for 2 weeks, or at least 1 week after all the white dots have gone. The heat will kill the parasites without you needing to add medications.

Don't bother with salt, it does nothing to white spot. The heat is safer than medications and all tropical fishes can tolerate it for a couple of weeks.

Increase aeration when using chemicals, salt or raising the temperature because these things all reduce the oxygen level in the water.

The following link has information about white spot, including various ways to treat it. Post #1 and #16 are worth a read.

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To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.

When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

If you have big rocks or driftwood in the tank, remove these before measuring the height of the water level so you get a more accurate water volume.

You can use a permanent marker to draw a line on the tank at the water level and put down how many litres are in the tank at that level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "FishForum.net Calculator" under "Useful Links" at the bottom of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum :)

Can you post pictures of the sick fish so we can confirm white spot?

What is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the aquarium water?

You might have overdosed the medication. The best thing to do is a 90% water change and gravel clean the substrate.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

If it is white spot, then raise the water temperature to 30C (86F) and keep it there for 2 weeks, or at least 1 week after all the white dots have gone. The heat will kill the parasites without you needing to add medications.

Don't bother with salt, it does nothing to white spot. The heat is safer than medications and all tropical fishes can tolerate it for a couple of weeks.

Increase aeration when using chemicals, salt or raising the temperature because these things all reduce the oxygen level in the water.

The following link has information about white spot, including various ways to treat it. Post #1 and #16 are worth a read.

---------------------
To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.

When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

If you have big rocks or driftwood in the tank, remove these before measuring the height of the water level so you get a more accurate water volume.

You can use a permanent marker to draw a line on the tank at the water level and put down how many litres are in the tank at that level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "FishForum.net Calculator" under "Useful Links" at the bottom of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum :)

Can you post pictures of the sick fish so we can confirm white spot?

What is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the aquarium water?

You might have overdosed the medication. The best thing to do is a 90% water change and gravel clean the substrate.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

If it is white spot, then raise the water temperature to 30C (86F) and keep it there for 2 weeks, or at least 1 week after all the white dots have gone. The heat will kill the parasites without you needing to add medications.

Don't bother with salt, it does nothing to white spot. The heat is safer than medications and all tropical fishes can tolerate it for a couple of weeks.

Increase aeration when using chemicals, salt or raising the temperature because these things all reduce the oxygen level in the water.

The following link has information about white spot, including various ways to treat it. Post #1 and #16 are worth a read.

---------------------
To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.

When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

If you have big rocks or driftwood in the tank, remove these before measuring the height of the water level so you get a more accurate water volume.

You can use a permanent marker to draw a line on the tank at the water level and put down how many litres are in the tank at that level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "FishForum.net Calculator" under "Useful Links" at the bottom of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.
B8F0323B-B440-4221-BBC1-10BE0CC6927E.jpeg
 

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Yes, rubbing on objects in the tank and small white dots on the body and fins are typical white spot symptoms.

The fish have excess mucous on their fins and that is probably from the medication. The excess mucous is the cream coloured film over their fins, it's easy to see on the pectoral (side) fins.

The water looks cloudy too. Is it normally cloudy like that or is that from the medication?

--------------------
Do a big water change and gravel clean, then jack the temperature up. They should be fine in a couple of weeks. :)
 

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