iridescent sharks in trouble-HELP PLEASE

[FishEnthusiast]

Hi everyone. I really need your help. I have a 55G tank with 5 serpaes, 5 neons, 1 big angel, 3 balas, 3 iridescent sharks(2 now one died last night), and 2 african dwarf frogs. The balas and ID sharks are all young, the balas are about 2" long and the ID's are about 3". When they get bigger they will be getting a 250G tank.

But I digress, here is the problem. I discovered ich on my 2 larger ID sharks about a week and a half ago. I didn't want to treat with chemicals because they are scaleless and I didn't want to kill them with the meds. My tank is also planted and I don't have a hospital tank I could transfer them to..So, I turned off the light, covered the tank, turned up the heat to 84 to speed up the life cycle and did daily 50% water changes and thorough gravel vacs. That didn't work, the ich was getting worse, so I went to the pet store and got some Nox-Ich, which the clerk told me was safe for my ID's and my plants. I treated the tank for 3 consecutive days, doing daily 50% water changes and gravel vacs. Then yesterday all of the fish looked a litte stressed, so I did a 75% water change and treated at 1/2 dose for the ich. The ID sharks were the worst, their skin seemed to be peeling off their fins, and my little one (about 1 1/2") was the worst. All his skin seemed to be peeling off, even on his eyes. He was acting really strange. I went to bed last night hoping for the best, but expecting the worst. The little one is gone, he didn't make it through the night.

So here is my dilemma. The other ID sharks still have spots, so I still need to treat for ich. What can I use that will be safe, and is there anything I can do to help heal their skin? I am going to stop treatment for the ich for a couple of days to let them heal. What can I give them in the meantime?

My water parameters are PH7.0, NitrItes 0, NitrAtes less than 5, ammonia 0, and temp 78. I have lowered the water level to increase surface agitation, I also have an air stone to increase oxygen in the tank.

Thanks for any and all suggestions

 

[Toadfish]

That one is tough but I would suggest adding a little bit of aquarium salt and raising the temp to 82, and keep up with the water changes 50% per day. when you do restart treatment half the dosage it's a little better for scalless fish.

 

[nshockeyplaya]

Lol a 55 cant even hold 3 balas let alone balas and 3 irredecent sharks too. Those fish grow to around 42", do you plan on upgrading to say at least a 200 gallon tank for three of those monsters?? If not i suggest you do not keep them.

 

[xXMrBonesXx]

Hi everyone. I really need your help. I have a 55G tank with 5 serpaes, 5 neons, 1 big angel, 3 balas, 3 iridescent sharks(2 now one died last night), and 2 african dwarf frogs. The balas and ID sharks are all young, the balas are about 2" long and the ID's are about 3". When they get bigger they will be getting a 250G tank.

^---- must have missed that part


use Aquarium Salt i'll show you the treatment i've used twice to cure ich

(Raise Aquarium temperature to about 80-85°F (very slowly - no more then 1-2°F an hour)

Days 1 - 3: 2 tablespoon of salt for every 5 gallons a day

Days 4 - 7: Leave water alone.

Days 8 - 10: Remove half of the tank water each day and replace with unsalted, chlorine-free water at the correct temperature.

If by day 7 you see any improvement (but not a total cure), wait until day 10 to start changing the water in the tank. Be sure to change half the water once a day, for three days at the end of the salt treatment. Also, don't wait longer than 10 days to start changing the water, as the salt itself can begin to cause problems for your fish.


Ditch the 50% daily water changes that's only taking out the meds your putting in before they get a chance to work , i have 2 ID Sharks that had ich when i bought them and i used that treatment and the ich was gone before the 8th day but i left the water changes until day 10 just to be safe

 

[nshockeyplaya]

Hi everyone. I really need your help. I have a 55G tank with 5 serpaes, 5 neons, 1 big angel, 3 balas, 3 iridescent sharks(2 now one died last night), and 2 african dwarf frogs. The balas and ID sharks are all young, the balas are about 2" long and the ID's are about 3". When they get bigger they will be getting a 250G tank.

^---- must have missed that part


use Aquarium Salt i'll show you the treatment i've used twice to cure ich

(Raise Aquarium temperature to about 80-85°F (very slowly - no more then 1-2°F an hour)

Days 1 - 3: 2 tablespoon of salt for every 5 gallons a day

Days 4 - 7: Leave water alone.

Days 8 - 10: Remove half of the tank water each day and replace with unsalted, chlorine-free water at the correct temperature.

If by day 7 you see any improvement (but not a total cure), wait until day 10 to start changing the water in the tank. Be sure to change half the water once a day, for three days at the end of the salt treatment. Also, don't wait longer than 10 days to start changing the water, as the salt itself can begin to cause problems for your fish.


Ditch the 50% daily water changes that's only taking out the meds your putting in before they get a chance to work , i have 2 ID Sharks that had ich when i bought them and i used that treatment and the ich was gone before the 8th day but i left the water changes until day 10 just to be safe

HAHAH, sorry about that i didnt finish reading.

 

[WILDER]

The peeling skin does it look white and fluffy.

 

[FishEnthusiast]

use Aquarium Salt i'll show you the treatment i've used twice to cure ich

(Raise Aquarium temperature to about 80-85°F (very slowly - no more then 1-2°F an hour)

Days 1 - 3: 2 tablespoon of salt for every 5 gallons a day

Days 4 - 7: Leave water alone.

Days 8 - 10: Remove half of the tank water each day and replace with unsalted, chlorine-free water at the correct temperature.

If by day 7 you see any improvement (but not a total cure), wait until day 10 to start changing the water in the tank. Be sure to change half the water once a day, for three days at the end of the salt treatment. Also, don't wait longer than 10 days to start changing the water, as the salt itself can begin to cause problems for your fish.


Ditch the 50% daily water changes that's only taking out the meds your putting in before they get a chance to work , i have 2 ID Sharks that had ich when i bought them and i used that treatment and the ich was gone before the 8th day but i left the water changes until day 10 just to be safe

The peeling skin does it look white and fluffy.

The peeling skin doesn't look fluffy. At least not on the big ones. I got some Melafix today. I am going to start using that to help heal their skin. It says not to change the water for 7 days, but I am not going to be giving any ich treatment, and I think I should change the water to get the cysts out of the gravel and the free swimmers out of the water. When I was using Nox-Ich I was medicating after every water change.

I hesitate to use salt because of my angel fish, he doesn't react well to it at all. I am going to do a 75% water change to get the meds out of the water and I am going to start a round of Melafix. Will doing a good gravel vac daily and replacing the meds I take out be ok? I want to treat the ich too, but I don't want to keep the Melafix from working.

Gawd, so many questions and probably no right answer. Thanks for your help.

 

[WILDER]

As peeling skin can be columnaris with you doing large water changes, you did get the water to the correct temp as the tank.

 

[FishEnthusiast]

As peeling skin can be columnaris with you doing large water changes, you did get the water to the correct temp as the tank.

I always make sure the replacement water is the same temp as the water in the tank. The temp rarely fluctuates by more than one degree

 

[WILDER]

That fine, good luck hope they get well.