My Fish Have Ich...i Think. Please Help!

[Natty23]

I am new at taking care of fish. I got 5 fish about 7 days ago; one betta, 2 zebra danios, and 2 leopard danios. They are in a 10 gallon tank with a filter, no heater but my house is quite warm.

Yesterday I noticed that my betta had what I thought might be little air bubbles on his body...little white spots. I googled "white spots fish" and I think that it is ich. Today it is clear that the spots are not little air bubbles but white fuzzy looking spots. Also today, one of my zebra danios also has these spots. His fins and tail are all wilted looking and dark too and he looks not so well.

I have been trying to find information online on what to do but I have found a lot of contradictory information and I am not sure whether the treatments suggested (like salt and heat) are ok specifically for danios and bettas.

Please help if you can! I am really not sure what to do and any information and especially specific information would be much appreciated!

Also, are my sick fish definitely going to die? And, are they suffering?

THANK YOU!

 

[Davo86]

Firstly as you have no heater the water in your tank is unstable, meaning that the temp will vary, this alone can cause white spot
Also you have a long finned slow moving betta with 4 very fast moving nippy danios, Stress can also cause white spot.

The fish will need a warm stable temp and a white spot treatment, such as ws3 or protozin,
I would also recommend seperating the two types as they are simply not compatible i'm afraid

 

[Natty23]

Firstly as you have no heater the water in your tank is unstable, meaning that the temp will vary, this alone can cause white spot
Also you have a long finned slow moving betta with 4 very fast moving nippy danios, Stress can also cause white spot.

The fish will need a warm stable temp and a white spot treatment, such as ws3 or protozin,
I would also recommend seperating the two types as they are simply not compatible i'm afraid

Shoot. I bought them together trusting that the pet store girl knew what she was talking about...guess she didn't. Well I will remove my betta and put him in a smaller container.

But Danios like quite cool water right? Should I give my danios a heater jut to keep the water temp stable?

Thanks for the rec.

 

[Natty23]

Also, I am reading on this website:

http/fins.actwin.com/articles/disease/ick2.php

that I should add 3 tsp of aquarium salt per gallon to the tank.

This seems like a lot!!

Is this a bad idea?

 

[chesterscot]

I to keep a betta with zebra danios. I did some reasearch and asked lots of questions in the forum before buying them and the general consensus was that this would be fine
incedentally the only problem i have seen is that the danios are quick off the mark at feeding time so i have to make sure marina (my betta) gets her fair share.

a heater would be benificial as it would stop rapid fluctuations of the tanks temp which could stress your fish making them prone to desease

scot

 

[TRDNiteLife]

Also, I am reading on this website:

<a href="http/fins.actwin.com/articles/disease/ick2.php" target="_blank">http/fins.actwin.com/articles/disease/ick2.php</a>

that I should add 3 tsp of aquarium salt per gallon to the tank.

This seems like a lot!!

Is this a bad idea?

I'm just finishing going through Ich. I didn't have a heater either, so I bought one and a thermometer. Over a period of 24-48 hours, I slowly raised the temp to 86F/30C. During that period I also added aquarium salt. Slightly more than one tablespoon of salt per gallon of water. I also removed the carbon from my filter and then turned out the lights and covered up the majority of the tank since Malachite Green (in the med) is light sensitive. I medicated with QuICK Cure. I used the recommended dose, twice the first two days and once everyday for the next 10 days. On day six I did a 30% water change with thorough gravel vacuum. Replaced the salt that was pulled out. I'm on day eight and I haven't seen any spots for a couple days. Now I'm going to continue for a few more days to make sure I completely wipe it out.

 

[Davo86]

Salt or Meds are both effective ways of removing whitespot, especially if used in a tank where the temperature has been raised to around 28C
However certain fish do not react well to salt and i believe bettas are one of them

TBH IMO if you are new to fishkeeping then it is much easier to treat with a good anti-whitespot treatment,
All the instructions are laid out in front of you and if your not sure whether you fish can take a full dose start them off on 1/2 or even 1/4 doses.

 

[Natty23]

Hi. Thanks so much for all the suggestions...

I bought a heater, some ich medication (they didn't have the ones anyone recommended though so I had to go with what they had).


I did a 50% water change and then have been increasing the temp...it's at 78/80 now and I put the meds in.

 

[catxx]

salt won't completely kill the ich parasite. saltwater and brackish fish can get ich too.

 

[Mystil]

I have had ich now for.....hmmmm got to be over three weeks!!!! Using Interpet Anti white spot plus.
Apparently it can take quite a while to clear up..

Goodluck