My Ich Ordeal

[Powie]

Well my GF and I are somewhat new to tropical fish, and we've had our first run in with Ich. Was not a pretty sight.

My first suggestion to anyone here new to fish, get some Ich treatment today, don't wait or be stuck like we were seeing it at 9pm. (most people have a heater but if you don't get one!)

About a week and a half ago I noticed my Head & Tail Lights hiding under some floating cover I put in the tank, I moved my hand over by them so they came out into the light and noticed the dreaded white spots. Already being a member here I started following the pinned topic, but didn't have any meds because all the stores were closed, and I had to work in the morning so it was nearly 24 hours before we could do more than clean, and start the Aquarium heating up. Today has been almost 2 days with no signs of ICH.. But I've lost almost all my fish , the only thing left alive in my 50 gallon are a few guppies. They are eating well, and active, but I'm afraid more treatment will knock another one or two out. On here it says continue to treat for 4 days, and on other sites I've read Ich can remain dormant for 14 days. I had my heater cranked up to 86 in hopes of speeding this up. Not sure if that killed my fish, the meds, or the Ich itself. I used Aquarium PRoducts Quick Cure, and used half doeses as recommended because of the Tetras, but eventually the ich or meds or something was too much for my head and tails, and they all died, I then increased to full dosage, once the corys', cherry barbs, and khulli loaches died, I started adding canning salt.

Any way on to my question, semi emergency during that ordeal above one of my guppies gave birth to about 14 fry. We caught her in the act of giving birth, put her in a breeding net, and scooped out the fry as fast as she would pop them out. We put the fry into a small 2 gallon tank, what do you think the chances are of them being infected? I also found one other fry the other day still in the tank, think it's safe to move him in with all his siblings? I am afraid to dose them with meds being so small, although one we found that had been in the tank 4 or so days survived.

Somewhere should be pinned don't buy from Petco & Petsmart if in USA. I learned the hard way. While I appreciate them for not selling dogs and cats, their fish practices take much into consideration. They do not quarantine their fish, and many (maybe all?) of their tanks share the same water. ugghhh... I wrote petsmart about it being animal abuse, but of course did not get a reply. Petco does have a 14 day guarantee, but I doubt that covers the 15 or so fish killed by adding one of their infected guppies. (And I don't shop Walmart either)

Support your LFS is all I can say now, saving a buck and being too lazy to drive 20 mins to your LFS will cost you.

Sorry for being long winded, but this was a huge loss to me and my girlfriend, both emotionally and financially.

 

[fish_fetish65]

i definitely feel your pain. and i actually work at one of those two stores mentioned.while we don't quarantine our fish (think about it... where would we find the space???), we do medicate the system the day we put the fish in. the medication should take care of ich. unfortunately, the stress that the fish undergo while shipping often triggers the disease, and as you said, it takes a while for said disease to go away, so we can't do much if our fish do have it other than stick the ones we see with it in a hospital tank. and yes, we have one large system in the back which pumps a constant flow of sterilized water to the tanks, while the filters suck out all of the old water. considering this, it is somewhat difficult for ich to survive in our tanks.

it's best for you to have your own quarantine tank at home to prevent the main tank from getting infected.

when all is said and done, yes, perhaps some of the pet stores in the US do not have the ideal fish departments. if we did, we would have to pay another $500,000 for a new fish system to use for quarantine tanks, and would keep our oscars in 500G tanks. unfortunately, we simply do not have the resources or time to do this. we would have to double or triple fish prices JUST to pay for it. and even if we did, the stress the fish go through when being shipped to the store and then taken home would still cause them to get diseases. it's not necessarily that the stores keep them in bad conditions, either. sometimes they come that way from the vendors. sometimes we get bad batches. it happens, unfortunately.

sadly, as time goes on, stronger strains of ich have been popping up... some that just can't be cured. you may have had one of those more difficult strains in your tank. when you get those, most medications won't do squat for the poor fish, and all you can do is hope. i went through the same thing and lost over 3/4 of my stock, despite the fact that i used many strong and highly recommended medications. in the end, what cured it was upping the temperature to about 86 degrees, adding salt, and adding melafix to fight off bacterial infections that might result from the disease. and waiting. that was perhaps the most difficult part.

anyhow, better luck with your next batch of fish. set up a quarantine tank or else treat the whole tank for ich every time you add a new fish just to be safe.