Possible Ich

[Dublin_Lad]

Hi again all. I noticed this morning that 4 of my silver hatchets have small white spots on their bodies, 2 don't. I added 4 hatchets last week so I'm guessing these are the new 4. The spots are on their bodies and fins. However, there is nothing around their mouths. They seem to be quite healthy in terms of activity aswell. I can't get a decent photo to post unfortunately. From this info, is it likely to be whitespot? I have the meds but don't want to run a course of it unless it's necesary.

Also, if it is whitespot, I know I need to remove the black filter before commencing course of meds. Surely this will kill the bacteria in the black filter though. Is that ok as the other filter media will still be in place?

Thanks in advance.

DL

 

[Miss Wiggle]

sounds like ich, what are your water parameters?

does it look like little grains of sand sprinkled on the fish?

yes remove the black (carbon) filter, this would kill off any bacteria on it but the purpose of the carbon is not for bacteria to grow anyway it's a chemical filter media not a biological one. The rest of your media will take up the bio load.

I'd recommend you read the pinned topic on filter media in the beginners resource centre at some point as well as this will increase your understanding of how this all works.

whats your full stock list, some fish are sensitive to ich meds and need to be treated at half dose.

 

[Dublin_Lad]

Water test yesterday:
pH: 7.2
Nitrate: 20
Nitrite: 0
Ammonia: 0
Temperature: 25C

I have:
6 Silver hatchets
2 Sailfin mollies (and 4 fry)
2 Corydoras
1 Plec
8 Neon tetras
2 Swordtails

 

[Miss Wiggle]

with the plec and cories in the tank you need to half dose the ich meds and keep a very close eye on things.

the whole tank needs to be treated with ich not just the infected fish so you can't get around it by moving them, however if you have a spare tank then you can move the plec and cories into it and treat them with a weak dose and the rest of the tank at full strength.

 

[Dublin_Lad]

with the plec and cories in the tank you need to half dose the ich meds and keep a very close eye on things.

the whole tank needs to be treated with ich not just the infected fish so you can't get around it by moving them, however if you have a spare tank then you can move the plec and cories into it and treat them with a weak dose and the rest of the tank at full strength.

Great stuff. I'll get onto it tonight. Thanks for your help

 

[Davo86]

with the plec and cories in the tank you need to half dose the ich meds and keep a very close eye on things.

the whole tank needs to be treated with ich not just the infected fish so you can't get around it by moving them, however if you have a spare tank then you can move the plec and cories into it and treat them with a weak dose and the rest of the tank at full strength.

Great stuff. I'll get onto it tonight. Thanks for your help

Taken from the marbled Hatchet profile page

Care: This fish is particularly prone to white spot. If at all possbile quarantine the fishes for a minimum of two weeks before putting them in the commmunity tank. They like a peaceful tank with tall or floating plants to deter them from jumping, a thight fitting hood is also nesscary.

IME Hatchets are also sensitive to meds so half dosing is definitely necessary, Also gradually increase temp to near 30C and increase aeration

 

[Miss Wiggle]

not kept hatchetts myself so don't panic that i didn't say they're sensitive and davo68 did, just treat the whole tank with a half dose.