Red Tail Shark ok to put in 5 gal hospital tank??

[Abadox]

Hello. Two months new to the hobby. I have a red tail shark who has seemingly got ick. He is in a 30 gallon well planted tank with 12 neon tetras, 4 Tiger barbs, 1 algae eater, and 3 black mollies. Air stone, places to hide, etc. Ph 6.8-7.2, Nitrates 0, Ammonia 0. I was wondering if it would be OK if I have put him in a 5 gal. hospital tank with aquarium salt and high temp for a short period of time? I know it's small but it's all I have and I want to save Georges St. Pierre (Sharks name) cause he's the GOAT and I love my fish! 5 gal basically same environment just smaller so he can be comfortable. I put 1/2 table spoon per gallon of API Aquarium salt. Any advice would be great! 1st time poster. *Edit : I put him in the 5 gal already but still would like to know the best route as I'm a total new guy.*

 

[Byron]

There is/was no benefit at all in moving him. Ich is present everywhere in the tank now, and all the fish are exposed. Further stressing the shark with capture might even finish it off at this stage, but the size of the QT is not really relevant to answer that question.. Raise the temperature in the tank to 30C/86F and keep it there for a full two weeks. Some will also use aquarium salt (regular plain sodium chloride), nd given the photos that might be advisable. Heat alone will deal with it if caught early, not sure that is the case here. I would also do a major water change (70-=75%) of the tank now, use that to partly increase the temp, and turn the heater up. Vacuum the substrate well (can remove ich cysts). There is a pinned article on ich here

What is ICH?

This is a common question that is often asked, what is ich and how is it recognisable and what causes it? The real term is ICHTHYOPHTHIRIASIS. OR commonly known as white spot. It is an extremely comon parasite that affects aquarium fish. It is highly infectious and potentially lethal and...

www.fishforums.net

 

[fisman]

I would just treat the whole tank at this point. It's probably already hit the other fish at this point so treat the whole tank for ich. Make sure not to overdose though. I agree with byron though you need to do a huge water change. No need to move him to a hospital tank though.

 

[Abadox]

So I tried that already with my big tank and it wiped out 7 tetras, hence why I'm on this stage. I used the API Super Ick treatment and honestly it did nothing I even turned the water up to 86. Nothing worked. Took the carbon out the filter and all. I went and bought Ick Guard tablets. Should I leave the shark in hospital tank and drop a tab in there or should I move him back to home and drop tabs in the 30? How many times should I repeat treatment? Should I do the water change before or after treatment? Thanks for your help... This has been trying.

 

[Byron]

So I tried that already with my big tank and it wiped out 7 tetras, hence why I'm on this stage. I used the API Super Ick treatment and honestly it did nothing I even turned the water up to 86. Nothing worked. Took the carbon out the filter and all. I went and bought Ick Guard tablets. Should I leave the shark in hospital tank and drop a tab in there or should I move him back to home and drop tabs in the 30? Should I do the water change before or after treatment? Thanks for your help... This has been trying.

Lesson learned...so-called ich treatments can be worse than the ich. Heat, if fish can tolerate and most can for 2 weeks (those mentioned here can) is far safer, and effective. I only use salt in very stubborn cases, but absolutely never will I use any ich preparation, I lost too many fish using them. Might as well leave him to avoid further stress. Ich is caused by stress; the ich may be present but it is only when fish are stressed that they cannot combat it naturally. But I will bow to others' advice on moving him.

 

[Abadox]

OK I'm gonna turn the heat up in the big tank then and try that again since that's what I've been reading and what you're saying.. My hospital tank with shark in it has salt in it, however, the heater is auto and set at 76 degrees. Appreciate you Byron!

 

[Abadox]

I think I'm just going to leave the shark in the hospital tank for now and treat with salt since he actually looks happy. His fin is standing up, which it wasn't in the home tank, which is probably a good indicator. His color came back, too! I put some relaxing music on and hes by the Himalayan salt lamp, so hes feeling the energy, lol!

 

[fisman]

Okay, great hope they all survive. Just make sure to also raise the temp of the main tank.

 

[Abadox]

Unfortunately, the main tank is the only one I can control. The hospital has a auto heater which keeps it at 76 degrees. Main is heating up to 86 degrees right now. The hospital tank has 1/2 teaspoon of salt (2 1/2 teaspoons) for every gallon (5) in it and Georges looks pretty happy. Thanks for your help Fishman!

 

[fisman]

That's fine. What you can do for the ones you can't control is do water changes and put in warmer water whenever filling up the tank. That should at least raise the temp a little bit. It's a nice and easy way of raising the temp yourself without a heater that you can't control.

 

[Abadox]

Great idea. Will do. My 30 gal is at 82 degrees and rising right now.

 

[fisman]

Great, hope this idea works for you!

 

[Abadox]

How long should I keep the water at 86 for?

 

[fisman]

I wouldn't keep it there for too long at all because of the neon tetras like the temp at 72-76 degrees. That's why if the treatment worked for ich better I would say use the ich treatment. You should never have a fish out of its temp range for too long though. The other fish won't like that temp for too long either. That's why I said you might want to just do the water changes with warm water to raise the temp slower but also keep the tank at the right temp.

 

[fisman]

They will be okay in warmer temps but they like it in the mid-70s. That's their spanning temp so you might just want to bring the temp down to about 83 degrees. By the way, all of these temps are in Fahrenheit.