I added 2 new fish to my brackish tank yesterday, and today they look like they have ich. Question is, they were in freshwater when I bought them, and I acclimated them over 4 hours into the brackish(1.008). If it were FW Ich from the store, wouldn't it have been killed off in the brackish water?
Since this is a brackish tank, would the same heat+aquarium salt treatment do, or would it be useless to add the salt. Temp is already 80, I can bump it up a few degrees though. They are the only 2 fish displaying this. My original puffer, and gobies show no signs yet.
Oh, and i'm not %100 sure it is ich, may be velvet.
Ich in brackish?
Forum rules
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
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ToyotaRKeener
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Re: Ich in brackish?
This is based on my understanding of ich, but maybe some others will chime in here.
You probably received the fish with ich from the store. If the ich is under the fishes slime coat, it can survive most treatments. Where you are actually killing the ich is when it reproduces (free swimming stage)
Unless you are very unlucky and have a strain of super-ich, the ich your fishes has will die off, and won't be able to reproduce.
You could try the recommended temp increase to 86 deg F, but do it slowly and watch your fish closely for signs of distress, I would also add an airstone or venturi powerhead for extra O2 @ the higher temp.
You probably received the fish with ich from the store. If the ich is under the fishes slime coat, it can survive most treatments. Where you are actually killing the ich is when it reproduces (free swimming stage)
Unless you are very unlucky and have a strain of super-ich, the ich your fishes has will die off, and won't be able to reproduce.
You could try the recommended temp increase to 86 deg F, but do it slowly and watch your fish closely for signs of distress, I would also add an airstone or venturi powerhead for extra O2 @ the higher temp.
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Boxermom
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Re: Ich in brackish?
Ich, when it is attached to the fish, has a hard outer shell. It can only be killed in its free-swimming stage, which is why they need to be treated with heat and salt for a minimum of 2 weeks after you see the last one on the fish. This is also one major reason we recommend quaratine of several weeks of any new livestock before adding it to the main tank.
Same heat and salt treatment should work since they were in freshwater before. Ich or velvet doesn't matter, same treatment for both.
Same heat and salt treatment should work since they were in freshwater before. Ich or velvet doesn't matter, same treatment for both.
Tina
Puffers: Auriglobus silus x1, Tetraodon travancoricus x1, Tetraodon turgidus x1, Tetraodon miurus x1, Tetraodon nigroviridis x2, Tetraodon baileyi x2, Tetraodon lineatus x1, Tetraodon palembangensis x1
Puffers: Auriglobus silus x1, Tetraodon travancoricus x1, Tetraodon turgidus x1, Tetraodon miurus x1, Tetraodon nigroviridis x2, Tetraodon baileyi x2, Tetraodon lineatus x1, Tetraodon palembangensis x1
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ToyotaRKeener
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Re: Ich in brackish?
Yes, usually I do quarantine. Gah, the only reason why I didn't this time is because I was worried about aggression in the q-t tank.
So if I understand this right, I should still add the aquarium salt to this brackish tank? Or will the ich die off once it drops off the fish(aided by the raising temperature to ~86*) because of the marine salt.
So if I understand this right, I should still add the aquarium salt to this brackish tank? Or will the ich die off once it drops off the fish(aided by the raising temperature to ~86*) because of the marine salt.
Re: Ich in brackish?
No don't add any aquarium salt. In fact, just throw the bottle away.ToyotaRKeener wrote:Yes, usually I do quarantine. Gah, the only reason why I didn't this time is because I was worried about aggression in the q-t tank.
So if I understand this right, I should still add the aquarium salt to this brackish tank? Or will the ich die off once it drops off the fish(aided by the raising temperature to ~86*) because of the marine salt.
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Boxermom
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Re: Ich in brackish?
Marine salt can also be used to treat ich, so just keep what you have and raise the heat a little. Any kind of salt, including table salt, can be used to treat ich but if you already have marine salt in there, no need to add anything else.
Tina
Puffers: Auriglobus silus x1, Tetraodon travancoricus x1, Tetraodon turgidus x1, Tetraodon miurus x1, Tetraodon nigroviridis x2, Tetraodon baileyi x2, Tetraodon lineatus x1, Tetraodon palembangensis x1
Puffers: Auriglobus silus x1, Tetraodon travancoricus x1, Tetraodon turgidus x1, Tetraodon miurus x1, Tetraodon nigroviridis x2, Tetraodon baileyi x2, Tetraodon lineatus x1, Tetraodon palembangensis x1
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ToyotaRKeener
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- Location: Oregon
Re: Ich in brackish?
Great. Thanks guys!
Re: Ich in brackish?
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but -
From everything I researched regarding ich (my Figure 8's came with it), I was under the impression that there is no such thing as brackish water ich. Hypersalinity kills freshwater ich and hyposalinity kills marine white spot, and there is no in between, so the brackish water itself should kill the ich on its own.
I know that my Figure 8's came in freshwater, and I acclimated them right into SG ~ 1.010 and the ich was gone within a week or two. I think I did bump up the temperature to 82-84 degrees, just to speed up the lifecycle and make it easier for the puffers to settle in.
From everything I researched regarding ich (my Figure 8's came with it), I was under the impression that there is no such thing as brackish water ich. Hypersalinity kills freshwater ich and hyposalinity kills marine white spot, and there is no in between, so the brackish water itself should kill the ich on its own.
I know that my Figure 8's came in freshwater, and I acclimated them right into SG ~ 1.010 and the ich was gone within a week or two. I think I did bump up the temperature to 82-84 degrees, just to speed up the lifecycle and make it easier for the puffers to settle in.
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Myaj
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Re: Ich in brackish?
There are species of ich (and pretty much any other parasite) for every water type. Your fish just happened ot be carrying the freshwater version, and it died in the brackish water. Had they been carrying the brackish version, and you put them in brackish water of a similar salinity, you would have had more trouble.
