Help me verify if this is ich

Oh no! Sick fish?! Come here and see if someone can help!
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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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Re: Help me verify if this is ich

Post by Pufferpunk »

I like the smell. You heed to continue treatment for a minimum of 10 days after all spots are gone.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

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Re: Help me verify if this is ich

Post by dyndragon »

I think it's safe to say that I've destroyed the ich. I've been doing large water changes to remove the salt, and was wondering if there's any sort of test I can do to make sure that all the salt is out of the aquarium?
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Re: Help me verify if this is ich

Post by yunachin »

There are salinity tests that you can purchase at the LFS. Or you can buy a hydrometer.
Congrats on clearing the ich. 8)
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Re: Help me verify if this is ich

Post by dyndragon »

Should true freshwater aquariums be at "zero" salinity?
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Re: Help me verify if this is ich

Post by yunachin »

No, It can vary from 1.000 - 1.002.
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Re: Help me verify if this is ich

Post by dyndragon »

Sorry, I'm not familiar with the units of measure for salinity. Is that in ppm, or percentage...or?...
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Re: Help me verify if this is ich

Post by yunachin »

A hydrometer will measure ppt or parts per thousand.
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Re: Help me verify if this is ich

Post by dyndragon »

yunachin wrote:No, It can vary from 1.000 - 1.002.
Actually, I was just wondering what units you were speaking in.

Thanks!
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Re: Help me verify if this is ich

Post by Pufferpunk »

Just continue with regular 50% weekly water changes. You shouldn't have enough salt in there to bother anything, unless you have plants. Did you continue to treat for 10 days after the last cycst was gone from the fish?
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

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Re: Help me verify if this is ich

Post by crazedpuffer »

dyndragon wrote:
yunachin wrote:No, It can vary from 1.000 - 1.002.
Actually, I was just wondering what units you were speaking in.

Thanks!
sg=specific gravity.
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