figure-eight puffer with ich

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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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figure-eight puffer with ich

Post by Eva »

I just finished trimming my figure-eight puffers teeth and I thought everything was great. Until this morning I had waken up to discover tiny little white spots on my puffers belly and fins. They only have two or three spots, I saw this about a month ago and then it went away. Do you think this is ick or something else?
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Post by Pufferpunk »

Could be a slight concern--you can do the recomendations in the Hospital forum for Treating Ich.
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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Post by Eva »

I will clean out half of the aquarium water on the Weekend and boil and clean all of the rocks, coral and decorations. If this doesn't make a difference then I will go to the hospital forum and follow through with the ick treatment.
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Post by Pufferpunk »

I wouldn't overclean--could be destroying benificial bacteria. I'd do a decent sized water change & raise temp. What's the SG?
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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Post by YBeNormal »

Also, ich should be treated as early as possible. Otherwise it will multiply rapidly and take much longer to treat.
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Post by Jayhawk »

I agree with PP here - it worked for me. The upped temperatures and normal Figure 8 SG range should take care of any ich - along with frequent water changes.
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Post by Eva »

I have a hydrometer to measure the salt but I don't think it works. It reeds 1.005 but I have been increasing the salt slowly to read 1.008 but it still only says 1.005, last time I added 7 tablespoons of marine salt to the 35 gallon aquarium when I changed half of the water. The puffers literally only have like two or three small spots, It may not be ick, I don't want to take a chance shocking them or killing them.
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Post by Pufferpunk »

Water changes & raising temps will not shock your fish. Leave the SG at 1.005 for F8s.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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Post by Jayhawk »

7 tablespoons of marine salt into a 50% water change won't really up your SG much. If you changed 17.5 gallons of water, you'd need a lot more salt...then again maybe I've misunderstood how much salt you added.

Also, are you putting the salt directly in the tank or in the bucket and thoroughly disolving before adding to the tank?

Just wanted to check on those two things, but otherwise follow PP's advice and that should take care of things.

Eric
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Post by Eva »

I use a plastic bag mixed with tank water and put the salt in the bag, poke a very tiny whole and let the salt go in the tank that way it usually takes the morning for it all to go in the tank, I have never had a problem doing this. I read again the ick treatment post, I cant be changing the water that often, thats a little crazy.
lisalisa

Post by lisalisa »

it's really not crazy, it's the only thing that will remove the ick before it can reattach to your fish.
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Post by Eva »

I understand what your saying, My parents will not let me clean out the aquarium that often, I have lots of other tanks to clean aswell. I have no choice but to just do a half water change. They all seem happy and the spots don't seem to be spreading. If I notice it to start spreading I'll use Jungle ick guard (only using half of the recommended dose.)
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Post by crazyforpuffs »

I'm not certain why your parents wouldn't let you do frequent water changes for a tank whose inhabitants could potentially have ich...

You'd think your parents would want to encourage responsible pet ownership. Maybe you need to teach them.
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Post by Eva »

NO, the way they see it is its more money for paying for the water.
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Post by Pufferpunk »

Since your fish don't sound infested, stick w/50% & heat.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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