So yeah, this is what I get for not quarantining my new final addition to my 55g tank.. 3 SAPs.
I saw the small guy with Ich, so I took him out and put him into my 10g tank .. a few hours later they all (6 total) had spots on them... so out they went into the 10g tank... How strange that my 11 giant danios didn't show any sign of Ich.. but every single SAP got it. I raised the temperature in the 55g to 82 degrees.. Temp in the quarantine tank is 82 as well.. I gradually added the salt mentioned in the FAQ.. a teaspoon every 30 minutes until I hit 2 tablespoons to cover the 10g tank.
I will have to monitor them.. I got my powerhead on the 10g to give the puffers some aeration in that small tank. They were acting real rough after I initially tossed them in there.. sitting on the bottom, breatheing kind of hard... I just called my girlfriend and she said that they were all swimming happily... So normal activity seems to have resumed.
Should I do any water changes or just let them soak the salt in at 82 degrees? That should burn it out... My first experience with Ich, been doing aquariums for about 5 months now only.
When the puffers' spots go away... When should I return them to the display tank? When should I take the temperature down on the main tank?
Any advice is appreciated.. I read the FAQs but I still had a few questions.
SAPs with Ich
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.
-
Boxermom
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 2182
- Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2006 8:34 pm
- Location: Wisconsin
- Contact:
Whether or not you return them to the main tank, both the main tank and the QT tank need to be treated for ich as the parasite has been introduced in there and will continue to live and propagate if you don't. Hopefully you are dissolving the salt in declorinated water before adding it to the tank. Otherwise, it can damage the fish if not completely dissolved first.
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
I just added 11 tablespoons of salt into a 2g bucket and mixed it in until there was none on the bottom and poured it in... Lots of salt, hope this doesn't hurt my plants.
Quarantine tank is at 83 degrees and has the correct amount of salt in it..
Main tank is at 83 degrees as well and now has the correct amount of salt in it.
What should be my next step? A water change in 2 days and a reapplication of salt?
I don't feel safe going over 84 degrees with my fish.. I had the puffers up to 85 for awhile but it doesn't feel good.
Quarantine tank is at 83 degrees and has the correct amount of salt in it..
Main tank is at 83 degrees as well and now has the correct amount of salt in it.
What should be my next step? A water change in 2 days and a reapplication of salt?
I don't feel safe going over 84 degrees with my fish.. I had the puffers up to 85 for awhile but it doesn't feel good.
-
Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32979
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Puffers I have kept:
T lineatus
T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
- Contact:
Personally, I wouldn't have treated the main tank. Keep a close eye on those plants. SAPs are really sensitive to ich & velvet. When moved, their immune system is put out of wack & they always get it. Every single one I've ever had, has gotten it after purchase.
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!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
-
Boxermom
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 2182
- Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2006 8:34 pm
- Location: Wisconsin
- Contact:
IME, I've treated several of my planted tanks for ich and didn't lose any of the plants. I know others on other forums who don't have problems treating their planted tanks as well. Its really not much salt. They should be fine. Just make sure to treat for 14 days after you see the last spot.
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
So over the past few days, I raised the SAP quarantine tank to 85-86ish... I am not seeing any spots anymore.
The main tank, the giant danios still have spots... temp is between 82-83 and still holds the 1tbsp/5g salinity content......... Should I change the water or just let it continue to go?
The SAPs have adjusted to their high temp and are doing well.. I got a powerhead on full blast in there to ensure aeration.
When the danios' spots go away.. should I wait another week or two to reintroduce the SAPs?
The main tank, the giant danios still have spots... temp is between 82-83 and still holds the 1tbsp/5g salinity content......... Should I change the water or just let it continue to go?
The SAPs have adjusted to their high temp and are doing well.. I got a powerhead on full blast in there to ensure aeration.
When the danios' spots go away.. should I wait another week or two to reintroduce the SAPs?
The main tank, planted, appears, so far, to be handling the salinity with no issues.. My main plants are amazon swords, baby tears, java moss, an ozelot sword, and a new crinum natans.
I have been fertilizing regularly, and I was worried about the baby tears being hit by the salinity, but they appear fine so far.
I have been fertilizing regularly, and I was worried about the baby tears being hit by the salinity, but they appear fine so far.
-
Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32979
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Puffers I have kept:
T lineatus
T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
- Contact:
Large water changes (while gravel cleaning) every other day, is recommended to remove the free-swimming parasites.
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!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
Ok, well I ran both my main tank and QT at 84-85 degrees for 2 weeks... Changing water and adding all that salt to the tanks... Plants didn't take much of a beating.. A few varieties appear kind of rough.
All the Ich appears to have gone away. I haven't seen a spec on any fish in a week.
However, the SAPs in the QT.. 1 of them looks like he has some white blotches right on his head... His coloration is a bit off compared to others. It is very hard to describe... Maybe he gashed up against something? They are back in the main tank now... 3rd day back in. I put some Melafix in to see if it was just a little wound... Any suggestions?
All the Ich appears to have gone away. I haven't seen a spec on any fish in a week.
However, the SAPs in the QT.. 1 of them looks like he has some white blotches right on his head... His coloration is a bit off compared to others. It is very hard to describe... Maybe he gashed up against something? They are back in the main tank now... 3rd day back in. I put some Melafix in to see if it was just a little wound... Any suggestions?