New Symptom

[jordonsmum]

I was so praying that my lyretail female sword was out of the woods. Not ever close. I am starting to get discouraged now because I only have two of these females and they were both my fry. Not to mention they're REALLY hard for me to come by on island. I had to cross breed to get these two. She has a new symptom, and I know she's just a stupid fish, but my heart is breaking. If it could just be ANY OTHER FISH I would be taking it so hard... anway.. (sorry to whine) My female now has a white mass of something starting on her side. It appears to be a patch of white fungus. I'm on my 4th day of Melafix and salt and she's now getting worse....

I'll take any advice folks, I'd try anythig at this point.

[thegrandpoohbah]

I believe Pimafix is better suited for handling fungus whereas Melafix is more an anti-bacterial med. I could be wrong though so wait for the experts to chime in before you rush out to buy some.

[jordonsmum]

Thank you grand.... would pimafix cover fungus and parasites? At this point i'm out of ideas of what it can be... I need a wide range med that will kill both.. someone mentioned Ridich Plus in an earlier thread. Which would be better for both just in case??? THanks as always !!!!:(

[blainep]

What amount of salt are you using in the water ?

[jordonsmum]

When I do water changes I always put in 2 tbsp. On top of the reg amount I've been adding approx 1/2 tbsp the last 4 days with melafix.

[blainep]

When I do water changes I always put in 2 tbsp. On top of the reg amount I've been adding approx 1/2 tbsp the last 4 days with melafix.

How big is the tank ?

[jordonsmum]

15 gals, lots of plants, some aquarium wood, a fake coral and gravel. I have a Pleco and cory team cleaning up. I've

[jordonsmum]

15 gals, lots of plants, some aquarium wood, a fake coral and gravel. I have a Pleco and cory team cleaning up. I had their parents in that tank. The parents never got sick, and they've been in that tank since they were big enough after being born to swim with the "big fish" and this is the first time they've been sick. I purchased a new sword and didn't quarentine it properly before adding her to the tank (lesson learned) and I think that's where it came from. The new fish is also being treated although not showing any signs of distress.

[jordonsmum]

I just found the culpret. I feel like such a dummy. I haven't been able to see anything on the new white sword that I got because she's white. I just got my HID light that I use for diving and flashed it on her. SHE IS COVERED IN WHITE SPOTS...LOOKS LIKE ICH so definetly parasite for her but the orange sword female has a white mass instead of spots... does that help at all?

[blainep]

I just found the culpret. I feel like such a dummy. I haven't been able to see anything on the new white sword that I got because she's white. I just got my HID light that I use for diving and flashed it on her. SHE IS COVERED IN WHITE SPOTS...LOOKS LIKE ICH so definetly parasite for her but the orange sword female has a white mass instead of spots... does that help at all?

Sounds like ICH or velvet, both look similar to each other. Are they more like bumps or like fuzz ?

If it is ICH, the salt will cure it, but it will take 2 or 3 weeks. Not sure if salt will affect velvet, but ICH meds probably will kill velvet. (most claim to kill both) Don't belive the 'will cure in 2 days' line that many meds claim, keep treatment up for at least a couple weeks.

Check http://www.fishpalace.org/Disease.html to see if you can match anything up.

Only other thought would be to check with Mykiss. He has a boatload of knowledge, may be able to help more than I can.

[Melody]

Ugh, that sux, sorry to hear that you're coping with more.

With Ich and fungus in the house, I'd go with a round of Rid Ich Plus. I'm guessing the spots on the Lyre's tail were Ich, now she's stressed and the fungus is setting in, but I could be wrong of course. Rid Ich Plus tackles both fungus and parasites. Its effective and economical - a bottle lasts me forever, even treating big tanks. As Mr. GP mentioned, Pimafix is more for fungus, but it won't tackle parasites.

Blaine is correct though, you should look at some pic's and try to ID everything for sure. Med's are hard on fish so anything unnecessary should be avoided. There are other illness resources here (http://www.canadianaquariumconnection.com/forum/showthread.php?t=310), but the one Blaine gave you has the best pic collection.

[jordonsmum]

Ok, so new plan of action. I'm going to get some Rid Ich plus today and start her on that. How much of a water change do I need to do before adding? Remember , I had been putting in Medifix. I don't want to cross the two. Can I continue to dump the salt in with Ridich Plus??
I read that link / web page that you left me last night. I was reading about "salt baths". Any opinions on those? Has anyone done them successfully? Thanks again..

[Melody]

Personally I think 'baths' are too stressful for the fish. They're thown into high salinity and have to be netted, left there for a certain amount of time, caught again and released, etc.

The directions for the waterchange will be on the Rid Ich Bottle, but a big waterchange prior is always best, in my opinion - certainly doesn't hurt. Might as well ease up on the salt, since the Rid Ich will tackle anything salt will.

[jordonsmum]

Ok , so just my luck ... no one in Victoria carries RidIch Plus... :no: . So, the aquarium guy at the store nearest me gave me two things that are supposed to work together. The brand name for both is "Mardel" and the meds are called "Maracyn"(antibiotic) and "CopperSafe" For Ich, belvet and other external parasites. I'm about to do water changes in all tanks and add this to the quarentine tank. Only one question.

When the Lyretail female AND the white female origionally got sick they were in with my "healthy so far" lyretail female in the breeding tank. She is showing no signs of illness yet. Should I medicate her anyway or just leave her be. She's still in the planted breeding tank aaaaalll alone.

[fishykisses]

i could be wrong but i think i remember reading that corys and pleco's - any fish with skin rather than scales don't tolerate salt well - it burns their skin.
Please someone jump in if i'm wrong.

[jordonsmum]

I didn't know that.. thank you!!!!

[Melody]

You don't need antibiotics - take those back and kick that store's butt! MAN I hate it when they do that!

Copper is horrible too - hard on fish, kills inverts... that's some store. I'm coming over there! The copper med's may work, but they're the worst treatment going for them, in my opinion.

As for salt, some scaleless fish have a prob with it, none of my Cory's have but the caution is there.

[blainep]

i could be wrong but i think i remember reading that corys and pleco's - any fish with skin rather than scales don't tolerate salt well - it burns their skin.
Please someone jump in if i'm wrong.

Correct, but if the level of salt is kept down to about 1 tablespoon to 5 gallons of water, it is enough to kill off ICH but shouldn't be enough to irritate scaleless fish.

[Melody]

I've never seen a measurement limit for salt before in regards to scaleless fish. I've just heard people say you can or can't. Very useful info, thanks.:smile: Mind if I add your post to the 'Remedies' sticky?

[blainep]

Sticky away Melody, I'm going thru my bookmarks trying to find the original article where that was mentioned.

It was on another forum, someone was trying to help a novice, and they were getting alot of misinformation about salt. It was a very clear and concise article/post from someone who new what they were talking about.

I've used salt concentrations of 1 tablespoon to 5 gallons of water before to treat possible ICH or parasite outbreaks without any noticeable effects on loaches or plecos.

I've never been a fan of the 'dips' or 'baths' . Taking an already stressed sick fish and netting them, dropping them into a bucket of water, netting again.
That's enough to make a healthy fish sick !

[jordonsmum]

The one thing that has remained consistant through all of this since it started has been my faitful use of salt. When I do water changes I ALWAYS automatically add 1 tbsp salt per 5 gal. Have always done that. I've upped the salt content by an extra tbsp and not only did it not cure the sick female... The formerly healthy female is now covered as of today. I GIVE UP!!!! Something HAS to work. 2 / 3 tanks now in quarentine and i'm just waiting for the 3rd tanks turn. It's coming... I'm ready for it. That new fish wasn't worth all of this!!!! I couldn't see the ich spots on a white fish... dumb dumb dumb never again!!!

I'm sorry, am just soooo frustrated!!!!:(

[fishenthusiast]

There are a number of ich medications that work. Rid Ich Plus is the best, in my opinion, however I have used with success, Maracide (by Mardel) and Nox Ich. Any medication that contains malachite green will sucessfully treat ich. Because you have scaleless fish, most ich meds will have to be used at 1/2 dose.

Keep up with the water changes. Since ich has a 3 stage life cycle, with only one stage being on the fish, you increase your chances of successfully treating the tank by doing water changes daily. Especially after you notice the spots falling off. Increasing the temp often helps speed up the life cycle of the ich, but unless it is extremely high (about 86F-90F if I am remembering correctly) it is unlikely to actually kill the ich.