# Black skirt tetra has ich???



## BobtheSnail (Oct 6, 2011)

Hi everyone!

So, I got my fish a week and a half ago and I think one of them might have ich. He has white spots all over his tail, one or two on his body, and a couple on his head. I noticed them yesterday, but he's not fully grown yet, and black skirt tetras kind of have that speckled appearance on their back end, so I figured it was just that. Anyway, since I just bought their tank, them, and their food and everything, I'm completely broke! So, is there anything that is cheap and effective that I can use to treat this? Also, I saw something about salt when I was researching... is there any truth to that?

Thanks!


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## BobtheSnail (Oct 6, 2011)

Here's all my details that I just remembered I should have included in the first post:

1. My tank is a 10 gallon.

2. I haven't tested the water.

3. My aquarium is freshwater

4. The tank has been set up for almost 2 weeks (11 days)

5. I have 3 black skirt tetras. I've had them since I bought the tank. One is fully grown (2"), another is almost fully grown, and the infected fish is about 1.5" and skinny 

6. They weren't under quarantine, because I brought them all home together and they are the only fish in the tank . Besides, I don't actually have any other tanks, other than a fish bowl.

7. The temperature is 25 degrees Celsius.

8. I only have fake plants right now.

9. My filter is a Whisper 10i. Since it's brand new and working perfectly I haven't had to do anything to it yet.

10. All I have in there is a filter (no, I don't have a heater), since I live in a hot part of the U.S. and black skirt tetras can thrive in lower temperatures anyway (actually, even though I don't have a heater, I've had trouble with my water getting up to 26 degrees C lately!)

11. They get light from 8:00-11:30, and then some more in the afternoon, depending on the weather. They get some sunlight, but not directly, and plenty of ambient lighting.

12. I haven't changed my water yet.

13. I give him aqueon tropical flakes 2-3 times a day, being careful not to overfeed them (I read somewhere that it's a common newbie mistake, so I'm being especially careful not to make that one).

14. I haven't seen him eat really anything since I got him. Since he's on my desk right next to me from 8:00-3:30 every weekday, I tend to observe them all quite a bit.

15. I haven't started treating him yet, but am really interested in y'all's ideas on how salt-hardy this particular species can be. One website I saw recommended 1 teaspoon of salt per gallon of water, adjusted to your fish's salt tolerance.

Thanks again in advance guys!


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## Romad (Jun 28, 2009)

The *Skeptical* *Aquarist*

Aunt Kymmie shared this link a while back. I recommend that you read through it for your Ich treatment. And you'll def. want to do a water change/gravel vac. before starting.

Good luck and keep us posted.


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## BobtheSnail (Oct 6, 2011)

Wow, thanks! That is a really great link- And thanks to you too, Aunt Kymmie!


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## BobtheSnail (Oct 6, 2011)

Okay, sorry for the lack of updates- I lost one fish Friday night/Saturday morning. Friday night I was watching him and knew he probably wouldn't make it so I removed him from the tank and put him in a fish bowl. I then went out to the store and got some formalin/malachite green. I've been treating the tank since Saturday with that. Only one of the three fish remaining in the tank has ich. Yesterday I thought it was gone, but today I noticed even more spots on the one fish, so I'm continuing treatment through today. The other two fish are not looking very nice and all three are very stressed, with all the water changes and everything.
Strangely enough, the fish that has ich is eating more and more, but the other two are not eating anything! The ich fish, Bubbles, is the dominant fish so she's chasing all the other fish away when it's feeding time. Even if I do manage to get the food over to one of the fish, they'll eat it then spit it out. Anyone have any suggestions? I thought Skirt Tetras weren't supposed to be picky!!!


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## konstargirl (Mar 9, 2010)

So aorry to hear that. Do you have a hospital tank for them? I never experienced Ich, but raising the tank temperature to 86 Degrees Fahrenheit seems to do the trick in some cases.

Thank you for the article Aunt Kymmie!


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## alysalouise (Mar 15, 2011)

BobtheSnail said:


> Okay, sorry for the lack of updates- I lost one fish Friday night/Saturday morning. Friday night I was watching him and knew he probably wouldn't make it so I removed him from the tank and put him in a fish bowl. I then went out to the store and got some formalin/malachite green. I've been treating the tank since Saturday with that. Only one of the three fish remaining in the tank has ich. Yesterday I thought it was gone, but today I noticed even more spots on the one fish, so I'm continuing treatment through today. The other two fish are not looking very nice and all three are very stressed, with all the water changes and everything.
> Strangely enough, the fish that has ich is eating more and more, but the other two are not eating anything! The ich fish, Bubbles, is the dominant fish so she's chasing all the other fish away when it's feeding time. Even if I do manage to get the food over to one of the fish, they'll eat it then spit it out. Anyone have any suggestions? I thought Skirt Tetras weren't supposed to be picky!!!


 
If their eating it and spitting it back out it may be to big for them, mine will do that when they get a hold of a pellet thats for the bigger guys in the tank
Also black skirts need bigger tanks, like a 20 gallon, and they need to be in a group of at LEAST 6, that could be why their sick with ich
If your doing salt treatments, slowly raise the heat up to 82-84* F and continue the treatment for at least a week after you see the ich is gone, because there is a 3 day period when the ich isnt on the fish anymore and is in the water breeding to attack the fish again


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## BobtheSnail (Oct 6, 2011)

I'm still cycling the tank, that's why there are only 3 of them. 

Now only one of the fish has ich- and is covered, uh, top fin to bottom fin. And she has fin rot. So does Bubbles. I'm going to be getting some Melafix and/or stress guard and will be using only that. We'll see what happens! *crosses fingers and prays*


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