# Should I flush my Danio?



## Jenavee (May 28, 2008)

Hi -

Just got back from the pet store. I was going to treat my 55 gallon tank with Maracide because one of my newly bought Danios has ich.

The girl at the store, who seemed very intelligent when it came to fish, told me I might be better off flushing my Danio that has ich, then treating the entire tank and setting off all of the levels. 

Do you agree? 

Thanks - Jeannine


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## jeaninel (Aug 24, 2007)

NO!! Don't flush your danio. Ick can be cured. Ick is contagious so chances are your other fish are infected anyways. You'll need to treat the whole tank to get rid of the parasite. I've used Quick Cure for ick with no harm to the beneficial bacteria. Or you can also use a salt and heat treatment if you have fish who aren't sensitive to salt (such as cories). I've never used Maracide so if you do decide to use it test your water often to make sure it didn't harm your bacteria.

Here's some good info to read up on:
http://www.fishforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=1648


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

I'm in complete agreement with Jeaninel. If one fish has ick the entire tank has been exposed to it. I've also had to treat my tank for ick and everyone survived, no problem. Personally, I think it's cruel to "flush" a fish for something that is totally treatable.


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## Kim (Apr 30, 2008)

Dito, if your tank is already infected what would flushing the poor danio do anyway? Plus, flushing a fish is a terribly cruel and inhumane way to die!


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

hi
please don't flush that fish,not only for the reasons given
already,but also the impact it can have on the environment,
that fish would end up in the water table and although one little
fish that it is,it can cause damage.
animals that die should either be cremated or burried.


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

Forgot to mention...when I treated my tank for ick I should have my removed my "ornaments". The medication dyed them blue-green and no amount of scrubbing could bring them back to their original beige coloring. Just a heads up!


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## Jenavee (May 28, 2008)

Thank you all so much. I am so relieved because I did not want to do this. I told the girl I did not want to flush him and she told me to bring him to her and she will flush him!

Thank you again everyone. I will begin treatment ASAP.

Jeannine


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

We're glad you decided to go that route. Be sure to get back to us with any questions and your progress. Best of Luck!


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

good luck,i hope things turn out ok.


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## iamntbatman (Jan 3, 2008)

In addition to the medication, you should also slowly raise the temperature of your water to 85 degrees. You can do this over the course of several days. As long as you have adequate water movement to keep the water oxygenated, the fish won't mind the higher temperature. I'm not sure if the medication you're using contains any salt, but if it doesn't, you could also add aquarium salt to the tank. 

Also, never flush a fish, live or dead! I don't understand why people think that flushing a live fish is a humane way to euthanize it. Willow mentioned the reason why you shouldn't flush a dead one, either. If any of my fish die, I usually bury it in the yard where it can act as fertilizer.

Here's a thread about ways to humanely euthanize your fish:
http://www.fishforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=943

However, I do not believe you need to euthanize your danio, as ich is definitely treatable and has already been introduced to your aquarium.


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## Kim (Apr 30, 2008)

iamntbatman said:


> Also, never flush a fish, live or dead!quote]
> 
> Well, I don't think that flushing a dead fish if you have a septic system is a bad thing. It will end up in the ground anyway.
> 
> NEVER flush a live one though, that is just terribly disgusting, a horrible way to end a life with a long, painful death! :x


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## Exodus (Jun 24, 2008)

My Recommendation, Use Salt and Raise the water Temperature.

Find the Maximum temperature that all your fish can tolerate and set it to that. Ich's reproductive cycle goes a lot quicker the warmer the water is. This is important, because the Cyst stage, which is when you see those salt looking specs on your fish, cannot be harmed by Salt OR medication.

Even if you have Cory's I highly recommend against using Medication of anykind. Use Salt, it has two benifits.

1.) When Ich moves into it's free floating stage, can can be killed by salt
2.) The way most fish die, is from Lack of oxygen because Ich ends up covering up the fish's gills. Also the Higher your water temperature, the less oxygen can be in the water. Salt Makes it easier for Fish to breath.

If you raise the temperature, raise it no more than 1 degree an hour.

IF you do have Sensitive Fish, increase the amount of salt inserted in small increments. Observe your Tank once an hour, if it looks like your fish are stressed, then Stop adding salt. The less salt you put in, the longer it will take to kill all the Ich, the more you put in, the more that will die when they turn free floater.

With sensitive fish, it is Far more important how you remove salt from their evironment, than it is how you introduce salt.

Removal should take place over a 2 week period, where you remove 10-20% everyday. DO NOT go over this ammount, as it can put your fish into shock.

Using the methods listed above I was able to treat 6 Clown Loaches, with serious Ich infestion. All Survived. ALL of them...

Salt is the way to go. Chemicals produce stronger variations of ich.


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

How much aquarium salt per gallon should be added for non-sensitive fish?
How much salt per gallon for sensitive fish?
Can I assume catfish & loaches are sensitive? Who else is a sensitive fish?
What if you're keeping both sensitive & non-sensitive in the same tank?
I keep Rams, barbs, cats & loaches in the same tank.

For what period of time do you add salt (on a daily basis)? What is the max threshold for salt? Is there a test for this?

I know somewhere on this forum are detailed instructions for this treatment. Wasn't this in a thread somewhere where Pasfur gave instructions? At the moment I can't find it....

I also read somewhere that fish previously treated for ich will develop an immunity from reinfection??


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## Jenavee (May 28, 2008)

Just an update. I didn't flush my danio, I added the medication, the danio is fine and signs of ich are gone! My pleco is also alive and well.

:thankyou:


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## Exodus (Jun 24, 2008)

aunt kymmie said:


> How much aquarium salt per gallon should be added for non-sensitive fish?


It's actually listed on the Bottle, I think it's at least 1 tablespoon /5 gallon? Almost every bottle says the same thing, they list the safe dosage for senstive fish.



aunt kymmie said:


> How much salt per gallon for sensitive fish?
> Can I assume catfish & loaches are sensitive? Who else is a sensitive fish?
> What if you're keeping both sensitive & non-sensitive in the same tank?
> I keep Rams, barbs, cats & loaches in the same tank.


I had 6 loaches, 6 Pearl Gouramis, a Red Tailed Shark, 3 Zebra Danios. Just do a little research, only my 6 Clown loaches were sensitive. Treat the tank for your sensitive fish. The others will just get better at the same rate as the senstive ones.

Just look for information on your fish, and you'll find out.

Stick with the recommended dosage and you'll be fine. Remember Removal of salt is much more important than adding salt. Do 20% water changes daily for a week. Don't do an 80%, because the loss of that much Salt will put your sensitive fish into shock.



aunt kymmie said:


> For what period of time do you add salt (on a daily basis)? What is the max threshold for salt? Is there a test for this?


Add Salt Hourly. Before you put in your next batch, look at your fish, and see if their stress level has increased. If it has, stop adding. This happend to me with my loaches, they were more stressed, so I had to stop adding salt. So in the end it took longer for the salt to kill the Ich ( a week extra ) . 

I'm not sure what the max threshold is, but there is a test, which you need to buy a hydrometer.



aunt kymmie said:


> I know somewhere on this forum are detailed instructions for this treatment. Wasn't this in a thread somewhere where Pasfur gave instructions? At the moment I can't find it....


I found a really nice thread on this but for whatever reason I can't find it right now, I'll post a link here when I find it.



 aunt kymmie said:


> I also read somewhere that fish previously treated for ich will develop an immunity from reinfection??


Never heard of that, I do know that loaches are highly suseptable to Ich. If there is one spec of ich in a tank.... THEY WILL GET IT!

So if you add any fish that is stressed to your tank, always quarentine them for a few days. if you can.


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## Exodus (Jun 24, 2008)

Here we go, Found the link.

I recommend having this link stickied, since it is a common thread.
http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_ich2.php


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