# Goldfish Recovering from ich



## MelKurtonic (Feb 16, 2011)

We recently purchased 2 goldfish and they came down with ich. I researched it and it said it was very common most goldfish get ich from the stress of being introduced to a new enviroment. They're recovering nicely (they have a much bigger tank since the last time i took pictures) and they seem very happy. The bigger one, however, (a little over an inch long) isn't eating as much as the little one but he is eating again. should I be worried or just wait until the ich is completely clear?


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## Guppie luver (Feb 2, 2011)

he will be ok he is just still recovering dont worrry


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## MelKurtonic (Feb 16, 2011)

Thank you  I just worry lol first timer...


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Did you continue 10 days of treatment right after ich disappeared? You have to. What meds were used?


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## MelKurtonic (Feb 16, 2011)

ich isn't completely gone yet but I plan to I'm using QuICK cure after I read reviews it said that was the best.... it seems to be working pretty well so far the spots are slowly disapearing and I don't see anymore forming


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Which med are you currently using then? Please forget the quick cure stuff. It's harsher than salt.


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## MelKurtonic (Feb 16, 2011)

I don't get it? every testimonial I read said it worked great and if used properly wouldn't harm the fish? I don't know of any medicine that didn't include machalite green or formalin what else would I use to cure the ich other than salt?


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

I meant to say the QC is a last resort. Until then, give salt a try first. Make sure it's sodium chloride. Watch out for yellow prussiate of soda as it's toxic to fish. Dissolve salt before adding to tank. When you add, dose a teaspoon per gallon of salt to the tank. Add the second set in the next 12 hours and third set in another 12 hours to total 3 teaspoons per gallon. Your goldfish will tolerate that well enough. Lethal to ich though. When you do water changes, don't forget to redose salt per water volume changed as water changes can reduce the amount of salt in your tank.

Aquarium salt, pickling salt or rock salt works.


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## MelKurtonic (Feb 16, 2011)

salt like aquarium salt?


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Yeppo. It's safer. Continue 10 days of treatment after ich disappears.

Oh and for future reference, formalin and salt do NOT mix. It's a lethal combo.


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## MelKurtonic (Feb 16, 2011)

will any other kinds of salt work? Like sea salt? I can't get to a store for a few days and I'm wondering if I can use that it's 100% natural with no additives it says


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

As long as it is sodium chloride, yes, it will work.


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## MelKurtonic (Feb 16, 2011)

I want to change up the treatment anyway because I read that ich can evolve and actually become immune to treament


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## MelKurtonic (Feb 16, 2011)

can I put it in now with the Quick cure or should I wait til tomorrow?


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Stick to salt. And no, you cannot combine salt and Quick Cure together.


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## MelKurtonic (Feb 16, 2011)

ok I'll start doing salt and stop the quick cure tomorrow. Thanks!


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## MelKurtonic (Feb 16, 2011)

from what I read it takes 3 or 4 days for the parasite to fall off the fish... will the salt shorten that time or no?


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

I guess I misread one of the earlier posts. You already had QC in there. I wish we had gone to salt first. Just continue the QC stuff and keep salt aside for now.


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

MelKurtonic said:


> from what I read it takes 3 or 4 days for the parasite to fall off the fish... will the salt shorten that time or no?


 If you elevated the temp to at least 80 degrees (the highest I'd advise for goldfish), it'll speed up the lifecycle rate so it could be shorter than that. This will enable any meds to kill the parasites.


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## MelKurtonic (Feb 16, 2011)

I already used it for 3 days I'm nervous about using it longer than that.... I still have to treat for when the remaining parasites fall off the fish should I still continue with quick cure?


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

You have to continue that. The meds cannot destroy the parasites in two stages: cyst stage and feeding stage (where they are embedded under the skin of the fish). The vulnerable stage is free swimming stage. I've always broken bottle instructions and choose to continue treatment as appropriate rather than shorten the course and risk recurring infestations.


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## MelKurtonic (Feb 16, 2011)

I'm just waiting for the last few spots to disapear it's only been 3 days so I'm assuming it's going to take a while since i have no heater and no way of heating the tank other than exchanging tank water with warm water until it's up to temperature but even then it wouldn't stay that high for long


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Ahhh...So if you have time to drop by a petshop, get a heater. Eheim is best. I dunno if I'd trust Stealths considering the recent reviews. It'll help you shorten treatment course a bit as it means the ich will have to reproduce quick enough for QC to kill them.


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## MelKurtonic (Feb 16, 2011)

ok i'm really freaking out... I put lights out on my tank... my goldfish seemed fine but now the bigger one is hovering in the one corner of the tank his mouth is shut he's breathing heavily and his only movements are when he floats out of position


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Is the water well aerated right now?
Temperature?
Water parameters?


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## MelKurtonic (Feb 16, 2011)

temperature is around 65 - 70 degrees and the filter is running with the bio filter but not the carbon the other fish seems fine it's just the one fish should I do a partial water change? I don't have a test kit on me right now


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Ouch. Yeah, just do a water change. You still need to test the parameters.


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## MelKurtonic (Feb 16, 2011)

I didn't think anything was wrong with the water because the other one is fine and swimming around carelessly... I just did a water change and he didn't perk up so far


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Not all fish have the same level of tolerance to various water conditions.


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## MelKurtonic (Feb 16, 2011)

I can get to a pet shop in the morning right now i need to know every thing i can do to try and save him if he's in distress.. I quarenteed him right now... he's missing a lot of scales and his fins are all torn up


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Oh damn. I would have suggested salt but we can't as you have Quick Cure in there. We'll just wait for the water parameter readings.:sad:

Are the ich spots clearing up at all?


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## MelKurtonic (Feb 16, 2011)

for the most part now he's turning up onto his side... my husband is giving him minutes... he had the ich pretty bad while the other only had it on his fins this one was practically covered when i started treating him now the ich is almost cleared up and he's acting like this I'm monitoring him very closely... still minimal movement even in the new, clean water and only opens his mouth slightly to let a little water in


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

I really don't feel much hope for that poor guy but keep monitoring him and do water changes (whilst dosing Prime). Don't euthanize him. Lots of goldfish can surprise you.


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## MelKurtonic (Feb 16, 2011)

I don't plan on giving up on him until he stops breathing... he's swimming around in quarentine right now but still not opening his mouth much... my husband just wants to "end his suffering" as he says because he thinks that death is unavoidable... He's slightly confused as to why I plan to stay up all night with this fish until I'm sure he's Okay.... right now he'll rest for a few minutes (about 10 ish?) swim around for less then a minute and go back but he's not on his side anymore so I guess that's a good sign and he's upright now (improvement?) I just don't understand I thought he was getting better and now this I'm looking everything up to see what could be wrong with him or if it's another disease... we got them both from walmart before we discovered that it wasn't such a good idea so my husband thinks he may have been diseased before that? I read that it is possible for a fish to have ich before they start showing signs and we had the fish for four days before the ich broke out subsequently a day after the pleco died (after he died I did a 100% water change and rinsed off 75% of the gravel to try and prevent the spread of any diseases he may have had since he wasn't eating since we brought him home and the goldfish would eat his algae wafers) so far I've been doing everything I can to save these fish (although the ich affected the one more than the other and the other seems perfectly healthy right now)


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Now your hubby might think you're nuts.:crazy:

No worries. You're doing everything you can.:wink:

Yes, it's possible for ich to even lie low. They reside in gill tissues usually silently attacking the fish but burst into presence when they sense their hosts going downhill fast.


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## MelKurtonic (Feb 16, 2011)

lol my husband swears I'm crazy lol (former marine) he doesn't believe that fish have a will to live. This guy seems to be trying his best and that's all I want to do for him ( I guess it's better closure to know you've done everything you could) I did read about the parasite hiding in the gills so I am starting to believe we may have gotten a sick fish (my husband bought them to surprise our son and didn't know how to pick out a fish and the guidelines to buying aquatic pets, he figured pick one out and that's that) if he does give up on his battle tonight I'm not sure about getting another gold fish just yet because I don't know what will be more stressful on our remaining fantail (he was pretty upset when I quarentined his buddy) I know goldfish are schooling fish so I don't want to keep him alone for long either but I don't want to put another fish at risk if I don't have to, ya know. I'd prefer this one pull through and everything be ok and they both grow long and happy lives. I wish there was something I could do more than just wait it out at this point :'(


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

It's a case by case basis. Some goldfish like to be kept alone and are happy with that. Some however prefer their company. I've kept my some of my goldfish singly before and they do not have issues with that.

If you want to buy goldfish next time, look for reputable buyers. It's very rare a beauty turns out in chain stores. There are lots of beauties in Goldfish Connection but I am not sure if you're willing to pay a lot for just one goldfish. They're worth it though if you are completely happy with a few pretty ones than too many unhealthy ones that do not satisfy your standards of how you want them to look.


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## MelKurtonic (Feb 16, 2011)

we didn't want anymore than 2 goldfish but if we were to get a "replacement" we would not go to walmart again that is a fact we do have some small family owned pet stores that we can look into by us, there's one 10 miles away and another about 25 miles away as well as some in between that we can go looking in to find one that could possibly stay with us for longer than a week. another reason why I think that the ich was lying in the gills is that it swept over this fish so fast and so much it was like whoa literally within 24 hours this fish was covered in white spots (some got larger I'm assuming from what I read that they were clustering?) we got the QuICK cure as soon as we saw the infestation ( the other one only had a few tiny white spots on his tail and fins) the one in question now stopped eating for 2 days and then lightly picked at the food for the past two days so we assumed he was getting better and now this I'm praying for him right now because it's my last resort for this guy...


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## MelKurtonic (Feb 16, 2011)

I really want to get good at raising goldfish because in about 10 years or so I want to build a small koi pond in my back yard large enough for about 5 koi complete with a waterfall filtration system set up running down the hill which our friends agree would look amazing i read that koi were much hardier than fantail and that fantail would not survive in a pond like koi and common would


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Yeah, it was clustering.


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## MelKurtonic (Feb 16, 2011)

do you think he was too sick from the parasite when we started medicating?


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

I would think that aside from the parasites, the toll from being transported to another tank while already infected with ich weakened it a lot that the ich was able to overwhelm the fish easily.


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## MelKurtonic (Feb 16, 2011)




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## MelKurtonic (Feb 16, 2011)

lost him at 4 a.m. went to the pet store and did a test this morning nitrate and nitrite were at 0 amonia was .5 and ph was 7.5 I did a partial and all the levels were normal. I read that fish medications can kill the good bacteria in the tank?


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

QC can kill BB. Watch water parameters for next few days or if you have another established tank, borrow filter media there for that tank to stabilize nitrogen cycle.

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss.:sad: At least, you did everything you can. Cheer up.:greenyay:


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