# Ich or Not? It won't go away!



## MamaJasmine (Mar 4, 2012)

I have had sick fish for about 5 weeks now.. I have tried various meds and treatments and nothing is working! Lost my favorite fish about a week ago too.. I am feeling very defeated in all of this. Any advice is appreciated.. and yes I have tried the heat treatments and after 2 weeks the fish showed no changes. 



1. Size of tank? 10g

2. Water parameters
a. Ammonia? 0
b. Nitrite?
c. Nitrate?
d. pH, KH and GH?
e. Test kit? I have an API amonia kit only at this time. 

3. Temperature? 86 (raised to do heat ich treatment)

4. FW (fresh water) or BW (brackish)? FW

5. How long the aquarium has been set up? Since 9/11

6. What fish do you have?Platy's How many are in your tank?4 How big are they? 3 grown adults and 1 fry. How long have you had them? The fish I have had for about 2 months now, fry is about 6 weeks old. 

7. Were the fish placed under quarantine period (minus the first batch from the point wherein the tank is ready to accommodate the inhabitants)? No. 

8. a. Any live plants? Fake plants? Fake plants right now (4) going to switch to live plants once I get this under control. 
b. Sand, gravel, barebottom? Gravel
c. Rocks, woods, fancy decors? Any hollow decors? 2 mini statues, 1 fake coral tunnel, 1 bubbling volcano and fancy glass pebbles. 

9. a. Filtration? penguin biowheel 100
b. Heater? fluval for up to 15 gallons

10. a. Lighting schedule? What lights are used? Lights during the day, moon light after 8pm and lights off at 11pm
b. Any sunlight exposure? How long? in a shaded area of the home. 

11. a. Water change schedule? 2 times a week
b. Volume of water changed? 25% 
c. Well water, tap water, RO water? tap water
d. Water conditioner used? seachem prime.
e. Frequency of gravel/sand (if any) vacuumed? I do a small section at each water change. 

12. Foods? omega one
How often are they fed? 1 per day.

13. a. Any abnormal signs/symptoms? white ich like spots on tail for one of them, 1 is pale, both sick fish are hiding or hanging out near the top. 
b. Appearance of poop? same color as food.
c. Appearance of gills? pink

14. a. Have you treated your fish ahead of diagnosis? I have been treating for ich for the last 5 weeks after a friend of mine said it was Ich. She has been caring for fish for years. 
b. What meds were used?
I have tried Super Ich Cure, Rid-ich and Quick cure all at separate times, I have tried salt, heat and a combination of salt and heat and a combo of salt heat and meds... nothing has helped. 

15. Insert photos of fish in question and full tank shot if necessary. 
Read more: http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/...orm-read-before-you-post-61135/#ixzz1oBAcBzYu​


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## MamaJasmine (Mar 4, 2012)

Updates

today I did a 75% water change and removed decorations (might dip them in boiling water and allow them to air dry) . Put in the carbon filter until I do a treatment later tonight... I will be doing quick cure again. 

Found a baby RCS in the tank- We had removed all the RCS and put them in the nursery tank before starting med treatments.. seeing the baby alive after being through a month of meds and other treatments has me questioning if I have been dosing them high enough...


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## GwenInNM (Feb 2, 2011)

MamaJasmine said:


> Updates
> 
> today I did a 75% water change and removed decorations (might dip them in boiling water and allow them to air dry) . Put in the carbon filter until I do a treatment later tonight... I will be doing quick cure again.
> 
> Found a baby RCS in the tank- We had removed all the RCS and put them in the nursery tank before starting med treatments.. seeing the baby alive after being through a month of meds and other treatments has me questioning if I have been dosing them high enough...



I also have been treating with Quick Cure and also was shocked to see very small RCS in the tank. Came with some moss I bought. Didn't think I had any, as I tried to save some and move to my RCS tank. When I started treating, figured any left would die. I'm dosing for the tetras, because I have Cardinals and GBR's, both sensitive fish. Surprisingly, I now have fry from my German Blue Rams, and feel the same frustration,because after one week of treating, I still see one spot on 2 Cardinals. I've stopped treating, because of the fry, but yes, I'm not sure why "quick cure" isn't that quick. LOL :-D

Gwen


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## MamaJasmine (Mar 4, 2012)

GwenInNM said:


> I also have been treating with Quick Cure and also was shocked to see very small RCS in the tank. Came with some moss I bought. Didn't think I had any, as I tried to save some and move to my RCS tank. When I started treating, figured any left would die. I'm dosing for the tetras, because I have Cardinals and GBR's, both sensitive fish. Surprisingly, I now have fry from my German Blue Rams, and feel the same frustration,because after one week of treating, I still see one spot on 2 Cardinals. I've stopped treating, because of the fry, but yes, I'm not sure why "quick cure" isn't that quick. LOL :-D
> 
> Gwen


I wish I was at week one.. but after 5 this is getting ridiculous.. but as of this morning and the super cleaning I did and the treatment last night I do not see any spots on my fish... wish I could treat every 12 hours! I want to go buy more fish as I lost 1 female and one of my "females" turned into a boy right after I got it.. I want 2 more to balance out the tank drama! Not sure if I should get the new fish now and treat them too (since we know how well stores are about ICH) or wait till we are all in the clear.


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## GwenInNM (Feb 2, 2011)

MamaJasmine said:


> I wish I was at week one.. but after 5 this is getting ridiculous.. but as of this morning and the super cleaning I did and the treatment last night I do not see any spots on my fish... wish I could treat every 12 hours! I want to go buy more fish as I lost 1 female and one of my "females" turned into a boy right after I got it.. I want 2 more to balance out the tank drama! Not sure if I should get the new fish now and treat them too (since we know how well stores are about ICH) or wait till we are all in the clear.



I would continue to treat another 3 days after the spots are gone. After that if you could probably safely get fish, but you might be better waiting 5-7 days. I can't believe it took 5 weeks. Very strange. 

Gwen


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## MamaJasmine (Mar 4, 2012)

GwenInNM said:


> I would continue to treat another 3 days after the spots are gone. After that if you could probably safely get fish, but you might be better waiting 5-7 days. I can't believe it took 5 weeks. Very strange.
> 
> Gwen


well I think it might have been my decorations.. I have a bunch in the tank that are smaller and I think I was just not getting enough junk up with vacuums so we had a major outbreak that the meds were simply keeping a control over rather than eradication. I also have only had the new heater 2 weeks now. I want to step up to the stronger meds with the heat and with no decorations in the tank. I also plan on doing a daily water change instead of every other day.


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## MamaJasmine (Mar 4, 2012)

Update- we are day 2 with no spots.. however now that I only have 1 female platy and no places for her to hide she is showing signs of stress.. thinking of going to pick up a few live plants tonight and maybe another female just to balance out the tank a bit... since i will not be able to quarantine a new fish I would rather the new fish get a treatment with the rest of the fish.


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## MamaJasmine (Mar 4, 2012)

Update- I lost another female platy today.. no spots at all.. Last night I noticed a small bump on one of my male platy lips that looks like a pimple and a small bit of tail on the other male looks like it was nipped. So I ran into town before petsmart closed and picked up some Triple Sulfa and started turning my heat down on the tank. Going to do a full round of this in hopes it turns around my tank. The fish that died this morning looked fine except her body looked like it had a coating of white on it.. so I think we might have Columnaris? any input would be appreciated.


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## GwenInNM (Feb 2, 2011)

MamaJasmine said:


> Update- I lost another female platy today.. no spots at all.. Last night I noticed a small bump on one of my male platy lips that looks like a pimple and a small bit of tail on the other male looks like it was nipped. So I ran into town before petsmart closed and picked up some Triple Sulfa and started turning my heat down on the tank. Going to do a full round of this in hopes it turns around my tank. The fish that died this morning looked fine except her body looked like it had a coating of white on it.. so I think we might have Columnaris? any input would be appreciated.



I agree with you. It sounds like columnaris. I'm so sorry for you going through all this. Columnaris is a bacterial infection that is caused by poor water quality. The other sign of a tattered tail, could be tin/tail rot, also caused by water quality. It's also possible that it's just the result of irritation from so many days of treatment with Quick Cure. Hope things turn around for you soon. 

Gwen


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## MamaJasmine (Mar 4, 2012)

GwenInNM said:


> I agree with you. It sounds like columnaris. I'm so sorry for you going through all this. Columnaris is a bacterial infection that is caused by poor water quality. The other sign of a tattered tail, could be tin/tail rot, also caused by water quality. It's also possible that it's just the result of irritation from so many days of treatment with Quick Cure. Hope things turn around for you soon.
> 
> Gwen


Do you think triple Sulfa will help with this? I chose this one because it sounded like it covered the most bases. I don't get the water quality thing.. I change the water at least twice a week.. but there was a ton of junk on and around all of the decorations which I chucked in the trash already..


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## GwenInNM (Feb 2, 2011)

MamaJasmine said:


> Do you think triple Sulfa will help with this? I chose this one because it sounded like it covered the most bases. I don't get the water quality thing.. I change the water at least twice a week.. but there was a ton of junk on and around all of the decorations which I chucked in the trash already..



I know nothing about that medication. If it says it treats a broad range including bacterial infections, you're probably okay.

What is your water parameters for nitrates when you do your water changes? Do you vacuum gravel? Water changes twice a week sound nice. It could be you over feed and don't have the right balance yet to deal with the waste that comes with that. I really don't know. How long has your tank been set up (you've probably already said this, but) and how much of a water change do you do - 20%? 50% ??

Gwen


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