Sick Fish

[frusterdated]

My male severum has several white dots on him and he breathes harder now. can anyone help me with what to do? Thanks

[mredman]

It is ich. Did you recently add new fish? Once an infected fish is breathing heavily, you need to act quickly. All other fish in tank are also infected. Raise temperature in tank as high as the fish will tolerate (85F) if possible and treat.

[ptran]

Just raise temperature to 85 for a few day.


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[frusterdated]

No new fish. Had to buy a new heater but I've got the temperature going up and bought some salt to use. Should i do water changes more frequently now?

[ptran]

Raise temp for 3-5 days to kill Ich. They will fall to the substrate. Do 50% water change. Do another 25% water change 3 days later.


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[mredman]

I would heat and treat. If you have no invertebrates, a product like Jungle Guard is really good. Don't use activated carbon during treatment.

When I used to import fish, this combination was the most effective. Even a slight delay in a treatment regime could result in heavy
losses.

It is very unusual to have an outbreak of ich when you have not added any recent fish. Do you have multiple tanks and use the same net for each tank? Water transfer can also be problematic.

Mike

[ptran]

The one in picture looks like a gold severum. Severum in my experience is rather susceptible to ich, but I had success of treating ich with just raising temp in the past. I didn't have to add any chemical treatment. Then again, every fish is different.

[frusterdated]

Ick is brought on by stress right? Well the male severum got into a fight with the male acara where they locked mouths real aggressively. Also my heater stopped working. Maybe these are the reasons. He's the only one showing symptoms

[ptran]

Also my heater stopped working

Bingo. I believe you found the culprit.

You can't get rid of ich entirely. They just stay dormant in the substrate, rocks, even filter media waiting to strike. Keeping optimum condition of fish and tank is a way to battle it.

[morpheus]

Another detail is to ensure your oxygen levels do not drop during treatment. Once you increase the temp of the water, oxygen is lowered. Then if you do happen to add any medications, it can drop further. I have seen many posts in my days of people losing fish this way.

Add an air stone if you dont have one, or drop the water level and let the filter output cascade into the water for agitation.

[ptran]

Very good point Morpheus.

[frusterdated]

I have the return output from the filter angled up to create maximum surface agitation.

Just to make sure, can these fish handle the salt or meds? I have red severum, blue acara, geophagus tapajos, bristlenose pleco.

[frusterdated]

Thought he wasnt feeling good but then caught him here

[ptran]

Cool, I think he will be alright. It's good that you treat it early.

[mredman]

Ich cannot survive without a host. If a host is not found within 48 to 60 hours, the parasite dies. The parasite does not lay dormant on gravel, rocks or plants.

The ich was either introduced by a new addition - it could be an infective fish, water transfer (from nets), new plant additions but ich is not a parasite waiting for a stressed fish. However, once a fish is stressed, the disease spreads faster. This is one disease that can result in 100% mortality if not treated in a timely fashion.

Mike

Bingo. I believe you found the culprit.

You can't get rid of ich entirely. They just stay dormant in the substrate, rocks, even filter media waiting to strike. Keeping optimum condition of fish and tank is a way to battle it.