Ich and unidentified tiny organisms
Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 11:18 am
Hello,
I am really new to loaches and am having some issues with Ich and possibly something else--I hope someone can help. Here's the background:
I have a 25 gallon tank that has been set up for two months. At first I just put in live plants and decor bought at Petsmart. After a week I added a clown loach. The sales person at Petsmart told me that one clown loach would be fine in 25 gallon tank. That loach is about 1.5 inches and was fine for a month. Then I read that clowns really need to be kept in groups (and that they get to be huge!--an issue I'll have to deal with down the road.) At any rate, I felt bad for my lonely loach and bought him a friend. About a week after adding the second clown loach I noticed Ich spots on the second clown (he/she is slightly smaller that the first loach so I can tell them apart.) I started treating the tank with Kordon Ich Attach and have been following the instructions on the bottle. I have been treating for a week. I also raised the temp in the tank from 78 to 84, but this is hard to maintain as my house is cold and drafty in the winter. (I even put a blanket around the tank!) I also have been doing water changes and gravel vacuuming, but then decided to move then fish to a 5 gallon "hospital tank" since a smaller tank would be easier for me to vacuum and do water changes--I'm small with some back problems and can't carry a lot of buckets of water around all day.
So, after setting up the clowns in the 5 gallon I dropped in an algae chip and went to bed. This morning I noticed tiny organisms on the wafer and in the gravel near the wafer. Even though the organisms are the size of pin heads I could seem them because the gravel is white and they are dark. Also they move independently of the water current. I'm wondering if these tiny things are part of the Ich life cycle or a new parasite? I have photos and will post if I can figure out how (This is my first time on this forum). There are live plants in the 5 gallon, so I'm also wondering what could live on and be transferred by plant? Finally, if I leave the big tank without fish, will the Ich stay dormant in the gravel and re-infect the fish when they are put back? I'd rather not take the entire tank down if I don't have too, since I need a place for the aquatic plants that are currently in it (water lillys java fern, moneywort, moss balls, and the plant that looks just like a peace lilly but the name escapes me now). In case I can't post photos: the tiny creatures are oval-shaped and brownish green, and the size of a fleck of black pepper. (They only way I could photograph them was to take the lens off my camera and turn it backwards to make a makeshift macro lens).
Thanks in advance for any advice and information!
PS. After doing more research, I think the tiny organisms are "seed shrimp" or Ostracoda, which, according to some websites, are harmless and a sign that the aquarium water is clean--I should hope the water is clean, as I'm been changing it every day!
I am really new to loaches and am having some issues with Ich and possibly something else--I hope someone can help. Here's the background:
I have a 25 gallon tank that has been set up for two months. At first I just put in live plants and decor bought at Petsmart. After a week I added a clown loach. The sales person at Petsmart told me that one clown loach would be fine in 25 gallon tank. That loach is about 1.5 inches and was fine for a month. Then I read that clowns really need to be kept in groups (and that they get to be huge!--an issue I'll have to deal with down the road.) At any rate, I felt bad for my lonely loach and bought him a friend. About a week after adding the second clown loach I noticed Ich spots on the second clown (he/she is slightly smaller that the first loach so I can tell them apart.) I started treating the tank with Kordon Ich Attach and have been following the instructions on the bottle. I have been treating for a week. I also raised the temp in the tank from 78 to 84, but this is hard to maintain as my house is cold and drafty in the winter. (I even put a blanket around the tank!) I also have been doing water changes and gravel vacuuming, but then decided to move then fish to a 5 gallon "hospital tank" since a smaller tank would be easier for me to vacuum and do water changes--I'm small with some back problems and can't carry a lot of buckets of water around all day.
So, after setting up the clowns in the 5 gallon I dropped in an algae chip and went to bed. This morning I noticed tiny organisms on the wafer and in the gravel near the wafer. Even though the organisms are the size of pin heads I could seem them because the gravel is white and they are dark. Also they move independently of the water current. I'm wondering if these tiny things are part of the Ich life cycle or a new parasite? I have photos and will post if I can figure out how (This is my first time on this forum). There are live plants in the 5 gallon, so I'm also wondering what could live on and be transferred by plant? Finally, if I leave the big tank without fish, will the Ich stay dormant in the gravel and re-infect the fish when they are put back? I'd rather not take the entire tank down if I don't have too, since I need a place for the aquatic plants that are currently in it (water lillys java fern, moneywort, moss balls, and the plant that looks just like a peace lilly but the name escapes me now). In case I can't post photos: the tiny creatures are oval-shaped and brownish green, and the size of a fleck of black pepper. (They only way I could photograph them was to take the lens off my camera and turn it backwards to make a makeshift macro lens).
Thanks in advance for any advice and information!
PS. After doing more research, I think the tiny organisms are "seed shrimp" or Ostracoda, which, according to some websites, are harmless and a sign that the aquarium water is clean--I should hope the water is clean, as I'm been changing it every day!