HELP! SICK GOLDFISH WITH LOACHES IN THE TANK

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Kelly22790
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Sep 15, 2016 11:56 am

HELP! SICK GOLDFISH WITH LOACHES IN THE TANK

Post by Kelly22790 » Thu Sep 15, 2016 2:02 pm

I need advice on what I think may be ich in my aquarium.

My tank:
2 years old 
55 gallons
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0
Nitrate between 20 and 40
Temp currently 70 degrees F ( I tried to raise the temp with my water changes by 1-2 degrees but because it's coldwater I don't have a heater to keep the temp up at 72)
1 comet (although I was told it was a shubunkin, seems more of a comet to me)
1 common 
1 shubunkin
3 golden dojos
6 hillstreams ( I started with 5 and they amazingly bred and I have a growing baby hillstream in this tank!)
variety of dwarf shrimps
Tetra x70, emperor 400, fluval 406
feed: a variety. Live plants, frozen peas, tetrafin flakes, omega one pellets, tetraveggie wafers
water conditioner: seachem prime
water changes once a week to every 10 days. 40-60%

I recently stocked the tank back up with some new live plants that must have been the culprit. Most have been eaten by the Goldies except for one plant.

A few days after the Goldies had eaten just about all the plants, they started acting lethargic and sitting at the bottom. The shubunkin (Wasabi) has been increasingly bullying my other two golds and I've purchased a 150g (not cycled) as I know my tank is slightly overstocked and Wasabi may be bullying because they need more room. 
I did two water changes within a couple days to make sure the water was not the culprit. I didn't test the pH at first so I cannot speak to that. The pH in the tank after 3-4 water changes since the golds have been sick is now 7.8, which is a bit high for them. I've never had this issue ever before.

Goldies are flashing but until today, I did not see any signs of ich. My poor beautiful comet looks as if he has fin rot but much of that is because he is flashing all over the tank. Today, I do see white specs on his fins only. I've kept the lights out because when the lights are on they flash. When they are off they sit huddled together at the bottom.

THE LOACHES ARE ACTING PERFECTLY NORMAL! Respirations perfect. Activity perfect. The goldfish are the only ones affected:

#1: Noodles. Yesterday morning, she flashed into something and I witnessed her lose a scale by her eye. Other than some missing scales, I don't see anything else visually wrong with her. 

#2: Sushi. Sushi is the comet with frayed fins, veins through the fins, bleeding fin, and new possible white specs on the fins. 

#3: Wasabi. The bully shubunkin. I don't see anything visually wrong except for lethargy and sitting at the bottom of the tank with Noodles. I haven't seen this fish flashing as much as the other two. 

The fish did eat a few peas that I put in the tank. I have fed less since they have been sick. I don't feed every day. More like every other day.

I NEED A TREATMENT FOR THE TANK THAT WILL NOT NEGATIVELY AFFECT MY WEATHERLOACHES OR HILLSTREAMS! Keep in mind that I also DO NOT want to harm the baby hillstream! Desperate. Have contacted fish vets. I think it may be too late for my goldfish though. :( :( :(

Diana
Posts: 4675
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2006 1:35 am
Location: Near San Franciso

Re: HELP! SICK GOLDFISH WITH LOACHES IN THE TANK

Post by Diana » Sat Sep 17, 2016 3:35 pm

Couple of options, you can combine some of them.

1) Isolate fish in different tanks according to what they can tolerate:
Golds: Salt, some heat as long as good circulation is maintained. Probably not enough heat to kill the Ich, but enough to improve their metabolism to help fight the ich, and speed up the ich life cycle so the whole treatment can be finished faster.
How to dose salt:
Day 1: 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons. Dissolve in a cup or two of water and pour this into the tank over several hours.
Day 2: 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons. Dissolve in a cup or two of water and pour this into the tank over several hours.
Day 3: 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons. Dissolve in a cup or two of water and pour this into the tank over several hours.
This brings the total dose to 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons. This is strong enough to kill ich. When you do water changes make sure to match the dosage in the new water.
Salt and heat can be combined with a UV sterilizer.
Golds can also handle much stronger ich meds than the other fish. Read the label, you may be able to combine salt with the medication (some meds contain salt already). Do not combine UV and meds.

2) Adults of other fish: Rid Ich, or one of the 'natural' pesticides that control Ich. If you do a treatment with any medication do not combine it with UV. UV may deactivate certain meds. If you use Amquel or related products for dechlor, read the label. Do not combine with dye based meds (Rid Ich, most other ich meds). Here is a safe way to use these meds for sensitive fish (most Loaches, many Tetras, some other fish).
Dose with half strength, but do it twice a day. Reason: The 'once a day' dose is too strong for sensitive fish. It is strong enough that by the time it breaks down half a day later it is still strong enough to kill ich. So start with half a dose. This is not too strong for sensitive fish. In half a day it is broken down to the point that it probably won't kill ich. So dose again. You can further dilute the meds by doing once a day water changes (see below).

3) Fry: Bare bottom tank, all new water, UV sterilizer.

On all these I would do plenty of water changes that emphasize vacuuming all the surfaces, especially the substrate. Do the water changes right before giving them the daily medicine dosage. If you are using salt in the water then dissolve the right amount of salt in the new water.
38 tanks, 2 ponds over 4000 liters of water to keep clean and fresh.

Happy fish keeping!

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