ich on my clowns

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shari2
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Post by shari2 » Mon Jan 12, 2009 10:55 pm

at 80f i'd keep up the treatment for at least a week after ALL spots are gone. hillstream tanks are cooler so the life cycle is longer. two weeks is wise.

better safe than sorry. if even one parasite is missed you could end up having to treat the tank again and risk creating a resistant strain...though i think that takes generations...8)

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Toothpik
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Post by Toothpik » Tue Jan 13, 2009 8:52 pm

i am still treating the tank and its like week 2 and everyone is still happy and the meds arent affecting no one and the last time a saw a spot was about 1 week ago :)
currently-90gallon-5 rummy nose tetra,9 clown loach,3 rainbow fish, and soon 10-15 cardinal tetra.

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shari2
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Post by shari2 » Wed Jan 14, 2009 12:40 pm

Sounds like you're nearly there, then. 8)

When you're sure you've beat the beastie, do a good gravel vac and water change, add some carbon to your filter and consider it a job well done. Just make sure your quarantine any new fish, and always be careful what you add to the tank.

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chefkeith
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Post by chefkeith » Wed Jan 14, 2009 4:24 pm

Shari- If you've been following the other threads, a new fish that didn't go through quarantine was just added to this tank a few days ago. :roll:

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shari2
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Post by shari2 » Wed Jan 14, 2009 4:41 pm

Toothpik?

You bought a new fish and added it to a tank in the middle of treatment?

You may also have bought your fish another round of treatment that they won't need but the new guy will. And who knows what other goodies the new guy brings to share with your tank.

Extremely unwise, imo.

You may luck out and he won't get ich. You may luck out and he won't 'share' any nasties with your soon to be healthy fish.

then again - you may not.

patience is a virtue. i wish you well.

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Toothpik
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Post by Toothpik » Wed Jan 14, 2009 7:50 pm

yes...i did and now that i think of it...it was not a smart choice but i think i may have lucked out this time and i have learned my lesson and thank you for your time and patience in helping me
currently-90gallon-5 rummy nose tetra,9 clown loach,3 rainbow fish, and soon 10-15 cardinal tetra.

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shari2
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Post by shari2 » Wed Jan 14, 2009 10:05 pm

You're welcome. Really. 8)

none of us started fishkeeping knowing it all (I don't think :lol: ). And many of us still will succumb to that extraordinary fish find on spur of the moment. Nevertheless, it's something to avoid like the plague - lest you end up with one in your tank!

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chefkeith
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Post by chefkeith » Thu Jan 15, 2009 12:03 pm

Much truth to what Shari said. I lost about 50 clown loaches in my learning process. My 1st few years into it I was clueless about water parameters and quarantining. Sometimes I'd take a bag full of fish home and they'd all die soon after I tried acclimating them. If I was lucky they'd live long enough so that they could get ich and die from that instead.

After all the failures, I learned as much as could about water chemistry and disease prevention.




I now realize that any newly purchased fish may be in a critical stress condition which will compromise it's ability to acclimate to a different water condition and to ward off diseases. Stress can be contagious. A new fish will give emotional stress to the current residence of a fish tank if quarantining is skipped.

Like I said, I've lost many fish in trying to acclimate them. A simple 20 minute acclimation where you float the bag and add a cup of water every 5 minutes doesn't always work. Slower drip acclimations don't always work either.

What I've learned is that instead of trying to acclimate the new fish to my water conditions is that I must match the water chemistry that they are currently in. What I'd do now is test the bag water's kh, gh, tds, and ph., then change the water chemistry in my quarantine tank to match that of the bag water. After this is done, then I can acclimate the new fish with one of the acclimation methods.

Quarantining and disease prevention is the next challenge, which gets tougher the more fish you have and each time you add new fish. It's probably best to stock the main tank once then be done with it. This is not ideal though. That is why quarantining must be very strict.

You'll find that you'll need separate equipment, like water buckets, fish nets, and water siphons for the quarantine tank you have because you don't want to cross contaminate any pathogens with the main tank.

Prophylactic treatments for the most common parasites is another thing you'll want to consider when new fish are quarantined.

So Toothpick, do you have anything in the 90 gallon tank yet? Do you have any pictures of your fish and tanks?

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Toothpik
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Post by Toothpik » Thu Jan 15, 2009 6:15 pm

i have nothing in the tank right now...im doing a fishless cycle...and no no pics im trying to find a camera...my mom hid it somewhere lol im still living with my parents bc im still in high school just in case you were wondering
currently-90gallon-5 rummy nose tetra,9 clown loach,3 rainbow fish, and soon 10-15 cardinal tetra.

starsplitter7
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Post by starsplitter7 » Thu Jan 15, 2009 7:24 pm

I wish you super luck with your fish. You are learning young what everyone should learn about fish. I am still learning. Don't give up. :)

Sounds like you dodged a bullet and hopefully your tank is ick free.

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