ick outrage?

Question

i recently put 2 comet goldfish on my 55 gallon tank together w/ my 5-6 inch Bala Shark, Catfish, 4 Black Skirt Tetras, Pleco, and Knife Fish.. At first the gold fish were happy, they're not getting eaten, in addition the water is somewhere 68-70 F. but when i bought some gouramis "pink & sunset" i tried putting the heater to 78 so my tank water would warmer. but after a goodnight sleep, i saw my other comet gold fish w/ white spot on its tail. i knew it was ick, so i got rid of both of them and put them on a big glass of water. Here's my concern, is my water contaminated now? should put ick remover or somekind? my other fishes are fine, jus the gold fish that had white spots, its only been this morning.
do you think the water temp. gave the gold fish the ick?

Answer 1

Get the ick med right away and dose your tank. Remember to take out the live plants or they will be ruined , just drop them in a bowl of water for a few days while you treat the tank. Never put gold fish in with tropicals. Raise your water temp, keep it at the higher range while treating! Check your data for the right temp for tropicals. Gold fish like much cooler water so I doubt the water temp caused the ick. Chances are they brought it with them from the store.

Answer 2

Keep in mind it's quite possible for the ick to already be in the tank. Often you'll have an outbreak of ick and treat it well enough that all/some of your fish survive. These fish will be fairly resistant to the strain of ick in your tank. New on the other hand are already stressed from the pet store and the new tank. Plus their immune systems are primed to resist the strain of ick in your tank. This is why you'll see people complain that fish stores constant sell them fish with ick. This is why you should always go the full course of treatment with ick.

Of course it's just as possible the ick came with the goldfish. As fish store tank can get infected with ick as well.

I'd treat both the goldfish sperately, and the main tank.

Note that 68-70 is too warm for goldfish. They will be stressed out in that temp. Also ick likes warm water, and will reproduce and spread faster. Ick meds recommend higher temps as they are only effective in the free swimming stage of ick life cycle.

Answer 3

Hopefully you now understand the importance of quarentine. New fish should be housed separately from the resident population for at least 30 days so you can monitor and treat for disease before the whole population is infected.

Your water is contaminated, and you need to treat everyone for ich. Increasing the temp speeds up the life cycle of the parasite, so that could be what brought it out.

Ideally you won't put the comets back with the other fish, because they aren't appropriate tank mates. You should get a 40 long aquarium for them and enjoy them. They are wonderful fish and can get 7 to 9 inches long with proper care. :)

Answer 4

Hey,
From what I know, the ick probably came with the new fish you bought. You should treat the whole tank with ick solution. The water is contaminated and the warmer water temperature will only accelerate the illness, not create it.

Answer 5

After you treat the tank with an Ich medication I would suggest adding about 1/2 cup of aquarium salt to the water.The salt will help prevent another ich outbreak in the event you buy more fish.It will keep it from thriving and kill it off.Ive been doing this for 6 years in all my fish tanks and never had a problem with any fish disease.Good luck.

Answer 6

Healthy, unstressed fish do not get ick. Adding freshwater aquarium salt will protect fish from ick by increasing their slime coat and not allowing the parasite to penetrate.
A

Answer 7

In this case I usually treat my tank once just in case it is trying to start. It usually works. Then keep an eye on them for signs of ick.

Answer 8

you learn some thing every day on here i didnt know you could have goldfish in the same tank as tropical

Answer 9

Sometimes over populating a tank can create diseases. It may be stress related.