We had ick in our tank 4 days before my 2 new koi were added. The tank cycled for 3 days with the QuICK cure and it was gone. Now, my new fish are flashing and it seems to be happening more at night. I can't figure out what's going on? All day long they are fine and then at night they start doing it again. What should we do? I added QuICK cure again last night to see if that'll work. Do fish flick themselves on the rocks for any other purpose than having a parasite? These are expensive fish and I don't want them ruining their scales...HELP!!!
2007-02-08 01:08:24 · 5 answers · asked by poisonchick12345 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
Fish flash for a number of reasons
- Parasitic infection
- Healing wounds
- pH shift in the water (like after a water change)
- Chlorine in the water
- Too much ammonia in the water
In your situation, I would bet that it's parasitic infection. Ich has 4 life stages, and only during ONE of those life stages can it be killed, and a lifecycle takes 4-5 days at 80F, so you want to give it at least 2 weeks for coolwater fish, to completely erradicate the parasite.
But ditch the QuICK. Meds like that are harsh and destroy your biological system. Instead, use a salt treat. Add one tablespoon of aquarium or kosher salt per 5 gallons of water, disolved first in dechlor water. Leave this salt like that for 2-3 weeks (when you do water changes, add the required amount of salt to however much water you replace to keep the salt at the same concentration). This will kill the Ich as effectively as the meds would, but without harming your fish.
The other possibility would be the ammonia. You didn't specify how big your tank is or how many fish you have, but generally, koi do not belong in tanks. They can grow to 30", and they need to live in large ponds.
2007-02-08 02:39:28 · answer #1 · answered by Zoe 6 · 4⤊ 1⤋
Since koi and goldfish need about 10-20 gallons per 3 inches of fish, I'll bet that nitrite poisoning is your problem. You should treat for ick 14 days after the last spot drops off the fish. You should test the water for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates and do water changes often depending on how overstocked your tank is.
2007-02-08 10:48:05 · answer #2 · answered by bzzflygirl 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
3 days is never enough to kill ick. It can only be killed in its freee floating lifecycle stage. Considering its life-cycle is up to 10 days depending on temperature, 3 days will never kill them all, since at any given time, some will be on the fish, free floating, or dormant in the gravel. Most cures require treatment up to 14 days past the time when you don't see any ich on your fish since its still living in the gravel in a stage that can't be killed yet.
As for the itching, I don't know enough about koi to give a good answer.
2007-02-08 09:27:27 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋
3 days may not have been long enough to get rid of the Ick. It can only be killed during a certain stage in its lifecycle.
2007-02-08 09:20:05 · answer #4 · answered by meathookcook 6 · 4⤊ 0⤋
alot time they do this just to itch
2007-02-08 09:16:31 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 5⤋