My fish are acting crazy and they have ick!!?

Question

I have had my Betta for about 3 months and recently added 3 platys and a placostumus cat. They have been in there for about 3 weeks and have acted fine up until 3 days ago. The Betta hides in small places and will not eat. The platys stay at the bottom and shake from left to right really fast. I have checked the ph and everything looks good. Yesterday I seen where 1 of the platys and the fins on the Betta have ick. Also, the fabric plants on the rocks are growing mold. I don't think it's algae. I took them out and are now soaking them in a little bit of bleach water. I just don't know what to do. I think adding the platys caused this, because my Betta was so happy before this. Oh, I have a 10 gallon. Can you give me some advise. Thanks!

Answer 1

are they cold? usually ich outbreaks are from fish getting cold. i think you have to remove the pleco to treat the rest -- they are sensitive to ich treatments. i double up on aquarium salt at 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons and any med that has malachite green and formalin.

i would do water changes every couple of days of about 25% of the water too -- freshening up the water could help. ich lives in the gravel so frequent gravel vacs will help a lot.

Answer 2

That's why it is so important to quarentine new fish before adding them to the main tank.

If the plants are growing mold, that is a sign of overfeeding and/or not enough tank maintenance. Make sure you change 20-50% of the water and gravel vacuum every week. Also make sure you are not feeding too much.

As for the ick, treat it with aquarium salt or table salt. Start with 1 tbs per gallon, wait 3 days. If symptoms do not clear in that time, add 1 more tbs per gallon. Continue this until symptoms start to clear, then stop adding salt. Do not exceede 5 tbs per gallon. 1 week after symptoms are totally gone, you can begin to remove the salt. Do this with 8-10 small(5-10%) water changes, once every 2 days. Do not change a large amount of water because the sudden decrease in salt may kill your fish.

Answer 3

NO BLEACH!!....sorry for yelling. Bleach is a bad idea. Hot water is the best way to clean plastic plants and rocks. As for the ick, obtain some nox-ick from your local fish store and raise the temp in your tank slightly-not to high, just slightly, this will help cure the ick. Recent additions should be quarantined before introducing them to your tank. This isn't always possible, you may only have one tank----so before you medicate your tank remove the carbon from your filter (carbon will neutralize most meds) and follow the instructions carefully...........Good luck!

Answer 4

One or all of the fish you added were infected and the water temp may be too low, as to mold too much light, turn off overnight.

Answer 5

First understand and try to diagnose what you have exactly. Remove any carbon filters from your tank prior to treating.

Here's help.
Is it white spot disease or is it Ich? You need to know the difference between the two since they are treated differently.

Cryptocaryoniasis, White Spot Disease or Marine Ich is caused by an infestation of the ciliated protozoan Cryptocaryon irritans. Although Cryptocaryon becomes a parasitic organism at one stage in its life cycle like Oodinium and Brooklynella do, and it progesses less rapidly than these other ich diseases, in a closed aquarium system it can reach overwhelming and disasterous numbers just the same if it is not diagnosed and treated upon recognition.

Unlike Oodinium and Brooklynella that typically attack the gills first, which allows these ich diseases to advance into life-threatening levels quickly as they go unnoticed, Cryptocaryon usually appears at the onset as salt-sized white spots visible on the body and fins of a host fish, and when the organisms become parasitic, it is then that they move inwards to the gills. Because crypto is more easily recognized in its beginning stage, this makes it much easier to treat and cure before it gets out of control.

Aside from the appearance of the white spots, fish will scratch against objects in an attempt to dislodge the parasites, and rapid respiration develops as tomonts, mucus, and tissue debris clogs the gills. Fish become listless, refuse to eat, loss of color occurs in patches or blotches as the trophonts destroy the pigment cells, and secondary bacterial infections invade the lesions caused by the trophonts.

Although copper is very effective on Oodinium, and it works well to eliminate crypto organisms in their free-swimming tomite stage, it is not as effective on the Cryptocaryon trophonts that burrow deeply into the tissues of fish. A combination of freshwater and formalin treatments adminstered by means of dips, baths, and prolonged treatment over a period of time in a QT is recommended

Reinfection will occur no matter how effectively the fish have been treated if Cryptocaryon is not eradicated from the main aquarium, which can be accomplished by keeping the tank devoid of any fish for at least 4 weeks. For fish-only aquariums hyposalinity can be applied, and to speed up the life cycle of the organisms, elevate the tank temperature to 85 degrees for 10 days to 12 days. For treating reef tanks, FishVet No-Ich Marine, Ruby Reef Kick-Ich, and Chem-Marin Stop Parasites are Cryptocaryon specific remedies that are said to be "reef safe". Several days prior to returning fish to the main aquarium, clean all filtering equipment, change any filtering materials, and do a water change.

Remember to remove all filters media and turn off protein skimmers when treating for any types of Ich.

Although many over-the-counter remedies contain the general name Ich or Ick, carefully read the product information to be sure it is designed to specifically target and treat "Cryptocaryon"

Brooklynella hostilis - these protozoa reproduce asexually by means of simple binary fission through conjugation, which is why they are able to multiply so much more rapidly than Cryptocaryon (White Spot), and Oodinium (Velvet Ich), and why it can kill fish within a few days and even hours upon recognition

Most similar symptomatically to Oodinium, this too is a parasite that primarily attacks the gills first. At the onset fish may scrap up against objects, rapid respiration develops, and fish often gasp for air at the surface as the gills become clogged with mucus. Fish become lethargic, refuse to eat, and colors fade, but the most noticeable difference that sets Brooklynella apart from Oodinium is the heavy amount of slime that is produced. As the disease progresses a thick whitish mucus covers the body, usually starting at the head and spreading outward, skin lesions appear, and it is not uncommon for signs of secondary bacterial infections to arise.

Suggestions range from copper, malachite green and other remedies, with some recommended being used in conjunction with formaldehyde. However the general consensus is these types of medications are either largely ineffective or do not work at all, and that the best and most effective treatment for Brooklynella is formaldehyde alone. Typically a standard 37% formalin solution (shop & compare prices) is mixed with either fresh or saltwater in a separate treatment container, initially all fish are given a quick dip or a prolonged bath, followed by continued treatment and care in a QT. Of course the longer fish are exposed to the formalin treatment, the more effective it will be at eliminating this "disease". Whether to administer a dip or a bath to start with is something you will have to determine yourself, but there's a very simple way to do this.

Since these are Free swimming parasites which are in watersources, come attached to our fish etc. The only way to ensure NO ICH is to get a UV Sterilizer and addit to the tank. The UV Sterilizer kills the free swimming forms of various ich and other parasites.

Hope this helps