I bought new fish in my perfectly good tank that already contained about 7 fishes, now suddenly there are parasites, and 1 fish died, 1fry died, 1 is having gill problems, and 1 other one is almost dying. What should I do?
2007-02-22 10:53:56 · 4 answers · asked by Tiffany 2 in Pets ➔ Fish
Well, CAN all of them die?... yes... WILL all of them die.. that depends. You didn't say what parasite you have or why you are thinking parasites but the majority of parasites will respond well to the following treatment.
Do a 50% water change while carefully cleaning the gravel.
Remove the carbon from your filter.
Raise the temperature in the tank to about 88F. You may need to apply extra air depending on the fish and the stock level of the tank.
Add 2 tablespoons of salt per 5 gallons of your tank.
Treat the tank with any parasite or ick medication that has Malachite Green as an active ingredient for at least 10 days, 14 is even better.
Any fish I bring into my tank room gets this treatment before it goes into a permenant tank. Of course, there are fish for which the treatment must be changed slightly, but the point is to treat for parasites before adding to your tanks. It also gives time to observe the fish for other problems.
Hope this helps
MM
2007-02-22 13:08:32 · answer #1 · answered by magicman116 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, if you have a parasite where you didn't have one before, you probably bought the fish with the parasite. That's why aquarists suggest putting new fish into a quarantine tank prior to adding them to the regular tank. As you haven't specified what kind of parasite you think you have, all I can say is a general response that you will need to get some medication that kills parasites and administer it according to directions. Also, you didn't mention the size of your tank. While it is pretty clear that you bought the fish with parasites, there also is the possibility that the fish are getting sick from overcrowding, thus throwing off the water quality. Hope you can save your fish before any more die!
2007-02-22 11:04:04 · answer #2 · answered by Venice Girl 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
go to thatpetplace.com and e-mail them. they were very helpful and quick to get back to me. they have 6 marine biologists working there. sounds like you either shocked your tank with too many new fish or the place you bought your fish from had some parasites in their tank.
2007-02-22 11:05:55 · answer #3 · answered by Carol H 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you should quarentine for 6-8 weeks
2007-02-22 11:15:00 · answer #4 · answered by bzzflygirl 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋