what is wrong with my fish??

Question

i am treating my fish with quick cure because they had white spots all over their body. the problem is that they arn't getting any better, in fact they are getting worse. the fish that didn't have it earlier now have it. i am afraid that the fish that didn't already die will soon die. what should i do??

Answer 1

Quick Cure is normally a very effective cure for ich. I would point out that you need to remove the carbon from your filter or the carbon will remove the medication too quickly for it to work. You can also raise the temperature of the tank to 85-86F to speed the cure. At this temperature you will probably need to add an air stone for additional water flow.

Ick often gets a bit worse before it gets better. If you have only been treating for a day or two, don't let up, it will take that long before you start to see any results at all. Ich often takes 2-3 weeks to cure. You should treat for at least 5-7 days after you have seen the last white spot on the fish.

If you have treated for more than 7 days and see it getting worse you will need to consider another treatment method such as the salt and heat method. If you are not familiar with that method, please email me a list of fish in your tank and I can help you with a proper level of salt and a proper temperature to use.

Based on some of the other answers you have gotten, here's a list of "don'ts" for you

DON'T treat with one of those broad treatments that say they treat everything. They simply don't work well at all.

DON'T remove the fish from the tank. Ich is in the water and the entire tank must be treated.

DON'T take the fish to a vet. No need, you know the problem and the cure. Further the stress of being moved around could easily kill them.

There is a lot of misunderstanding about ich and how to treat it.

Hope this helps.

MM

Answer 2

Sounds like Itch . Obviously quick cure is not the answer.
Drain half the water and replace it with fresh water. If you can separate the sick fish do it place them in a smaller container and treat them separately. If you lose all your fish or are down to a few place the healthy fish in a new tank temporarily while you drain the regular tank and sterilize it then begin again . Depending on what kind of fish you have some are much more susceptible to these diseases. Are the white spots hairy like? wormy like? talk to a good fish keeper. or an experienced one. Alot of the pet shops are not always that well educated in these things Also Get your self a good book that talks about the diseases your fish might face in their life time. A good book. may cost a little more but if it really is any good it will get into illness and treatments.

Answer 3

The first thing you should do is start with a big water change (50%). Monitor your water chemistry, keep your nitrates under 30 ppm, hopefully your nitrites & ammonia are at 0 ppm.

What kind of white spots? are they tiny specks like grains of salt? or are they bigger & fuzzy looking? Tiny granular white spots are ich, fuzzy looking spots are fungus.

Here is a good article on what ich is & how to treat it... http://www.thekrib.com/Diseases/ich.html

If it is fungus, you could use cupric sulfate as long as you dont have any snails or clams in the tank. Be sure to remove any carbon from your filter it will remove the copper based medicine. Or you could go with an anti-biotic such as melefix which is basically tee tree oil (maleuca), or maracyn 2. Be sure & follow the instructions on the bottle/box. If it's possible to set up a hospital tank, you should. This will preserve your bacterial colonies. esp if using an anti-biotic like maracyn2 and melefix.

Answer 4

It sounds like your fish has ick, You must get ick medication in the water as fast as possible. If you haven't already done so add the appropriate amount of salt into your tank (the box will tell you). The sad fact is that your fish may not survive. Ick is extremely contagious and often ends up in death.
Did you remove your carbon? there have been many people who have come to me for fish emergencies who have treated their tank but left the carbon in. The carbon in your filter will remove most medications from the water.

Answer 5

Oh my gosh! Alot of my previous goldfish had the same problem its called ICK, a fish disease with flaky white material appering on your fish... what i did with my other fish was... nothing and I very much regret it, most of the fish WITH the disease died overnight but however it never spread to the other fish in the tank... however I'm sure your local pet store will be able to help you with this! Ive herd there are medicines to cure this illness, try www.kokosgoldfish.com they have great info on this stuff! Bye!

Answer 6

Well my fish had the same problem and it is called Ick. While we put Ick cure for about everyday for 5 days, we THOUGHT the fish weren't getting better and it did spread to some other fish but was eventually cured. If you said how long has your fish had Ick, people could provide you with more information. If you need professional help register with tetra-care and they will provide you with detailed information.

Answer 7

Use a fungal/ parasite/ bacterial med at 11/4 times the regular dosage(i/4 more) did you remove the carbon make sure you removed =chemical filter medias

Answer 8

Call a vet, or go to a pet store and ask them whats going on, and what you can treat it with. it may be ick but it would look like the scales are falling off the fish. Thats what happened to mine when they died.

Answer 9

i tink they may have ich, a common diseasewhere white spots appear on the fish. put it in a speparate tank.

Answer 10

your fish have ICK what you should do now is move them to another Tank a holding tank and Treat them there away from the other fish