My pictus catfish is, i'm almost positive, has ich. Though I don't want to move it from the main tank, can I give it a salt treatment with the other two fish I have in the ten gallon main tank? A Dwarf gourami male and a black kuhli loach. Will it harm them? And how do I heat up a tank or tank it's temp without a fish thermometer or a heater?????
2007-06-12 10:06:57 · 5 answers · asked by lupelaugeher 2 in Pets ➔ Fish
1. when keeping tropicals you really need a heater and thermometer. They aren't expensive so I would really recommend you pick one up. Low temperatures as AJ pointed out are a problem with it comes to ich.
2. Salt alone can kill the ich, but it's not the best way to go. They best is a combination of heat and salt. With the scaleless fish it would be my personal choice of treatment, but you must get a heater for it to work.
3. you only only can but should treat the pictus in the tank with the other fish. You can't see the ich, but it's in the tank water and gravel and will infect the other fish soon if the entire tank is not treated.
I recall you were asking about this last night. Ich spreads and worsens very quickly. You really need to start a treatment ASAP.
MM
2007-06-12 11:05:43 · answer #1 · answered by magicman116 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If your cat has ick chances are the others in the tank are not far behind. Be careful adding ick med. because some cat fish can be sensitive to it. Ask your local pet supply to recommend one that treats all fish. The reason most fish get ick is because the temp fluctuates too much or the obvious you brought one home with it. Either way you need to get the temp up to around 80, turn off your light and add meds as directed. I don't know how you are going to maintain a constant temp without a heater. For a ten gallon a good heater should not cost more that $ 20.00. maybe a friend has one you can borrow? Good luck.
2007-06-12 17:19:02 · answer #2 · answered by mustang 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
One assumes your room temperature remains above 72f day and night, as this is about the minimum these fish require, if not it would suggest this is why your Pictus has become susceptible to white spot. Obviously raising the temp is not going to happen, so you will have to use a proprietary treatment, problem here is you have a Kuhli Loach which are a scaleless fish so you will need a remedy without a dying agent like Iodine, Methylene blue, or Malachite green in them, I know Sterezin and protazin can both be used on Clown loach similar to Kuhli's in they scaleless so you'll need to get something like that.
AJ
2007-06-12 17:23:13 · answer #3 · answered by andyjh_uk 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
a lot of catfish do not do well with salt/ich treatment. with tropical fish, i'm surprised you don't have a heater or thermometer. you NEED a heater and thermometer designed for fish tanks if you want to kep fish. if one fish already has signs of ich, most likely the other fish have it as well. your best bet is to get a hospital/quarantine tank which is used for instances such as this. if you think the other fish do not have ich, do not treat them. treat the fish in the hospital tank and leave him in there for an extra few days to make sure all signs of ich are gone.
2007-06-16 15:41:22 · answer #4 · answered by Kerri 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Leave the sick fish in and add the salt. The other two may have been infected with ich also.
Does your tank have lights on the hood??? Turn it on to turn up the heat. You may need a heater.
2007-06-12 17:19:26 · answer #5 · answered by MusicalHeart 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋