HELP

[shoelevy]

guys, i really need help

white spot broke out 2 weeks ago...initially i tried garlic....no help

then i tried uv....no help....then i turned to cure ich by aquapharm....still no signs of getting better.

i've been faithfully following the dosages and still the white spot doesn't get better and fishes r still dying...i've lost at least 9 fishes....strangely enough...the hardiest of fishes the damsels died but my dartfishes r still doing well....

things todae haf taken for the worse because one of my damsels developed bulging eye....i am really helpless...i've tried everything

i've checked my water parameters by using aquarium pharmaceutical test kit:

ammonia 0

nitrite 0

ph 8.2

i don't think nitrates will stress the fish so i didn't test....anwiae, last i checked 2 weeks ago was 20ppm.

can anione help?

[shoelevy]

haiya....i called sealife and the lady boss said its my method of changing salt tt was the problem....she said i didn't bubble my salt for at least 3 hrs b4 pouring it in....she said when i change water the salt didn't dissolve properly and that causes a buring sensation for the fishes giving them stress

that explains y my medication no use....she said its not a problem with water parameter but the burning of the salt on the fishes... sth called tuberlosis ah

anione can comment on this?

[terryansimon]

if that is the case, my fishes would have been down with ich since day one when I had fishes...if it was due to water changing methods that is.

[shoelevy]

i really don't know...i mean i'm sure both of u haf tonnes of experience and your own opinions i'm sure are both valid

the trouble is i don't know who to beleive....

i didn't add fishes for a month and my water parameters were good throughout so the sudden out break is really puzzling.

i am really confused...those with experience pls come forward to help me!

[eques]

wat do you have in your tank now?

[shoelevy]

3 damsels, a maroon clown, orange spoted blenny and 3 dartfishes.

3 shrimps and 2 snails.

hm....3 corals and a sponge

[eques]

two choice for you but both the shrimp and corals will die from it. first you can lower the salt level to 1.018. second choice for you is to add copper sulphate to your tank . after the white spot have gone you can rise the salt level for the first choice. for the second choice you have to use the cuprisord from seachem to absord the copper. the fish will get white spot usually come from fishes you brought that did not quantine well enough . stress only promote white spot but not produce white spot.

[shoelevy]

thanks....

any other non sacrificial methods u can recommend?

[eques]

no because white spot is a sort of inverts that why all my ideas only affects inverts sorry.

[shoelevy]

hm.

ok

thank you so much

[typrobin]

personally, i dun like chemicals...so i will choose not to add watever ich-medi there is in the market...

wat i do is feed feed and feed...if they are eating, this method will ensure that they get fatter and stronger...

i feed up to 4 times a day...small serving each time to ensure that they will eat and no food will be left on the sand to rot...

if they are on pellets or flakes, it should be sufficiently nutritious...if they feed only BS or mysis or other stuffs, soak with garlic guard 1st, or garlic extreme will be good..

[weileong]

SG st 1.018 is still too high to try to kill the white spots.

You need to lower the SG to 1.009 and keep it there for at least 3 weeks after all the spots are gone from the fish. 6 weeks is much better.

pH crashes easily at those salinity especially when your filtration system is not matured and I guess this is the cause of all your problems with fish dying. Therefore keep the kH at ard 10 will help to stablise the pH.

Sometimes when the fish is too seriously infected by ich, you can try to feed like hell but the ich will take away more than what the fish can eat and end up the fish also up lorry

[minsmarine]

haiya....i called sealife and the lady boss said its my method of changing salt tt was the problem....she said i didn't bubble my salt for at least 3 hrs b4 pouring it in....she said when i change water the salt didn't dissolve properly and that causes a buring sensation for the fishes giving them stress

that explains y my medication no use....she said its not a problem with water parameter but the burning of the salt on the fishes... sth called tuberlosis ah

anione can comment on this?

I don't agree with changing salt casue the problem.

I just change my salt from Italy made one to Topic Marine.

water Not Aged. Just get from the PUB pipe , add salt use hands to mix the salt. Pour to the tank. No chemical added.

95% water change done.

Rescape with lot of distrub to DSB.

I don't lost any fish so far.

So for my case, whoever said can't change the salt, I totlay disagree.

[Clownfish]

ich is veri common in new tanks..... is ur tank new?

1st, do not add in new LS....

2nd, i see u do not have fishes that r easily prone to ich e.g. blue tang.... thus keep feeding gd food (try not to overfeed) n the disease could subside on its own.... may take few months to do it...

3rd, from 2nd point, it seems to me that the diseases came from some kinda stress causing parasites to occur.... is ur tank overstocked previously? nitrate level?... it wld be gd to trace the source of the problem instead of adding more medications

lastly, change water regularly... preferably, 2wks once 20%~25%... siphon the surface of ur sandbed....

[penyu]

Cant we just dip the fishes in fresh water for a few minutes to kill off the white spots. Thats wat I read in one of the marine books at Kinokuniya. Oh ya, the shrimps u keep are not cleaner shrimps? If they are, they usually 'clean' the fishes if there are white spots.

[surfedelic]

Dipping only works for a while after that your fish usu die from shock. You need to do it with caution as the ph and water temp must be the same.

I did that to my pipe fish and boxfish - both didn't make it.

Remove your livestock to a quarantine tank and treat them with copper sulphate - siphon out the top layer of your sand (to remove the eggs) after that let your tank stand alone for a period of time say maybe 3 weeks.

Hope it helps.

[weileong]

If you keep your tank fishless then it needs to be at least 6 weeks.

Copper is toxic to everything just that the fish can withstand higher concentration than the whitespots, therefore i guess copper treatment is out for me.

Using copper in your quarantine tank will also not allow you to quarantine corals in future

Copper is also very unstable in seawater hence you need to monitor the concentration of the copper solution carefully else the concentration will drop and the whitespots will not get killed.

[FuEl]

Cant we just dip the fishes in fresh water for a few minutes to kill off the white spots. Thats wat I read in one of the marine books at Kinokuniya. Oh ya, the shrimps u keep are not cleaner shrimps? If they are, they usually 'clean' the fishes if there are white spots.

No point doing freshwater dips unless you are placing the fish into a different tank later. Putting it back into the same parasite infested tank will only lead to it getting ich again. And cleaner shrimps do not eat white spot..they only help clean the wound of necrotic tissue to prevent secondary infections.

[Archilles19]

I think the best method is not to use any medication unless you're willing to chase & catch the fish then later put in a quarentin tank.

I had the same problem before later find out it was due to bd circulation & bad return volume of clean water to & from the sump.

My blue tang had the spots but since its eating well. it survive till today....not good news for my koran & 2 halfmoon angle though

Try check equipment.....return volume...circulation. Try to deter from using any meds. It affected some of my corals too.

[shoelevy]

ich is veri common in new tanks..... is ur tank new?

1st, do not add in new LS....

2nd, i see u do not have fishes that r easily prone to ich e.g. blue tang.... thus keep feeding gd food (try not to overfeed) n the disease could subside on its own.... may take few months to do it...

3rd, from 2nd point, it seems to me that the diseases came from some kinda stress causing parasites to occur.... is ur tank overstocked previously? nitrate level?... it wld be gd to trace the source of the problem instead of adding more medications

lastly, change water regularly... preferably, 2wks once 20%~25%... siphon the surface of ur sandbed....

ya...my tank is new...only 2 mths

i admit i did stock it up pretty fast....like 20 fish in 2 weeks?

then i didn't add for 3-4weeks and suddenly parasites.

this i think is the main suspect for the cause

wat kinda of good food r u refering to?

garlic, vitamins?

[shoelevy]

Cant we just dip the fishes in fresh water for a few minutes to kill off the white spots. Thats wat I read in one of the marine books at Kinokuniya. Oh ya, the shrimps u keep are not cleaner shrimps? If they are, they usually 'clean' the fishes if there are white spots.

i did witness my shrimps cleaning the fishes but i guess it wasn't enough

[shoelevy]

I think the best method is not to use any medication unless you're willing to chase & catch the fish then later put in a quarentin tank.

I had the same problem before later find out it was due to bd circulation & bad return volume of clean water to & from the sump.

My blue tang had the spots but since its eating well. it survive till today....not good news for my koran & 2 halfmoon angle though

Try check equipment.....return volume...circulation. Try to deter from using any meds. It affected some of my corals too.

i'm currently using weipro 4000 pump on a 250L tank....it boasts about 3000L/hr but after i test, its about 2000L/Hr.

plus i have an eden 224 inside pumping water at 1000L/hr.

do u think its enough circulation?

regarding my sump, it only has coral chips and wool and skmimer and uv inside

[XPeriment 626]

20 fish in 2 weeks is really too fast IMHO. Your fish will almost certainly be very stressed and all it takes is one fish who is not so well adjusted and one fish to be carrying ich and you will have outbreak immediately.

What do you mean UV in sump? A light shining on the water or a UV sterilizer unit that water passes through? Only the latter (and a good model) will be effective in killing parasites.

It definitely helps to reduce lighting hours. I have heard of people who do complete tank blackout for several days except for feeding. This not only gives the fish time to rest and fight the infection, but it has been documented that the ich parasite is much more active and effective in locating and attacking a fish host when there is light. So enforce a no-lights regime for several days and your fish should do better in fighting the ich.

[shoelevy]

wah

heng man....ich gone....i know it doesn't mean its ich free but my fishes now ok leaw.

no more white spots on their body...

i did everything...garlic, blackout 48hrs and uv.

thanks for all the advice guys.

verdict, stock up too fast and never let salt dissolve.

thanks!