Hi There -
My goldfish where fine until someone accidentally dropped the "scraper" into the tank and forgot about it. This scraper has a metal razor on the end and I believe it rusted a little in the tank. As soon as I found out I moved my fish to another tank with fresh water, however they are still not looking to good. They have developed white spots on their fins - I believe this is ick. I did add some salt to the new tank I put them in and I am going to pick up some ick treatment tomorrow when the stores open. Is there anything else I can do?
Thank you for your help.
Doug.
Stay away from meds unless it is absolutely necessary. Ick can be very easily treated strictly with salt.
Dose with salt, ensure the rest of your water chemistry is okay, and watch the fish.
If the ick fails to continue spreading, regular water changes along with salt will fix the problem.
If you find the ick continuing to get worse, or the fish start behaving differently (not eating, cowering, etc.) then consider medication.
My son's black moor developed ick shortly after we brought him home from the LFS. A week of salt treatment, and he's been fine ever since.
P.S. Stores in Quebec are open today if you feel you need emergency supplies.
I would agree with this advice as long as the ick hasn't gone too far..salt cures mild ick nicely but severe cases are a bit different
Excellent - thank you gang! I'll continue monitoring the fishies and change the water. Is there a certain amount of salt I should be applying? Also, do you know if there is a kit that contains all the tests I would require for well water? E.g. (PH, etc.)
Thank you!
Doug, goldfish can take quite a bit more salt than tropical fish. The recced dose for Goldies is 3 TBSP per 5 gallons of water. GRADUALLY add this by dissolving 1/3 the total dose in some dechlored water, and add slowly to the tank. 4 hours later, repeat. 4 hours later, repeat for the final time. If you top off the tank, do NOT add more salt, as it doesn't evaporate. However, if you do waterchanges, you need to add back the salt that you removed with the waterchange.
I honestly doubt it was the steel blade that caused this. More likely "new tank syndrome" if the tank is less than a month old.
A good test kit is Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Master Test Kit, which has pH, High pH, KH (carbonate hardness), GH (general hardness) Ammonia and nitrITE. Eventually you will want to get a nitrATE test kit as well. Hagen's Master Test has all you would ever think you could test for, but is way more money.
HTH
i also recommend Aquarium Pharma products over Hagen proucts (personal preference)
why do you think they are trying to change the brand name of most of their products to _______?
We also had good success with ridding our tetras of ick by raising the water temperature to about 84F. I know goldfish prefer cooler water, but our (plain feeder) goldfish are now 3.5" and *thrived* in our little pond last summer, where the water easily got up to 80F in the sun, so I assume they can stand the heat, and ick doesn't like those temps.
yeah goldfish tend to grow faster in warmer waters..one reason they can grow 3+" in a pond enviorment every summer
i actually disagree with increasing water temps to help cure ich. From wha t i understand this does not itslef cure ich - they are quite happy even at 90F - all it does increase the speed of the lifecycle.
Now this may be good since you can decrease the cycle by a day or two, but at the same time you are increasing the stress of the fish that needs all the help it can get. This is especially the case for coldwater fishes like goldfish.