Possible Ich (ick)

Question
QUESTION: i have a 150 gallon fish tank with tropical fish ( 4 angel fish, 2 pacu, 2 tiger Oscars, 3 upside down catfish, and 1 that i do not the name of and is about 12" in length) i recently got the water tested and noticed the nitrates were at 3.0, so i changed the water, cleaned all the decorations aswell. i noticed the next day that the water seemed to be cloudy from moving all the gravel around, so i used the treatment to clear the cloudiness. then i also notice the water so seem to be bubbly and the fish were getting white-ish clear-ish bubbles on them, all over. i used the ich-treatment but i was told to take the carbon filters out so i don't know how long before i can return everything too normal.
please help

ANSWER: Hi Timothy,
The bubbles you are seeing on the fish are likely the trapped gasses/air bubbles you saw in the main aquarium. These can stick to the fish in the aquarium and actually look like ick parasites.

These will dissipate after a day or two. Increasing the aeration in the tank can help speed these process.

I would discontinue the ick treatment. I don't believe your fish are sickly.

Give the tank some time and keep an eye on your fish!

I hope this helps and best of luck!
Susan~


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: hey Susan,
   i apologize for being on edge about this but i enjoy animals and want to make sure there ok. i have the fish along with 2 dog, a cat, and a Guinea pig, and i just want to be safe and healthy. when i turn off my filter, i notice that the "bubbles" tend to look like dust floating all around the water and attaching itself to the inside of the tank and my fish ( gills, fins, eyes, everywhere!!!)  I'm just concerned and curious of what would the best way to treat the bubbles.ive noticed my tiger Oscar and one of my Pacu's becoming lethargic, whether laying at the bottom of the tank or just floating there. i just want to make sure its not a serious issue, what would you recommend for me to do???
         Thank you sooooo Much Susan your a descendent of Poseidon sent to protect the water
         Timmy S.

Answer
Hey Timmy,
I understand, I really enjoy animals of all kinds too! I've had dogs, cats, pet rats, birds, reptiles, rabbits and more! :-)

Sometimes your filter will have an 'air-leak' somewhere in the connections that causes teeny bubbles to be continuously blown about everywhere.

Did you do a complete 100% water chage? Or close to it? The new water will be full of gasses and air and like I mentioned earlier will form tiny bubbles and attach to objects and fish as they are trying to dissipate.

When you had your water tested. Are you sure it wasn't Nitrites instead of Nitrates which were 3.0? Reason I ask is its quite easy to get the two mixed up. Nitrites are a dangerous by-product in the aquarium and can make fish feel sickly. Normally there are plenty of good bacteria in a well-established tank to keep these levels at 0 all the time. However if the aquarium is relatively new, had too thorough a cleaning of surfaces where the good bacteria colonies thrive, or your tap water actually contains nitrites then you may get a reading.

Nitrates, on the other hand, are quite safe and are the final by-product produced by the good bacteria after they have broken down ammonia into nitrite and finally into nitrate. Levels can reach up to 40 without problems but its best to keep it 20 and under. Actually as low as possible would be much appreciated by your fishies.
And of course this is accomplished by doing water changes.

If there is in fact a nitrite reading of 3.0 then that could be the cause for the Pacu and Oscar's lethargic behavior. These big fish (and oscars in particular), are very sensitive to pollutants and changes in the water. As well as environmental changes like rearranging the aquarium decor or moving them into a new tank. Your Oscar and Pacu may be behaving this way from the medication you added to the water recently or even the water clearing chemical.

Have you tried adding one or two good airstones/airpumps to the aquarium to help circulate the water better? Often this will help to get rid of tiny bubbles although if there is indeed an air leak from the filter, it may not help much.

I would get your water tested again as soon as possible to make sure the tank's levels are as follows:
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 20 or less

How often do you usually do water changes?
If it has been a while since doing a big water change this could have been a major shock to the fish and disrupted the whole system causing the cloudiness and all. If a tank receives regular water changes then you most likely won't have an issue.

This is one of those cases where investigative work is need as well as a process of elimination to find the roots of the problem.

If you cannot get the water tested right away, if it were my aquarium-- I'd do another water change and only lightly gravel vacuum, I believe I'd take it down about 50%. The cloudiness in the water simply cannot go away on its own and if there is a nitrite problem, it probably hasn't been remedied yet either. So a water change would be your best bet.

This is also to make sure the chemicals like the medication and water clearing chemical are removed as much as possible.

Take note if your fish are breathing heavily and if they are eating. If yes and no, they are indeed stressed by something in the water.

Let me know how your fish are doing!
I really hope we can figure this out!
Best of luck as always,
Susan~ :-)