having parasite trouble with goldfish

Question
QUESTION: Dear Renee,

Thank you for making yourself available! I have a 50-gallon aquarium with goldfish, I currently have 7 small-medium sized goldfish. (I know this is a lot of fish, especially once they grow, but I keep up with water changes and frequently check the water parameters; so far the readings regularly say conditions are ideal. I also feed them minimally) They are kept at room temperature which has been in the 60s lately. But I am very worried that there is something in the water that I cannot see- the fish sometimes have their fins clamped, I say sometimes because when I am around them they cheer up and act normal. But when I watch them from far they look distressed; also, several of the fish, especially the biggest one, throw themselves on the gravel and rub against the plants; they also flick their top fin, as if something itches them. I have seen small white spots on *two* of the fish, which disappear and then return, so I thought the tank had ick, but I have used quick cure two separate times and it does not get rid of the problem; what is worse, when I use it, my fish begin to get red streaks on their fins. I also added salt to the aquarium about two weeks ago, in an attempt to help. Later, when the white spots reappeared, I noticed that this time they looked "longer" than before, almost like tiny worms; so I guess it wasn't ick. But I have not seen any visible parasites on most of the fish, even some with no visible parasites scratch themselves; in fact, at this time only *one* of the fish show any white spots, on her fins. I do not know what parasite I am dealing with and am limited in aquarium supplies, the only store that sells fish supplies here is Wal Mart. I've been dealing with this on and off for weeks and have looked for information on the internet but haven't found a description that I think matches; Please help if you can... My fish don't look like they're at the death point yet but I really don't want to lose them.

Thank you

ANSWER: Hi Dee,

It could be a combination of 2 parasitic attacks.

I would add 3 teaspoons of salt per gallon to the tank, and I'd raise the heat to 75 degreesF.

60 is low, so that is why their fins are clamped.  Raise the heat (after they are cured) to 65 please.

3 teaspoons of marine salt, dissolved, per gallon will kill parasites.  BUT if they do not perish after four days or so, then please consider buying a product called PraziPro.  It will kill the parasites for certain.

Once the fish are okay (in about 3 days), then begin cycling the salted water out at a rate of 25% every 3 days, through water changes.

So, again, here is a clear, concise list of my advice:

1. Add 3 teaspoons of salt per gallon to the aquarium.  Make sure it's dissolved and only use Marine Salt, meant for saltwater aquariums, please.

2. Raise your temperature to 75 during the treatment of the parasites.  Lower it to 65 when finished (slowly, not all at one time, to prevent shocking the fish), and maintain it no lower than 65 please.

3. 3 days after treatment, begin water changes every 3 days.  Change out 25% of the water for 5 consecutive 3-day intervals.  That means, for about two weeks, every 3 days, change out 25% of the water until the salt and medication has cycled out of the aquarium.

4. If the salt does not work and this does not work, try PraziPro and treat according to the bottle's directions.  However, let it be noted, the salt should be sufficient against ich and any external parasite.  I don't know of many freshwater parasites that can survive in salted water.

I hope this helps you out and please feel free to return with any followup questions you should have.  

:)

If my answer was professional, clear, concise and friendly, please let me know by rating me for my voluntary expertise.

Happy fish-keeping!

Renee

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

QUESTION: Hello Renee,
I have had the full amount of salt in the aquarium for four days now; I didn't add it all the same day though. I added it over two or three days, because I wasn't sure if adding it all at once would shock my fish. I hope this was ok.. And I raised the temperature as asked. The fish do indeed look much better, except for one thing: The largest of the fish still looks "itchy". Every now and then (not often) he seems to go wild and throws himself against the walls, gravel, plants; and when he does that, his dorsal fin flicks rapidly, like if he had what they call a "tick". It looks like he's irritated at those times; then he usually goes to the gravel and picks it up and spits it out several times. Otherwise, he looks the happiest of the bunch, and I don't see any visible parasites on any of the fish. Do I need to order PraziPro and apply it to the whole tank? Or treat him separately? Or after reading this do you have any other recommendations?

Something else that might be of note: I can see something that looks like a very fine layer of what looks to me like "scum" on the tail fins of the two largest fish. It's hard to describe except it looks like I could rub it off if I rubbed their fins; I have no idea if this is just how their tails look naturally, I had not seen it before. Or is it because of the salt in the water? Do they naturally form a slime coat on their tails or just their body? (None of the fish have their tails wearing away as in fin rot)

Thank you so much for your help, it is greatly appreciated..

Answer
Hello again Dee,

It's often frustrating that it sometimes takes awhile for Ich to hatch.

What happens with the parasite lifecycle will explain why that particular fish still has the parasites.

The white dust, "scum", is indeed indicative of ich.  It is ich.

Ich comes to the aquarium, usually, with petstore water or a sick fish.

What comes with them can come in 2 forms.  The first stage is the free-swimming stage.  This is the stage where the larvae are free-swimming.  They swim freely and find a host to live in.

But, before the free-swimming stage, they are larval, living inside the host.  Each of the little white dots is a piece of lifted skin where the parasite burrowed.

It lives in there and then enters water through that pimple, and the unfortunate thing is the salt cannot kill it while it is living under the skin.

The best thing we can do to ensure the full treatment of ich is to wait til that stage of the lifecycle has passed, the ich pops into the water, begins freeswimming and the salt kills it.

However, if the temperature is not high enough, (75 is not high enough...ich cycle faster in 80 to 85 degree water), then the cycle ends in 48 to 72 hours.  If it's only what your tank is at now, it may take much longer.  Perhaps a week, to break loose, become free-swimming and then to die.

So, what's happened is because you have goldfish, I have taken their temperature requirements into account when asking you to raise their temp to 75, however Ich mature and cycle much slower at the lower temps.  Goldfish cannot handle 80 degrees and it's really not recommended for them.  You might go up to 78 in hopes of speeding things along, but to keep them comfy, I truly don't recommend that.

The other issue is the administration of salt over 3 days probably has not given the treatment enough time as well.  So, let's go another four or so days to see what happens.

If your fish begin showing signs of stress, do a partial water change of 10% replacing it with water that has no salt, only I do suspect they will be just fine for the next four days or so, as I've salted my goldies far saltier in an emergency infestation, and had them survive just fine.

Meantime, keep the oxygen levels up in the tank, go ahead and raise heat to 78 and let's hope that the now full dose finally does its job.:)

Give it some more time and feel free to write back if there's a need.

:)

Happy fish-keeping.

Renee