Medicating Fish

Question
QUESTION: Hi, there -

I'm a new fish keeper and have a few questions on how to treat sick fish...

I have a 20 gallon tank with 1-guppy, 2-platys, 1-red eye tetra, 1-betta, 1-pleco, and 1-upside down catfish. All water params are okay now and water quality is good.
The problem is - half of my fish are infected with something:
Betta - has fin rot, almost half of his tail is gone
Platys - their top fins are almost entirely red, red streaks in tail, red gills
Guppy - white salt-like spots near tail (ich), mouth rot, red gills
All fish are still eating and swimming around in the tank.

I haven't added any medications yet because I don't know what to add.

I have started treating the Ich "naturally" by raising the temp up to 89F and adding aquarium salt. I will keep the temp at 89F for 4 days, then lower it to 86F for 6 days, then back to normal temp. I am doing 25% water change each day during this treatment for Ich.

I have bought several medications to treat the other problems with my fish, but I don't know what med to use for what problem, what med is the best to use and what med can/should be mixed with others.
The meds I have are:
Tetracycline
Furan 2
Kanaplex
Neoplex
Maracyn II
Can you please tell me what to use to make my fish healthy again???

As a final note - I do know that many of my fish are schooling fish and that I need more of each. However, I do not want to add any more fish to my tank until I have cured the problems with the current fish. Once that is done - I fully intend to get my fish some friends :)

Thank you so much for your help!   
  


ANSWER: Hi Barb:  What an interesting array of disease... What I would do is keep the temperature program as you have it... add aquarium salt to the water and treat the whole lot with tetracycline.  You are going to want to make sure that the tank and the gravel are spotless clean.  If you do not have a gravel vacuum then you will need to invest in one... they are about $12 at the local aquarium.  The most important investment you can put into your fish is a clean environment and that investment is paid for in time.  The second most important investment for your fish is nutrition...healthy fish do not usually get sick.  When this pandemic is over... please let me know and I will assist you in getting new fish for your tank.  in the mean time... please keep me posted... dave

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

QUESTION: Hi, Dave -
Thanks so much for your very quick reply! Hopefully you can help me again....

I have done as you suggested and am sticking to my temperature program. I have also started treating the entire tank with tetracycline - I am now on Day 2.

The water in my tank has turned red and there is white foam gathering at the top. Is this normal?

In addition to the earlier symptoms that I described in my fish, they are now much less active and are hiding behind objects at the bottom of the tank. They are still eating, though. Is this normal behaviour when being medicated?

There is zero improvement in the original symptoms of my fish. When should I expect to see some improvement?

The directions for the tetracycline state that a treatment is 4 days and may be repeated if necessary. If I see no improvement at the end of the four days, should I repeat the treatment? How many times should I repeat it? Or should I try another one of the meds I bought? Or is it that a treatment is done to kill the bacteria, then the fish heal and you see improvements after the healing process is complete?

Sorry for all of the questions, but I've only been at this for a couple of months and am still figuring things out :)

With respect to the cleanliness of my tank, I have been extremely diligent in cleaning it. 10-15% water changes every 2-4 days and a new filter every 3-4 weeks. I even took out all of the ornaments a couple of weeks ago, scrubbed them all clean and replaced the gravel. I had not been vacuuming the gravel - but I don't think it was very dirty because I had only had the tank for 2 months at that time. I have now bought a gravel vacuum and will use it. I suspect that the fish were already sick when I bought them from the LFS as the tanks there were not clean at all...

Again - thank you so much for your help!

ANSWER: Hi Barb:  it takes a few days before they start to perk up... Fish get stressed very easily and that leads to illness... Living conditions contribute illness as well.  I am in California and we have been getting a lot of sick fish from our suppliers and we are very diligent in cleaning and caring for the fish... but the number of sick fish has been abnormal.  At one point we had about 10% of our tanks on isolation and not for sale.  Clean the gravel well because you'd be surprised how fast it gets dirty.  If you do not see any improvement in the fish by the end of the fourth day... let me know and we can re-evaluate the situation... dave

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

QUESTION: Hi, Dave -
Unfortunateky, things are not looking so good...

I have now finished the tetracycline treatment, changed 25% of the water and put a new filter in with activated carbon to remove the meds... I also vacuumed the gravel today...

The ich appears to be gone (yeah!), but there is absolutely no other improvement in the sick fish and some have, in fact, gotten worse... Another one is infected.... And all have stopped eating and will not come out from behind the log at the back of the tank.... So -
Betta - still has fin rot w/ half it's tail missing
Plattys - still have very red gills, entire top fin is red, and red streaks in the tails
Guppy - still has mouth rot and now has gills that stick out with no redness
Red Eye Tetra - now has gills that are sticking out with no redness and is swimming with a right lean

I still have the following meds on-hand:
Furan 2
Kanaplex
Neoplex
Maracyn
Maracyn II

What can I do? Try a different course of meds? Or do 100% water change and tank clean? Your suggestions are greatly appreciated!!!  

Answer
Hi Barb: its good news the ich is gone... try a 30-40 percent water change now, add the aquarium salt to the new water and let the tank cycle for a day.  After a day I would switch to the Furan 2.  That should clear up the rest of the diseases.  Also after your tank cycles for the day... the fish should feel a bit better... make sure if they start to eat that they are getting good food... live brine shrimp work well in addition to their flake food... keep me posted