Ick?!

Question
QUESTION: Hello, could you please tell me if I am doing the right thing? My 2 pearlscales (around a year old) have little white spots on their fins and tails but they seem pretty happy. Also 2 of my normal goldfish have been scraping themselves against the gravel. I bought JUNGLES ICK CLEANING in fear of Ick. Have I done the right thing?

ANSWER: Dear Jon,
With the ick medication, everything should be fine. I've never used Jungle brand Ich medication but I have used Quick cure before and Mardel's Maracide. There is a relatively new medication called "ICK ATTACK" which is a really safe medication. Be sure to treat for the whole recommended treatment even if spots dissappear. It really helps to gravel vacuum and try to change 50% of the water everyday if you can, medications say not to, but it wont hurt and all you do is just redose after doing the water change. Most medications begin to break down after a day or so in your aquarium. Not only does this eliminate excess parasites in the tank, but it also relieves stress on your fish.

Please visit this link for a good picture of a fancy goldfish ich and more info on treating these parasites.

         http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/Ich.html

I think you are doing right so far, just check this link above...

Best of luck!
Karen~



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

QUESTION: Hello, thank you for the tips. Is there a way to determine when all the ick is gone? My fish like to hide behind plants so it is hard to see them for more then a few seconds to examine them completely! Also one of the goldfishes health is falling, normally a lively fish it sits at the back of the tank quietly and with clamped fins. What do I do with it? Once again thanks for the help:)
ANSWER: Hi Jon,
I don't think there really is a way to know that ick is gone. It is recommended that you treat for several extra days after the last signs of ick disappears just to make sure to got rid of all of it. So just follow the general guidelines of a treatment period and then make sure to continue treating for a few days thereafter just to make sure. Then to get rid of the medication in the water, do several large water changes and add carbon back into your filter.
It's pretty normal for fish to want to hide behind plants when they aren't feeling well. Just do the best you can, if you can lure them out with food then try that also.

Now with the goldfish, suddenly going listless with clamped fins can indicate the first symptoms of a disease or often even more common is water quality issues. Whenever you see your fish suddenly change their behavior like that, just as a precaution always make sure to do a water change and thorough gravel vacuum. Goldfish are big polluters and they can easily turn their tank very dirty in a short time. Try a 50% water change or two, repeat it for several days and see if he gets better.

I hope you can get your ICK problem under control, ick is one of the easiest fish diseases to treat if caught early, and most fish recover from it just fine.

Best of luck!!
Karen~

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

QUESTION: Hello, once again thank you for the tips. My goldfish I told you about died the next day. Thanks for the help anyway. Anyway the next two days two of my Black Moors have followed suit and died. I change 25% of the water everyday. What am I doing wrong, they looked fine then they suddenly died. will my other fish die as well, if so how do I avoid this.

Answer
Hi Jon,
I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of all three goldfish...
My best bet is probably water quality problems. Probably ammonia spikes from the medication usage (Destroys the beneficial bacteria) Or they may have even had an heavy ick infestation in their gills. Usually there is almost always a water quality problem or disease problem when fish loss is so sudden.
But then again, sometimes with our best efforts we still lose fish.
If you could test your water that would be great. We really need to know your Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels. Liquid test kits from your petstore are most accurate and easiest to read. Knowing these levels would really help.

But the best thing I can recommend is continue doing large water changes as frequent as possible to keep the other fish comfortable and their water clean. Ideally 50% everyday is best. I know you mentioned doing 25% everyday which that is good, but it probably isn't the best for a goldfish tank. While it might work for tetras or other small fish, goldfish produce a great amount of waste for their size and if the ammonia levels were high, even a 25% water change wouldn't even put a dent in it. So that's why I recommend the much larger 50-75% water changes. Do your goldfish show any other symptoms?

I really hope this helps and Best of luck with everything!
Karen~