I've made a huge mistake...

[xerxeswasachump]

OK, so i saw a post on the site somewhere about a Petco $5 for 5 neons deal. I thought, "groovy! I could use some more neons." So i got 5 from petco and, since i don't have a cycled quarantine quite yet, i put them all in my big tank. I left to go get some dinner after i put the neons in. When i cam back i was checking out my new, bigger, school, when i noticed very very tiny white dots on the dorsal and tail fins of two of the new neons!!! IIIICCCCKKK!!!!

So, anyway, i've never had to deal with a real disease before other than swim bladder problems. I ran to my favorite LFS and asked them for help (i then noticed that they ALWAYS sell neons for $.99 and 5 for $4, d'oh!). The manager told me to raise the temperature to 84 degrees (it was at 82, it has been really hot in my house). Unfortunately, my heater doesn't have a temperature gauge, but i do have a thermometer, so i cranked the heater up a bit. I haven't been home since around 9pm yesterday. When i left the tank was slowly heating up, i threw in a small handfull of salt for good measure before i left.

Ok, time for my real problem. I have a spiny eel. He is a scaleless fish. Does that make him extra sensitive to ich? I know it makes him much harder to medicate, but what does that really mean? I dug up a little bottle of rid-ick. Should i start dosing? Is it gonna hurt my biological filter? If i can find a cycled filter, should i move all of the neons to a 10 gallon QT tank? Or would it be too late?

I have already been having some problems with the eel and i would like to keep him alive if possible.

[JustOneMore20]

Start dosing the Rid-Ich at half strength (only use half the recommended dose). That way it won't be as hurtful to your eel. If you are worried about him, then I would search for some scaleless fish safe meds. I have used Ich-Attack (by Kordon). It is all natural and safe to use at full dose for scaleless fish (i've used it with loaches and cories). Also, Kent's Marine RX-P (saltwater med, totally safe for FW) is great. It is safe for scaleless fish and has even been used on Discus fry (shows how safe it is). You could probably find it at a place that sells alot of SW stuff (that's where I found mine).

Keep the temp up...around 84 is best. Dose the meds for the length of time recommended on the bottle...then do a small water change (like 20%) and dose for atleast a week after you see the last spot gone. That kills the free swimming ich.

Don't freak out...ich is curable.

edit: Its Ich-Attack..not away. Sorry...I was at work (couldn't see the bottle)!

[fish_doc]

Dont forget to take any charcol out of your filter if you have any in there. Otherwise it will just suck the meds out of the water.

[MaryPa]

Always Quarantine, you can use a Rubbermaid container with a sponge filter in it. Just be sure to quarantine all new fish.

[xerxeswasachump]

I would have quarantined but i just don't have another cycled filter available yet. I'm working on that though.

Anyway, i checked on my tank last night and saw the two neons with the ick floating around dead. I fished them out, but i am sure the ich is spreading. I'm having a lot of trouble getting my tank up to 84 degrees. I keep cranking up the heater every chance i get but it keeps shutting itself off. It is a really old model (probably 10-20 years old), that came with the tank. My LCD thermometer has just started lighting up the 84 but it is still brown and not a full green. Unfortunately, i am not going to be around much to tend to the take due to work obligations.

Should i start dosing with medication if there is a chance that i might not be able to dose one day?

[JustOneMore20]

Yes I would go on and start dosing. If you are only going to miss 1 or 2 days, that will be fine. Its better to have some meds in there, than none.

[MaryPa]

Whatever you use to treat the ick use less than they recommend. I`m not sure your eel will handle full dose of ick meds.

[xerxeswasachump]

Ok, cool. I'll start dosing when i get home today. Formalin and malachite green won't hurt my bacteria filter right?

Hey MaryPa, when those german ram babies grow up would you be willing to sell any? I'd love to have a pair of those in my tank. Unfortunately, the water where i live is really hard and my ph is about 7.4. Could they handle it?

[xerxeswasachump]

Ok so i put 20 drops of QuICK cure in my tank last night. When i woke up one of my checkboards cichlids was dead and so was another neon. So, now i am down to 4 neons. Also, that chekerboard cichlid was pretty rare. This sucks. I think i am going to stop dosing because it seems to just kill my fish. Unfortunately, i already put another 20 drops in when i woke up without thinking about it. Anyway, this is pretty depressing. Also, my eel may have dissapeared.

[crzyduchunt]

I have a med that called Aquari-sol specially made for scaleless fish as well as scaly ones. you could go try that. got it at Petco.seemed to work fine with my Gold dojo and Black Kuhlis

[xerxeswasachump]

3 more neons dissapeared. I'm down to 1. The other, more healthy checkerboard cichlid died too. My eel has been swimming around like crazy and might be freaking out. I've never seen him this active. He was swimming up and down the whole tank! He even nibbled on a thawed bloodworm, but never ate it. Anyway, how long am i supposed to treat the tank for? Without the carbon in the tank my Nitrates have soard to around 100ppm. I'm pretty sure my tank is just screwed now.

[kristian18f]

I know it's a bit late now, but my expieriance with ick is that if it kills a fish it does it gradually, I've never had a fish die of it and all have ended up cured. You might check a disease site and see if there is something else.

[TheOldSalt]

your lack of carbon is certainly not the reason for your 100ppm of nitrate, but whatever IS causing it is probably also a big part of why your fish are being wiped out like that. Make some big water changes, pronto.

[xerxeswasachump]

Yeah. it is definitely the high nitrates that keep killing stuff. Unfortunately, i work from 9-5 every day (and commute an hour) and then have class from 6-10 (with an hour commute back up to school). By the time i get home i need to go right to bed or i won't be able to get up the next day. I know it seems cruel but i really can't change the water except on the weekends. I did a 3 bucket water change (i have no idea how big the bucket is, but it is at least a gallon) on Saturday but i didn't have time to do more. Honestly, i really have no business keeping a fish tank at all right now considering how poorly i am taking care of it. I put in the carbon to help me out in between water changes.
Unfortunately, i can't put the carbon back in for another 2 weeks, which means i'm probably going to lose all of my fish. Should i just give up on treating the ick with meds and hope the higher temperatures do the job?
I've already lost my two favorite fish and i would rather not lose any more. If ick kills them gradually then maybe they can handle it for a couple of weeks (my job is over then and i will be able to do more regular maintenance). What should i do?
I'm not about to throw away all of the money i have spent on starting up this hobby. So, if it involves me giving anything away, i'm sorry but it is a hell no.

Also, the next water change won't be able to happen till Friday at the earliest. I'd get my mother to do it but, knowing her, she'd forget to condition the new water and kill everything anyway. Also, i don't want to change too much at once because the fresh water is around 50 degrees and my tank is at 84 right now. I cannot get hot water from my basement, which is where my tank is, and there is no way i can carry a bucket up and down my basement stairs and still make it into the tank (it would all spill out). I'd attach a hose to the tank or something but then i couldn't treat the fresh water before it entered the tank.

[xerxeswasachump]

I bit the bullet and did a 40% water change last night, things seem to be looking up finally. I'm going to go pick up some replacement checkerboards this weekend. I have decided to stop treating for ick, i never saw it transfer to any other fish anyway and the tank was at 84 degrees for over a week. Hopefully that is good enough.

I have a new problem however. Last night after i did my water change i noticed one of my rainbows had clamped fins and one possibly dislocated side fin. It has gotten extra aggressive towards the other fish. Is there anything i can do about this without breaking the bank?
The fin sticks out of the side and is immobile. The fish has been flashing very intense colors. The anal and pectoral fins are clamped. I don't know how this happened, if it was a result of my water change or an attack by another animal in the tank. The dislocated fin is very red at the point where it attaches to the body of the fish. Should i take the fish out and put him in a QT 10 gallon all by himself?