# Planted Tank, Ick & Goldfish



## Cocobid (Jan 26, 2007)

I hope I am posting in the proper place!
First of all any help would be greatly appreciated.

I am a goldfish person and planted tank, mainly Anubis & Crypts. Earlier this week I noticed Ick this is my first go round with it. This tank has perfect water quality up for several years. I know Ick can lay dormant in a tank..Yes?? OK well it is everywhere the GF are covered sitting on the bottom. 
I would like to treat with salt and raising temps ..But what about the plants, should I pull them out to a Rubbermaid bucket~~~~and raise the temp or what to kill off the Ick and return to tank later. Should I leave them and salt everything. We have 2 ****** loaches and a few plecos in the tank also. Impossible to catch.

I so rarely am able to be on forums any more.....my Mom is literally dying. We have an extremely small family and am an only child. Hopefully she will have a quick exit for her sake. During all of this I have always managed to maintain a perfect maintenance schedule for my tanks.

Time is so limited what should I do. 
The GF are just miserable.
How much salt can be used safely without killing the plants?
So sorry to ask so many questions
Thank You for any assistance
Karen


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## furballi (Feb 2, 2007)

Post a picture. White spots isolated *around the gill area* could be sign that the fish is sexually mature (not ich). If you see white spots all over the body, then read on.

*Immediately* add one teaspoon of table/household salt per gal (dissolve the salt with aquarium water before adding). Bump temperature to 75F. Wait 8 hours and repeat dosage. Wait one day and repeat dosage (concentration now at 3 teaspoons per gal). Change 50% of the water on the 6th day. Add dechlorinated water at the same temperature. Be sure to add 3 teaspoons of salt per gal to this "new" water to maintain the salt concentration. Change 50% of the water on the 12th day. Do another 50% change the next day. The large water change will lower the salt concentration.

Note that white spot should go away in about 6 to 7 days. DO NOT STOP medication! Continue with treatment for 12 days. The plants will suffer but will recover in a few weeks.

http://www.enkoi.com/subcat130.html

PM me for more help.


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## Cocobid (Jan 26, 2007)

Furballi
Thank You,
With very little to work with made the decision to empty all plants from tank to a bucket and drained the 55 almost refilled and during the day things have gone down hill.... while cleaning the tank I noticed Red streaks had developed quite severe & a milky film. What is so weird is I test the water in all of the tanks each day. Have had tanks for over to 30 years. By looking they look like severe ammonia. All I can guess is they have been chasing like crazy and quite stressed out. 
Called a GF person I know he also owns a local fish store and he suggested Maracyn-two & salt. My babies are completely on the bottom. I cannot loose these fish I have had them for years. My joy and calmness in all that is going on. They are like a litter of puppies eye level in the kitchen. Always there. So cute. 

I hope I did the right thing. Please advise on the plants we will have to bring the tank up to .03% salt, but I have to treat the plants to. What would you suggest?
I keep metro-med and medi-gold at all times...but they will not eat.

Karen


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## furballi (Feb 2, 2007)

Red streaks on the fish is a sign of internal blood disease. You'll need to treat with Maracyn Two using the recommended dosage. Also supplement Maracyn Two with Tetracyline (at the same time). Maintain treatment for two weeks. It's probably best to move the sick fish to a quarantine tank at this time since treating the planted tank will be very messy with Maracyn Two, Tetracycline, and salt.

Change *50% of the water 3x* a week during treatment. DO NOT feed the fish. Maintain water circulation and biological filtration (re-use sponge filter). Make sure the new water is about the same temperature as the old water.

I'm sure that your fish have been sick for at least several weeks. The chance of a full recovery is very low at this time. The best you can do is to maintain very clean water and hope that the meds will have sufficient time to take effect. It normally takes about 3 to 4 days for the meds in the water column to work. For future reference, feed BIO GOLD as soon as you see a decrease in appetite, sluggish behavior, or red streaks on body/fins.

You should treat the main tank with 9 teaspoons of salt per gallon. Add sufficient water to cover the gravel. Keep in this state for one week then rinse the tank and gravel with fresh tap water. You'll need to move the plants to another bucket and treat for four days with four tablespoons of salt per gal. Add about 4 hours of light per day. Rinse the plants in tap water.


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## Cocobid (Jan 26, 2007)

Hi, the only good news today is all of the fish made it though the night.   Went out at lunch bought Tetracycline. Q will the water changes that the Tetra dosage required lesson the effects of the Maracyn Two? 

OK so the fish are in the tank Plants are in the big rubbermaid. So the plants will reside for at least 2 weeks in the bucket and during this time I will treat with salt. Will continue treating fish in main tank. Will deal with that later~~~~and hope for happy healthy goldfish

I have been reading and was just wondering. I recently added a Eheim 2028 to the filtration on the tank and have read where current can effect fish or stress them. Could this be a possibility coupled with breading season. Just trying to find some answers. If that is the case will look into how to connect the spray bar instead of the pipe. This tank is on a bar separating two rooms you can see thought the tank so will have to be creative with the spray bar. 
I have noticed since I added it they have been staying near the bottom more!

Thank You for everything:-D :-D


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## furballi (Feb 2, 2007)

Maintain the normal dosage of Maracyn Two and Tetracyline even after the large water change. You should treat the fish in a bare tank with good water circulation and biological filter. Maracyn Two and Tetracycline will not significantly degrade the beneficial bacteria. Note that the water will turn red after a few days when you use tetracycline. That's okay as long as you maintain the water change. 

You don't want to treat the plants for two weeks with that much salt. 3 to 4 days will be adequate. Rinse with tap water and return the plants to fresh water.

A light current is the tank is acceptable. If the fish must swim to stay in place, then you have too much water current. This will stress the fish and lower their immune system. Goldfish are messy and are more susceptible to disease if they are not in top form. These fish prefer calm/slow moving water.

You can add more foam inside the filter chamber to reduce flow rate.

If there is no improvement by the 3rd or 4th day, then you may want to double the dosage for five days.


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## Cocobid (Jan 26, 2007)

Here we are on day 3 1/2 of treatment. All are still alive completely covered with white stuff. One oranda seems little bothered by what is going on although not perfect is in far better shape than the rest. They spend most of the time on the bottom of the tank, in the evening they seem more active. They are not breathing as hard at the bottom as they were. I would call it normal breathing. They will all of the sudden dart around the tank. It must feel like having fleas or something. 
Feeding metro-meds. Yesterday they would all eat and seemed hungry. Imagine that a goldfish hungry :lol: :lol: . 
At what point do you make the decision to double treatment? Maintaining salt level at .03%. Didi a 50% water change yesterday.


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## furballi (Feb 2, 2007)

Add another teaspoon of salt per gallon. Again, maintain very clean water and filtration. It's good that the fish have an appetite. Immediately remove any waste from the bottom of the tank. It can take up to 7 days to cure white spot at 75F.

I would not bump up Maracyn Two and Tetracycline at this time. Medi-Gold would be my choice for anti-bacterial food.


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## Cocobid (Jan 26, 2007)

Furballi Again Thank You....You will never know how incredibly helpful you have been throughout this ordeal......
Everyone is alive and only one, the big one is quite lethargic and still covered with ick. Ick seems to be leaving the bodies of the rest of them. Some are more active than others. The redness and what looks like bleeding and tearing seems to be halted. Still red but not nearly as bad. 
Tonight will do a big water change. But overall compared to 48 hours ago there is no comparison in their behavior. I was thinking about ordering the product Nox-Ich, would it replace any of the above medications, or just in conjunction? Will keep this treatment to 14 days going YES and will talk about how to deal with the tank later. They are still in the tank. Just gravel and filters.


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## furballi (Feb 2, 2007)

Keep working on the meds and the water change. Maintain at 4 teaspoons/gal for three more days, then back-off to three teaspoons/gal. Use Amquel or equivalent to assist the removal of toxic ammonia. 

You can feed them, but all food must be consumed in one minute. Siphon excess food and poops after 1 hour. 

Salt is safer than Nox-Ich. If you can accurately dose with salt, then there is no need to purchase Nox-Ich.

I would also increase the dosage of Maracyn II and Tetracycline by 30% since you're treating the community tank.

Note that you may need to change 50% of the water each day if you see a lot of white fluffy stuffs floating around. Also clean out the filter.


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## Cocobid (Jan 26, 2007)

A trying last couple of days with Mom.

The kids (aka goldfish) all are up and swimming around. The large one is not real active. I think along with all of this she may have a egg issue. 
I just do not have morning fish. They are more active as the day goes on, have always been that way. But everyones last night was eating well and very active. This morning 4 out of 5 are very active. Did a huge water change yesterday. Replenished salt and meds. I want to make sure my other tanks are OK is there a suggestion or two just in case there could be cross contamination. I use indiv.equipment for each tank....but I really don't want to go through this again. Just to stay on the the side. 
Would adding a UV light be a good idea? I have been reading treads here some use them 24/7 and others use them as preventive measure and others if they notice a problem.... 

I can tell they really miss their plants. I knew they were a big part of their lives but not until now did I realize how much. Each fish has "Their" spot to sleep in. A couple suspend between the leaves and Nightie night. Many people that keep GF go bare bottom/no plants either, but mine really love the plants...just the natural environment. I do think it helps with the ammonia and chemical makeup. 

I wish I had room for a 120 or so but space is limited in the 90 year old home of ours. Plus we just have to much stuff. One day a major culling of our home will occur. I have a spot picked out in my mind but something will have to go. This winter I am going to set up a 50 or so tank in one of the Greenhouses, Our Plumeria house is kept the warmest. and should be great for fish and the GH. Was reading some threads a while back about people keeping tanks out side, I know a guy that does that here year round. He has really good luck with them. I think he has 4-5 ranging from 55 up.


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## Cocobid (Jan 26, 2007)

Good Morning must report all my fish are so back to normal.....I know they have been through a lot but everyone is very active, eating just a really good sign. Am continuing with their medication, salt & water changes. Feeding medi-gold & metro-meds. Will take a while to get their fins repaired, it will just take time. I feed a great homemade gel food along with other things will get them back on this in a few weeks. 

However, the tub with the plants in it........of not so good the anubias are just yellow, javas ok. The day or so they were in there with the salt must have pushed them way over the edge. What should I do will the roots of Anubias allow regeneration. Those anubias were so healthy roots everywhere and caring multiple blooms each. Just makes me sick. 

Where and what should I do with these plants???

Again THANK YOU for your continuing guidance and help. My fish would not be alive without you. 
Karen


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## furballi (Feb 2, 2007)

Glad the fish are okay. Reduce salt concentration to 2 teaspoons/gal for the remainder of the 14 days treatment. Feed the fish EXCLUSIVELY with medicated foods. DO NOT overfeed. The red streaks on the fish should go away in another few days...continue to add Maracyn Two and Tetracycline for three more days to make sure that the disease will not resurface.

You'll need to put the plants in fresh water. Add light (4 hours per day) and macro/micro. Trim the dying leaves. It will take a long time for the anubias to recover.


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