Ick, Fin Rot and a Bully

[Shanrocksak]

I currently have a 10 gallon tank. It was set up fine and working properly until 2months ago I put in some "Algae Fix" because of the increased sunlight in my home vs my classroom where the tank was. The Algae Fix freaked out my snails who are my favorite in the tank so I immediately did a 50% water change (I know that's a lot) to get rid of it. The snails recovered but other fish started dying and it has taken me months to get things back to normal, safe levels.

Right now there are 2 guppies, 3 cory catfish, 1 dalmation molly and 2 apple snails.
I had 2 mollies but one was a male and picking on the female so I took him back to the store, while I was there we tested the water and the ammonia was a little high so they suggested I treat that for 24-48 hours and come back. All other levels were perfect.

Well not a day later I noticed a white circular patch on my Molly's tail fin. Yay Ich. So I have been treating with Ich meds for 10days. No one else has gotten Ich, her spot is gone but now the edges of her tail fin look white and a little shredded. It is small so I cannot tell if it is renewed ich, fin rot or an injury. One of my guppies is also picking on her, it started when she got what I assumed was Ich. He chases her around the tank and it appears he nips at her. Sometimes she fights back (she is easily 2X his size) but mostly she runs away.

I put some Melafix in the tank tonight, and plan on doing a water change in the AM and then adding more Melafix. The Ich Attack medicine has made my water super brown and murky. No one else has gotten Ich and I stare and inspect them regularly.

Both snails are active and happy, catfish are doing their thing, it's just the mean guppy and the Molly with bad fins that are my concern.

Can anyone help me out here. I am about to give away all these fish if I can't get this tank fixed. Every time it gets settled something else happens.

 

[Shanrocksak]

I did a partial water change today, I couldn't stand the brown water anymore. I added both the Melafix and the Ich Attack because I am just not sure what the heck is going on! Still could use some help. I also added my normal water conditioner and stress zyme because I took out more than just my 2.5 gallons.

still waiting for someones expert guidance.

 

[lauraf]

Hi, welcome. It sounds to me like your water quality is the first concern that needs to be addressed. Many diseases are a result of poor water quality that lowers the fish's immune system and makes them more susceptible to a host of problems. Any ammonia in your tank is bad news. You need to do water changes, sometimes daily, to keep the ammonia levels down until the cycle catches up to convert the ammonia into less harmful nitrate. Do you understand the nitrogen cycle?
It's really hard to keep on top of your water quality without the ability to test your water yourself. If you want to keep fish, you should invest in a liquid test kit that will measure your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.
If you cannot buy a test kit right away, take another water sample back to your fish store. Ask the to write down your exact measurements for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Do not buy any other products. Come back here and tell us what your levels are.
Also, it sounds like, from your last post, you don't add water conditioner for every water change? Is that correct? Even if you are only changing a small amount of water, you should still use your water conditioner.

 

[Shanrocksak]

I always add water conditioner when I change the water. I just was hesitant today because I felt like I was adding so many chemicals between the meds and the stress zyme and the water conditioner.

I am a Science teacher I understand the nitrogen cycle. We had a nitrate issue last month that took a lot of water changes to fix.

My water levels were all good before the Ich or whatever showed up, except the ammonia was a tad high. It was in the safe level just high so we decided not to add any fish. I was told to use the stress zyme to get the ammonia down and told it should only take a day or two but by then the Molly had a spot so it was no fish.

So should i continue to add the Ich Attack and the Melafix?? And should I do more water changes and if so how often? It's only 10 gallons so I don't want to take out too much of their healthy environment. I can do it everyday but then I will add the meds and the stress zyme and the water conditioner each time, I just don't want to over medicate and/or freak them out.
The catfish are still happy and normal, the molly is being a little erratic so I am not sure what tomorrow will bring.

 

[Shanrocksak]

Do you have a suggestion on a water test kit?? What should I make sure it has in it. I see multiple ones online. My store always tests with the strips. Are the liquid ones better.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

You get many more tests with the liquid ones. I think they probably test with the strips because the liquids are more time consuming for them - not really sure. I've always seen stores test with the strips too for some reason.

I think the main brand is API, good quality tests. You want ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate tests (really ammonia and nitrate are the more important, you rarely get a problem with nitrite in an established aquarium). I believe they usually sell a kit with ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH, which is a good way to go too.

I wonder if the original "algae fix" stuff took out some of your biological filtration? Sometimes you have to read it very carefully to determine if it is safe for inverts / bacteria. You'd probably do better to just manually remove the algae if it is getting to be a problem anywhere. If you're really having a TON of algae, you may need to feed less.

You can test for pH just to know, but in general it creates more problems than it fixes if you start trying to "correct" your pH level. The fish will adapt to any reasonable pH and it is much better to keep it stable even if it is "off," than to keep swinging it around by trying to hit a specific number.

Melafix is a nice safe medication, doesn't bother snails or bacteria or anything. Not sure about ich attack... unless the bottle specifically tells you to treat for longer than the 10-12 days that you have so far, I would probably stop adding that. A "white circular patch" doesn't necessarily sound like ich anyways, it could be something more akin to a fungus. Ich is many tiny white spots - like a salted fish.

If it were my tank, I would do another water change (never hurts anything) to lower the amount of ich meds still in there, maybe do the recommended does of melafix if the molly's tail is still ragged, and just see over the next couple what happens. Hopefully, the number of water changes and not adding any more ich meds will let it just settle back to normal.

 

[Shanrocksak]

The Algae Fix said it wasn't safe for invertebrates and listed shrimp and crabs but not snails. Snails are mollusks and a little different so I thought it would be fine. They did not like it though and that stuff went in the trash. Now I scrape and clean like I should have in the first place.

I will keep doing the Melafix, her tail is just weird because it's the only place I see white stuff. And it's not just at the ends. Can fin rot attack the center of a tail or does it have to work it's way in. She is a Dalmation Molly so she is black and mostly white, but I am pretty sure I would see textured Ich spots on her. I had a tank as a teenager (100 gallon and a 20) and the 20 always seemed to get something, it was less established. My point is I hope I would see Ich even on her white parts. And no one else has gotten sick. The bottle says to treat until all spots are gone and for a severe infection it could take 5 weeks. Which is actually crap because the life cycle of the Ich parasite isn't 5 weeks so I don't understand why you would treat that long. I am thinking that since none of my other fish are getting ich that that is not what it is.

I am headed to the store today to check out kits and strips. I will stop with the Ich meds and see what happens with just the Melafix. Once I get my Numbers I will get back to you guys.

I haven't seen the tank this morning, I hope that my Molly made it through the night.

 

[lauraf]

My water levels were all good before the Ich or whatever showed up, except the ammonia was a tad high. It was in the safe level just high so we decided not to add any fish. I was told to use the stress zyme to get the ammonia down and told it should only take a day or two but by then the Molly had a spot so it was no fish.

Yeah, if your tank is showing any ammonia then your tank never finished cycling, you are going through a mini-cycle, or you have chloramine in your tap water (when you get your own test kit, test your tap water to see what your baseline is). A fully cycled tank should ideally read less than 20ppm nitrate and 0 nitrite/ammonia.
Do yourself a favour and buy the liquid test kit. It is far more accurate and reliable than strips. You will be happier in the long run. My fish store uses liquid test kits, btw, but I have seen quite a few of the larger stores use strips - I suppose it's just faster and easier for them, particularly if they have multiple employees to instruct.
Let us know what your water parameters are, and meanwhile water changes can't hurt a thing and may be the most help you can provide overall for your fish.