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I feel pretty upset and lacking..

11K views 63 replies 3 participants last post by  naturlvr 
#1 ·
I know I am going to get a barrage of questions and a slap on the hand or two. But I feel more for the fish than to be too proud. And yes I have asked for help on this but didn't follow everything because I got injured the first time I spent 4 hours trying to take out fish from the 240 gallon tank. Ok that is all of the whining. I am going to tell it like it is and take the heat.

I just read the library article here on ICH after the fact!

I have two main problems. The 75 gallon tank has Pearl Ocellatus and Rainbow Red Lazer fish. I am extremely busy with personal matters..but I noticed today that the Rainbows were dying (2 out of 10) and looking at them closely I noticed no top fin or mostly looked raggedy and some had ICK. I was shocked. I quickly got out some metro and dosed with Metro before I left thinking that was what they needed. When I came home I noticed this is not the medication for ICK and I should have turned up the heat and used salt..haven't read the rest yet because I am not sure I should do this after giving them the wrong med.

Problem two is 240 gallon tank. I have written for advice previously about this. I have two sets of males of the same species that are aggressive with each other. I had them in the 75 gallon tank and then I got a 240 gallon tank hoping it would help them. I hear it is easier to care for etc. in 240 gallon. Well these two pair one Williamsi Blue Lips pair and one Snow white Socolofi pair, still were aggressive and perhaps more so. I removed one of each pair and put them in the sump for the time being until I can locate another home. Meanwhile the non-dominant Williamsi Blue Lips still in the large tank stopped eating. I got advice to take him out and treat him. However, with what happened that I explained in the first paragraph, I just threw up my hands and said..if he dies he dies. I was hoping that over time it might have been stress and he would calm down and get better. Yes I know that I was advised this was a serious situation for him to not eat even though hje looks ok. Now is he still living and acting ok except he is paler and leaving the area at feeding time. After a few days of this I could not stand it any longer so I picked up the only real medication I could find at Petsmart which was Erythromycin so out of desperation I got it (pretty expensive when you consider a 240 gallon tank). I also notice that the fish in the 240 gallon tank are all scratching their sides with sand. Lots of flashing in the water.

Now I don't know what to do and should I continue giving the treatments of the meds as I have?
I really need help and wish it would all go away and my fish would enjoy the tanks. But sometimes I feel like their worst enemy.
Where do I go from here?
 
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#53 ·
Never used either of those. I use straight metronidazole purchased from a fish room supply store for a lot less than pet stores. 100 grams for $15 or 500 grams for $39.00. The fish breathe in the metronidazole through their gills anyway.

Kanaplex does not have metronidazole. I would recommend it for columnaris but not bloat.
 
#54 ·
DJRansome said:
Never used either of those. I use straight metronidazole purchased from a fish room supply store for a lot less than pet stores. 100 grams for $15 or 500 grams for $39.00. The fish breathe in the metronidazole through their gills anyway.

Kanaplex does not have metronidazole. I would recommend it for columnaris but not bloat.
OK then I will get the Metroplex since I am about out of it. You mean 10 Grams for $15...yes?
 
#57 ·
To catch you up on the 240 gal tank and the 75 gallon tank:

The 240 gallon tank : Nitrate level 20
the 75 gallon tank: Nitrate level 20 the six rainbow that were still alive when I started the salt cure for ich are still alive and look free of ICH..the poor pleco doesn't look happy but who can really tell? So if I read correctly, three days after no ICH seen...I can discontinue the salt and heat treatment right?
 
#59 ·
DJRansome said:
I thought it was 3 weeks.
this is a quote from the forum library:
How long? The salt bath should be maintained for approximately 10 days, or for at least 3 days after any visible signs of Ich can be detected. Do not discontinue treatment when the spots go away. If you use a higher dosage of salt, watch the duration more closely. One article (on guppies) specifically stated not to leave the fish in salt longer than ten days, but their dosage recommendation was on the high end at 5 tablespoons per 5 gallons.
 
#60 ·
To update on the Williamsi Blue Lips: He is still in the hospital tank. I have tried feeding him with food soaked in garlic but he is not interested in eating. He hangs out behind the bubbler all the time. This is at least a month of no eating. I ran out of Metro today and my order from two days ago has not been shipped ...so today I called <vendor name removed> which is so much cheaper ( I was able to overnite it for tomorrow morning ). At this point he has yet to respond to metro and I cannot tell of anything else going on with him, now that he has been removed from the stress of being bullied. But of course being in the "hospital" is stress too. Any ideas? I will keep giving him Metro though he will miss a dose today, until he dies or gets well.
 
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