so do i have to just sit here and watch these fish die?

[scriptwiz05]

i had a prob with ich and put some aquarium salt in there based on one of the mods recommendations but my fish are dying left and right. the am is at .05, nitrite .02, ph 7.4, temp 80 degrees, its a 55 gallon tank. i had 15 fish in there and am now down to 3, they just keep dying, i put the salt in, is it too late? they had ich for a couple of days before i applied the salt. this is depressing. I cant do anything to save remaining fish?

[cocoa_pleco]

what kind of fish are the 15 fish? is the tank cycled? what filtration? ick is caused by stress.

[mitcore]

i am very sorry to read that
it sounds like you need to do a water change

having ammonia and nitrites is not good
without having the ich

i am sorry i cant offer anymore help
just sit tight there will be somone soon

[scriptwiz05]

those are the readings after i did a water change earlier, my tank is not fully cycled, i had 10 platys and 5 neon tetras, all dead now except for one tetra and 2 platys, and they look weak, the thing is, ive had these types of readings before and never lost this many fish, i put aq salt in there to help with ich, but is it too late? a water change is being suggested but i just did a water change, 50 percent, what is killing these fish? when will the ich go away??

[mitcore]

you are right the tank hasnt finished cycling
you are right the fish shouldnt be dying because of it
my 4ft took about 4 weeks maybe 6 sorry i cant remember for sure and i only lost a few fish, but i have angels etc in there and they are sensitve
the platties should have been ok, they are fairly hardy
i dont think they will live if they are weak, the aq salt is that a hardness salt
if so then it shouldnt have killed them, at least i have never heard of it before
maybe your fish are dying due to stress, i am sorry if i cant help i am not experienced in ich, i really dont know what it is, as for the water change i suggested that cause when your water conditions are up a bit it usually helps,

[Fishalicious]

Your AM and Nitrite levels are poinining the fish causing them to be stressed therefore they get ick - even if you help with salt they are stil being poisened by the AM & Nitrite so the stress is not going away...

You should do a huge water change everyday at least 75% if not even twice to reduce the AM & Nitrite...

There is no point in curing the ick if you are not fighting the cause of it...

[CAF]

Tetras are really sensitive and easily contract Ich. I'm assuming they are the ones you lost, if so it is to be expected with an outbreak.

[Lady Hobbs]

I'm really sorry to hear your first set-up of a fish tank went so badly.

When starting out cycling with fish, you should only have a few to start with. The bacteria grows slowly and needs to be able to handle the fish load. Too many fish and you get high levels of toxins and haven't grown enough bacteria yet to handle that amount.

Apparently the amount you added was too much causing too high of ammonia and nitrites. Cycling with fish is really a touch and go way to cycle and deaths need to be expected. That's why some only use those feeder goldfish to get the tank going, put raw shrimp in a mesh bag or nylon and anchor it under a rock in the tank, use pure ammonia or cycle with only danio's. Or, buy some bio-spira and add it to the tank the same time you add fish. The bio-spira works to hold down the high toxins as well as the other bacteria suppliments like Bacteria Booster, Seachems Stability, etc.

Using fish, you have to be diligent with water changes to keep the toxins down and sometimes it may take water changes almost daily. With a 55 gallon, I do think you'd have done OK with using half the amount of fish you had but a great deal depends on the type of fish, as well. Some can not take any level of toxins at all. Danio's are a fish used often to cycle because they can handle higher levels of toxins but even those need to have the water monitored so it doesn't get too toxic.

Getting the ick only weakened them more.

If you lose the last of your fish, and since you are going to be going away for a week, I think I would get some raw shrimp and stick it under a rock in your tank and let it work while you are away.

In the meantime, don't clean your gravel or filter media because some bacteria has started to grow and you don't want to start over again.

Don't get discouraged. It's just hard to cycle with fish when you're new and really aren't sure just how toxic you dare let the water get.

PS......the salt did not kill them. If anything, it's often used during a cycle to help with gill function but ick sure will kill them. It's a parasite that crawls into their body and lives off the body which is very hard on fish, as well.

[msjinkzd]

Just another side note, you can do as many water changes as it takes while treating with salt, just re-add the amount of salt (dissolved first) for the volume of water removed. You could also see if your LFS will give you one of their used filter pads/foam if you trust the cleanliness of the store. Its also important when treating ich in a tank to wipe down the inside of the glass and do deep gravel vacs during water changes to remove the parasite. This may slow your cycle a little but it will help with the ich removal. Also, feed sparingly (every other day) during cycling as more fish poo equals more ammonia. Hope this helps.

[scriptwiz05]

Just another side note, you can do as many water changes as it takes while treating with salt, just re-add the amount of salt (dissolved first) for the volume of water removed. You could also see if your LFS will give you one of their used filter pads/foam if you trust the cleanliness of the store. Its also important when treating ich in a tank to wipe down the inside of the glass and do deep gravel vacs during water changes to remove the parasite. This may slow your cycle a little but it will help with the ich removal. Also, feed sparingly (every other day) during cycling as more fish poo equals more ammonia. Hope this helps.

ok and when u say dissolve the salt, do u mean boil it first or dissolve it how? and if the last of the fish die, and I leave it alone for a week or so, will the ich, just die off ?

[msjinkzd]

just mix the salt into tank water in a pitcher or a bucket before you add it. The ich will die off without a host, I am not sure of the duration of its life cycle, hopefully someone else can chime in with that time frame for you.

[Fishalicious]

The ich life cycle takes 12-16 days - so a week would not be enough.. if the fish don't make it you can bump your temperature up as they die at a high temp within 48 hours.

[shockshockshad]

If your all of your fish do die (RIP fishies), you can do a fishless cycle. You won't "have to just sit there and watch those fish die"

[SoCalxPiranhaxKing]

Go to your local fish store and buy a bottle of Ammo-Lock, a box of active carbon(black diamond) it looks like crushed up charcoal, and a mesh bag to put it in . when you get home add the ammo-lock first, just scoop out a glass of tank water add 6 capful’s of ammo-lock to it and spread it around in your tank. Wait about 20min then put some carbon into the mesh bag (do this out side) making sure you can fit it into your filter. Then rinse the bag of carbon really well in the sink and add it to your filter. Make sure you put it on top of the other stuff in your filter. You could also add some Stress Coat...:thumb: good luck.

[Lady Hobbs]

I would not recommend Ammo-lock at all. He needs the ammonia to get his cycle going no matter how he decides to cycle.

[CAF]

I may have some of this wrong and if so my apologies in advance.

Ich is a parasite that lives between the scales and the skin of the fish, to do this they burrow through the scales to get to the juicy yumminess inside. The white spots you see are actually a mucus membrane created by the fish to cover the wound and to help reduce the iritation. The adult Ich will then be there on average for 7 to 10 days if the fish survives that long. The ich then disembarks from its moving all you can eat buffet and drops down into the substrate, this is when it is most vulnerable. While it is down there bumping uglies and making the next generation, nuke the tank with anti ich meds. Continuing the story assuming no nuking took place... the adults will die off leaving behind cysts that take anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks to develop into adult ich and the cycle continues on. Now Ich is a cooler water critter, but it can survive in warmer water. The reason for bumping your temp is actually to increase their metabolism so they drop off the fish faster and become vulnerable. It also quickens the time the cysts hatch so you can get them too. This is why I always recommend raising your temp to 82 degrees Farenheit and dosing with Jungle Labs (1/2 dose for Tetras and inverts, and yes this is probably the only stuff I have found to be invert safe) for a full week with 50% water changes daily (if you have any fish left.)

I hope that helps

[Fred Raud]

i feel what you went through,,i had the same issue when i introduced a fish i bought at walmart with my fish,,i noticed them having issues (them being tetras) at night,,and was online posting in many places about i,,and getting alot of conflicting information,,it was very frustrating,,lesson 1 i learned was to not buy fish from walmart without quarantine first(not saying that applies to you),,lesson to,,is learn from it and move on,,lesson 2 is i learned that theres always more to learn,,so dont feel so bad,,i felt terrible when my tetras passed,,but hopefully you learned from it as i did,,so keep up on current postings from others,,so if your in a time of need and the world is asleep,you have something to fall back on,,i certainly identify with your 'do i just sit her and watch these fish die',,i stayed up all night trying to find an answer,,and that helplessness sucked,,i feel for you,,it certainly isnt fun

Fred Raud