ick or bad water quality?

[ff1378]

Hi
I didn't know about nitrogen cycle and i bought some swordfishes and an angel. My tank is 20 days old! It's about 3 days that there are some white spots on angel's fins and there are traces of pink colored routes on its body.
Do you think it's ick or it is because of ammonia and nitrites of my new tank?
The angel is not ok and usually goes to corners and rest.

regards

[jeffs99dime]

can you post some pics?
what are your water parameters?

[kimmers318]

At 20 days old you are probably seriously spiking in ammonia and nitrites....which could lead to all sorts of problems, among the ones you mentioned. Get a test kit ASAP to post ammonia, nitrite and nitrate stats. If you can't get the test kit have your local store test the water and request that they tell you the actual readings, not just okay or a little high. If you have access to someone who can donate some mature filter media or can purchase biopsira to help the cycle that can solve alot of the problems quite quickly. If not, you will need to do alot of water changes which although will dilute the toxins, will also cause the cycle to take alot longer.

[ff1378]

hi
thanks for your response. Anyhow with or without the test kit i think i have to partially change the water regularly to dilute the toxins.

[jeffs99dime]

yes. you are correct. you most definitely have to conduct partial water changes. (pwc) not just to dilute any toxins you may have but, also to supply the aquarium with fresh water. i highly recommend a fluid test kit such as API, as the strip kits aren't very accurate or dependable. also, if you get the API kit from petsmart go online first and print out the price of the kit, bring the printout to the store as they will price match the item for you. you should save about 50% of the store price.--jeff

[Sin]

ICK is very common in new tanksetups .....it needs to be treated as the fish can only get worse water change or not , it is on the fish itself...get some treatment for ick...and follow the directions on the bottle , remove the carbon media , allow the meds to stay in the water with filter running for 2 days , then do a partial water change and treat it again in another 2 days , then do another water change and put the activated carbon back in the filter ...you never let the tank cycle...soooo expect some problems....hopefully the fish survive
i just wanted to add one more thing folks.....becarefull WHERE you obtain your fish stock from...i suggest going into any LFS when they first open up early in the morning and observe all the tanks and count how many dead fishes are there...the staff havent removed them yet! they will remove them soooo observe that before they make things look all nice and " proper " most times those petstore people harbor all sick fishes and you think you brought home a decent fish rom one of the sick tanks then all sorts of problems arise in your twank at home....my suggestion really is stay away from petland...i have seen enough to say their fishes or petsupplies plus or any of those places are just run by folks who want to sell you fishes that may not be right for you in many respects...trust me! only deal with reputable places...and you will have to be observant to know the differences since they will pull the wool over your eyes

[Hevydevy]

Could be bit of both.

If you didn't know about the nitrogen cycle and didn't add any nitrifier first it sounds like there has been a spike when you added your fish.

I had my levels fine by the time I added fish and the first three coped fine but I had a spike when I added the next four.

I'm not sure of there is a whole lot more you can do to help it other than being patient.

[Cichlid_Man]

Hi,
I would do some water changes. Small frequent changes.
The spots on the fish are most likely Ich.
The red routes could be some sort of poisoning, from nitrite or ammonia but usually that shows up as red gills??

Get aquarium salt and pre-dissolve it in water.

Use 1 teaspoon per gallon of tank water , so if you have a 10 gallon tank, pre-dissolve 10 teaspoons of aquarium salt and add it to your tank.
Raise the temp up to 82 for ten days.
After 10 days do a 50% water change.
If you catch this now you can save the fish.

Right now the fish are your priority, not cycling the tank.
You can also add Stress Zyme to try and make the toxins "less toxic"

When you do water changes, if you take out ten gallons of water, you will need to replace the salt also. 10 gallons of water out, then you replace 1 teasponn of salt.

Try and save the fish and the tank will cycle. You added too many fish too quickly I believe.

[ff1378]

hi
thanks for your answer.
You told me to add some salt, but i read somewhere that plecos are very salt sensitive. Is it true?
My angel died but other fishes are ok now. My temperature is 82 and there is no sign of desease any more. oh, i added a capsule of bactozym to the filter. I think it made the fishes more lively and happy. what do you think of it?

best regards

[Lady Hobbs]

You started with some fish that really aren't too good for new tanks. Angel fish are not good fish to have unless the tank is established. They can't take the toxins at all. Plecos are seldom needed right away as there is nothing for them to eat in new tanks. I don't know the size of your tank but pleco's get huge. They can get over a foot long. Good catfish that remain small would be a Bristlenose who is a good worker but remains small.

Buy no more fish until that tank has cycled and get some Stress Zyme to add some needed bacteria. Feed only one a day until your cycle is finished (or once every other even).

None of the scalesless fish do well in high amounts of salt but they can take lower amounts.