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I know, I know, you told me. One of my Black Anglefish attacked a neon tetra yesterday. I don't know if the neon was dead or dying but the Angel totally shredded it. By the time I was able to net the body, the eyes, tail and gut were gone.
Anywho.... This particular Black Angel is very aggressive. I'm not going to lie, he's driving me nuts. He's bullied the other 2 male tankmates in the 55 gallon to the point that one is always hiding. I've tried putting him in with the mated pair and that's NOT working either. I'm going to go ahead and place a quick ad in the Classifieds. I'd hate to get rid of him. He's so pretty.

TTFN --->Ta-Ta-For-Now
Kelly ;o}

sounds perfectly normal to me.

I'm going to put him back in the 55 gal with the other two male Angels. I'll try to set up the divider. The smaller fish always find a way past it. They'll be putting their lives in danger when they go to the other side but there's not much I can do to stop them.

When I put Shorty (bad angel) in with Bulldozer and Goldie, all hell broke loose. Bulldozer gave Shorty a taste of his own medicine. Now Shorty is hiding behind the slate.

TTFN --->Ta-Ta-For-Now
Kelly ;o}

Not 2 minutes after I moved Shorty back to the 55, he and 'Lil Lep were at it. I put the net in and he took off for the far end. I got the separator in but of course the smaller fish find a way back and forth. (Nothing's going to stop them from getting into their java moss!) At least the Angels can't get at each other. I'll have to place a call to a few of the LFS to see if they'll take him for credit. My husband wants to give him to a neighbor. I have doubts about her and her kids' ability to care for Shorty. I refuse to give him to someone who's not going to care for him. Even though he's been a royal pain in my arse lately, I still like him.

TTFN --->Ta-Ta-For-Now
Kelly ;o}

Could the one day of stress with Shorty in the 40 gal cause Goldie to get white spot? I noticed when I fed Goldie and Bulldozer, that she has 2 small white spots on her right side. I will be buying meds for it tomorrow after work. Should I also medicate the 55 gal as a precaution?

TTFN --->Ta-Ta-For-Now
Kelly ;o}

Buy enough meds to treat the other tank, have a real good close look at the fish for any signs of ich, make sure the light is on, I've had issues with seeing ich unless all the lights were on.

Stress from another fish as well as the stress of being moved would do it I'm sure. I'd suggest a water change before doing meds.


^_^

TTFN --->Ta-Ta-For-Now
Kelly ;o}

Okay, I bought "NOX ICK". Has anyone ever used it? It has50% Sodium Chloride and 50% Malachite Green. I started using full dose yesterday on the 40 gal. Will this hurt my MTS and pond snails? I did a half dose on the 55 gal this afternoon. (I have yo-yo's and tetras in the 55 gal). Should I extend the duration by a day or two, since it's only half the dosage?

Also, I have a clear separator in the 55 gal, but it is perforated for water to pass through. All of the fish smaller than the Angels can slip by it. I did all of the drops directly on that end, so as Shorty will get the full effect of the medication. The medicated water is slowly filtering through the holes.

TTFN --->Ta-Ta-For-Now
Kelly ;o}

Hi Kelly,
The normal medications that are used to treat Ich all
contain some form of copper. Malachite is a copper ore,
and it is a bright green rock. The copper in the Ich
medication is died that color (hence the name)so that
it stands out and helps one know the saturation of
copper by the strength of the color.

Remove all carbon from your filtration system.
The carbon will remove the copper from the medication
and the tank thus nullifying the medication.

Copper will kill snails, and some fish. However, when used
according to the directions on the container, the snails
should be fine, and as long as you don't have any of the
fish cautioned about on the container the fish will be
fine as well. Be sure to follow the dosing directions,
and the after care as well. Generally, once the treatment
period has run it's course, they recommend a large water
change, and to replace the carbon back into the filtration
system to remove any last vestiges of the copper.

My only caveat about the snails being fine will depend
upon the circulation between the two halves of the tank.
If that divider restricts the flow from one side to the
other then the side that you placed the drops into will
be a higher saturation temporarily, until that side is
diluted by circulation. You could loose a few depending
on the circulation between halves.

Frank

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

I thought all was fine until I got home from work last night. My husband told me one of the Black Ruby Barbs was dead in the corner Shorty has been contained to. We don't know if it was the meds or harrassment from Shorty or natural causes. I checked on Goldie this morning and she still has the two spots on her side, but she also laid eggs. I'm not going to worry about the eggs. She tends to eat them all by the 3rd day anyway.

I still seeing my snails, so hopefully they are tough enough to stick it out.

Should I reapply meds to the 40 gal for an additional 3 days after I skip a day?

TTFN --->Ta-Ta-For-Now
Kelly ;o}

Hi Kelly,
Do the spots you are seeing look like grains of salt
on the sides of the fish? If so, then it is Ich.
If not, then you have something else (probably a fungus)
and you are using the wrong medication. I'm not familiar
with that specific medication. Follow the directions on
the bottle. Normally, with Ich, it takes an
elevated temperature (speeds up the life cycle of
the critter) and a week or more with the medication
in the tank to kill off the parasite.

Rarely does aggression give way to an outbreak of Ich.
Ich is an opportunistic parasite that attacks after
stress, most generally resulting from temperature
differences in the water during a water change.

Instead, with aggression, the breaks in the mucus
covering and raw spots on the fish body result in
a bacterial infection.

Frank

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

On Goldie in the 40 gal the spots looked kinda fuzzy. But on Shorty in the 55 gal, his spots looked grainy. Since I've started treating both tanks, Shorty's look like they are disappearing. Goldie's spots are still there but not fuzzy anymore. The 40 gal has had a full treatment for the required amount of days, so I think I will follow up with "Pimafix". I'll finish the dosage today for the 55 and follow up with "Pimafix" as well. Should I also use "Melafix"?

Oh by the way, I should correct the name of the ICH med it's "NOX ICH".

TTFN --->Ta-Ta-For-Now
Kelly ;o}

Fuzzy doesn't sound like ich to me, rather a fungal issue like Frank mentioned, you may need additional meds.


If you're still seeing spots, and suspect it to be the ich, then continue treatment. There should be redosing instructions on the package, usually a partial water change and start up treatment again.

The meds may cause issues with your bacteria, so be sure to test for ammonia and nitrIte, dosing some Cycle would help if you have it.

With ich, the only way you kill it is by having the parasite drop off the fish then be in medicated conditions. This is why a lot of times people suggest raising the temp as it speeds up the life cycle. The problem is, often people see the ich "gone" and stop treatment.

Melafix wont hurt, but it doesn't really do anything.


^_^