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Hi I'm new here I hope you can help me with a few problems I've been having. I bought some fish about 2 weeks ago and have had Ich in my tank twice both times on my Angle's. I have treated the tank the first time for 5 days and the fish is better, then did partial change of water and restarted carbon filter. I noticed that my Gourami has like a pimple on its head which looks red and sore. Two days go by and another Angel has ich so I start again with QuIch cure. Now the Gourami's head seems to be getting better and is healing over. I'm going to treat the tank for a few more days the Angel is getting better. Is there something wrong or could it just be the fish I have bought. I have bought some more fish but they are waiting in another tank, I've had them for about a week and they seem fine. I'm kind of new at this I have normally kept goldfish or koi so any info will help. I was reading about hole in head of Gourmies but I don't think that, that is what is wrong with my fish, sorry this is so long. Thanks

I may be a doggy person but I love fish too.

Hey there.

First of all we'll need to know what size tank you've got, what other fish you have in it, what kind of filter you are running, if the tank is cycled or not and most importantly what the readings for pH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate are. If you don't have your own test kits for these you can take a sample to the local fish store and they'll test it for you.

Fish get ich more easily when they are stressed out. The fish you put in the tank could have infected the others or it may be that your water quality is poor and your fish are a little stressed because of it. All the information I've asked for above will help us figure out what it is.

As for curing the Ich, make sure you are reading the directions correctly and that you are giving the correct dosage. Does your medication have methylene blue and malachite green in it, because IME I've found that this combination works best to quickly get rid of ich.

I hope your fish are doing ok!

I have a 30 gallon tank with a Aqua tec 200 canister filter on the back of the tank. I have 2 Gourmies, 9 Danios, 3 Angels a shark,3 cori cat and one loach.The stuff I have been using has Formalin, Malachite Green but not the blue. I use 1 drop per gallon like is says to. I have also been using salt in the water like it says and stress coat when I did water changes. I'll have to wait and get the water tested for the PH and stuff. The other fish are all fine and will stay in the other tank until I can get this fixed in the main tank. Even the fish in the big tank are eating and acting ok its just the one that had the sore and its getting better, the one with ich is no worse. I'll keep treating and get the water tested and see what they say. Does this help you out any?Any other ideas would be appreciated.

I may be a doggy person but I love fish too.

Be careful with loaches, as they are very sensitive to some medications. It was a little bit of an investment, but I bought a UV sterilizer for my tank 2 yrs ago and have never seen a spot of ich on any of my fish since. The UV sterilizer kills the ich in the water, and will destroy any waterborne algae as well. I haven't had an algae bloom in 2 yrs either. Make sure to keep up on your weekly water changes and to vacuum the gravel where the ich lay dormant.

Also, your loaches may get stressed if they don't have at least a couple companions (at least with clowns). In groups of 3 or more they will become much more active.

Many fish come from the lfs with parasites, but will heal up. Be sure to treat at a mild dose for the full term of the medication to completely rid the fish of the parasite.

Hi there,
What kind of shark? What Kind of Loach?
Your tank is quite heavily overstocked, which is why
your fish are getting sick.
Please, Discontinue the use of Quick Cure.
Loaches and Sharks can be killed by the following:
Copper salts, methylene blue, malachite green,
gentian violet, aquarium salt.
Please discontinue the use of Aquarium salt too.
Your Loaches, Shark, and Cories will greatly appreciate it,
they will not be long for this world if you continue salting and medicating with dyes.

Increase your water changes to 35% once a week,
if you havent been doing them this regularly.
A Clean tank will prevent Ich on its own.
Reduce the stock in your tank, overstocking
and/or overfeeding can also cause these problems.

Find a quality ich medication, Kordon makes one
safe for loaches, and Kent Marine RX-P is safe
for all fish and even most invertebrates.
It has been tested on Discus fry, and proven safe
for both freshwater and marine fish.
Dose for 13 days as on label.
Raise your tank temp slowly (a degree a day)
until it is about 80-82F.

Good Luck.


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I agree. I think you tank is overstocked. If you have no intention of changing this I suggest you get a test kit to keep a very close eye on the water parameters. Did you ever get them tested? What was the result?

Besides from this, follow the advice given by So_Very_Sneaky.

Hope your fishes are getting better!

I tested the tank Ammonia was 0ppm but my PH was 7.4. Does this sound kind of high? The tank is due for a water change tomorrow and I have been runing with out carbon, but I will start that again tomorrow too.
Over loaded tank wow I thought it was kind of empty. All the fish are small the bigest being the loach.
The Loach is a weather loach (I have had him about 3 years)and the shark is a Rainbow. The Angel seems better now, I just have the Gourami that still has the sore on his head, maybe remove him and put him in a hospital tank I have Melafix, will this help him heal, he eats and seems fine otherwise. So far no casulties. I'm going to big Als on the weekend I see if they have that Kent Marine RX-P, I think I'll take some water with me and get them to test it too. The salt I only add about 1tbsp per 10 gallon, but I'll stop adding that if its better for the fish. Thanks for your help so far, any more will be apreshiated.

I may be a doggy person but I love fish too.

Before you start any new meds put some carbon in the filter for about a day and do a water change. Then take the carbon out and start the new meds. Using too many medications at once could be lethal to the fish. Its best to remove one type before starting another.

Get the RX-P if you can find it. It works great. I have used it with my cories and loaches and they are all fine. Use it for 13 days, like Sneaky said. If you see the spots go away before that, keep dosing anyways until you finish the 13 days.

Look on this website for an ID on your gouramis sore.

You are very overstocked, even if it looks empty. You have to remember the potential size of the fish when stocking a tank.

3 angels in a 30g would be too much even if they were alone. I think you should think about upgrading your tank size or returning some fish to the LFS soon. You will probably have more problems in the future when all the fish hit their full sizes.

*Kristin*

Hi there, yep way overstocked.
If you go by the 1 inch per gallon
of adult fish rule, heres what you have:

Rainbow Shark = 6 inches
Angelfish = 8 inches x 3
Weather Loach =10 inches
2 Gouramis =2.5 inchesx2
9 Danios = 2 inches x9
3 corys?what kind?= 2.5 inches x3
Total is 70.5 inches of adult fish in 30 gallons
of tank space. Even if you allow for slight overstocking,
your tank has at least double the fish inches in
it than you should have.
Thats why they are getting sick, cramped conditions
and poor water quality.



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Ok I did a partial water change, and tested the ph of the water in my tap and it is the same as whats in the tank, so I'll have to get some ph conditioner to help lower it. I restarted my carbon filter. I do have a 90 gallon tank but my lizard is in it. I also have 2 15 gallon so I'll have to start them up and split the fish into these. Any ideas on which ones should go where, the guy at the pet shop said that I could put more fish than that in my 30g tank, last time I listen to him. Thanks for all the help, the fish are still all ok.

I may be a doggy person but I love fish too.

the guy at the pet shop said that I could put more fish than that in my 30g tank, last time I listen to him

Umm..yeah. Pet shop employees don't always give out correct information. You'd think since they're selling the fish that they'd know a little about them....but no. Alot of them don't.

There are some exceptions tough. We have some LFS workers on this site who are extremely knowledgeable (sp?).

You could move the danios and cories to one 15g tank. Really the other fish need a much bigger tank...not because you have too many, but because they get too big.
The gouramis could go in another 15g.

Everything else should stay in the 30g because they get too big for a 15g tank.

*Kristin*

Hi Doggy,
heres a good example of what would be
appropriate stocking for a 30g tank.
1 Angelfish
6 Corys
6 Danios.

In my 25g tall, I have 1 angelfish,
1 otto, 1 stone lapping barb, and
9 Corys. Thats 31 inches of fish.
Not heavily overstocked, and the tank is filter
by a sponge filter rated for 50g, and a
fluval 204 rated for 50 gallons.
So the 25g tank receives 100g of filtration.

Also, I am not sure how tall a 30g tank is,
but angelfish need a tank at least 18 inches tall,
as they can easily grow to 16 inches from top to
bottom.

I think your best option would be to remove
the 3 angelfish.
Maybe you can sell them back to the LFS.
That would reduce you by a solid 24 inches
of stocking, down to only around 46" of fish.
Then if you removed 3 of the 9 danios,
that would bring you down to 40 inches of fish.
That would be much better.
Each Angelfish really needs 20g of space to themselves,
so around 55 gallons for 3.
For a 30g tank, you want to optimally aim
for fish 4 inches or less max size, espescially
if the tank is long and not tall.

I know how it is, I made the same mistake when I
first started, and the LFS told me I could keep
all these fish, and didnt inform me about cycling,
so I went out and spend 70 dollars in fish
and lost all of them within a week.
After that I started researching online,
and my tanks have been through many changes to
get where they are now. Still slightly overstocked,
but nothing too heavy, and I always run double the
filtration minimum than is required.
My 75g tank has filtration for 250 gallons.

So, dont feel too badly, we all were beginners once!


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If there has been a copper based med in the tank do not switch to a formalin based med without first using a polyfilter for several hours to remove the copper. The mixture of the two (copper and formalin) is very poisonous and dangerous.

Polyfilters are available at most LFS and very inexpensive ($8 -$9). They may be shaped to fit your particular filter and they turn a specific color once all copper is removed (there is a color chart on the package of the polyfilter).

I could go on for days on this one but am short on time. Please let us know how it's going and good luck

Yes, please let us know Doggy, how are your
fish doing?
Is the ich going away at all?
Have you lightened the load?
Please keep us posted.


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