# Desperate - all fish suffering!



## ncarr (Aug 9, 2011)

Hi,

A couple of weeks ago we stupidly bought 4 clowns and did not quarantine them before we put them in our cycled 55 gal. An hour after we put them in our tank we noticed they were covered with ich. We removed them and quarantined them in a cycled 20 gal. The next day all of the mollies had ich. We then medicated the 55 gal with paraguard and raised temp to 85-86d

The paraguard removed the ich witnin days and all was fine. Two days later, all of the mollies were shimmying and all of the fish had clamped fins and stringy white poo. We did a 50% water change, added salt and jungle buddies parasite clear and fed them peas. The shimmying lasted for 3 days. We did another water change and did a second round of parasite clear. The next morning most of the clamped fins had returned to normal and everyone was doing great. 

Last night we noticed a balloon was COVERED in ich again and shimmying. We did another water change, and added paraguard. This morning every single fish is covered with ich and all of the mollies are shimming. Most of the mollies are still with their heads pointed up. 

We have been told that we may need to "cull the herd" or euthanize everyone and start anew. I do not want to do this. However, it seems to me that everyone is suffering and I don't want that! What are we doing wrong and how can we help these guys?


Water parameters:
Tank size: 55g
Ammonia: 0
NitrIte: 0
NitrAte:
PH/GH/KH: 8.0
Cycled,yes or no: yes
temp: 85f

Fish:
10 mollies
2 bala
1 pleco
6 reg wag platties
2 fancy guppies


Thanks in advance!

Also, all of the clowns died within a week of purchase.


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## bugsinmytank (Aug 5, 2011)

are you using a charcoal filter and if so was it removed while treating the first round of ich? It took me 4 days with no filters, heat raised & ich treatment to get it cleared.. also the istructions i got say to keep treating for 3 days after the last signs of ich are gone. So for me it was 7 total days & then replaced the filters & did a 50% wc. hope this helps.


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

Is paraguard the right treatment for ich? It sounds like it's a shortened version of "parasite guard", is this ich specific? Might want to look into Maracyn Blue or something much more specific to ich.

With that being said, ich is tenacious. If you don't kill it all in the beginning, it will come back in a more hardened state. As stated, remove the filter carbon so you're not straining the meds out of the water, and potentially prolongue your ich treatment past the recommended stint. Elevated temperatures and aquarium salt also help treat it.

Lastly, don't medicate for multiple things back to back. It sucks that you have parasites AND ich, but you really shouldn't medicate for both unless you do them in conjunction with some serious water changes, otherwise your fish stand a better chance of dying from overmedication rather than the ailments themselves.

Peas are great for dropsy, but you'll want garlic for internal parasites, FYI


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## NeonShark666 (Dec 13, 2010)

I don't think it is a good idea to mix Mollies with truely FW fishes like Balas and Plecos. Mollies like Hard, Brackish water and are easily treated for ich by raising the salinity of their tank. The ich causing organism is always around and will often attack a weakened fish. Sudden changes in water parameters will often weaken a fish to the point where becomes suseptable to ich.


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## FishFarmer (Jan 20, 2010)

Your clown fish died because they are saltwater and you put them in freshwater . Paraguard I don't believe is treatment for ich. You should be using something with formalin in it. Like formalin green or ich treatment.


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## DocPoppi (Mar 4, 2011)

Everybody please read this about ich...
Using Heat to Treat Ich in Freshwater Tropical Fish - Article at The Age of Aquariums - Tropical Fish

It can be removed from your tank completely and without chemicals.

Mollies are Absolutly fine in fresh water.
And if you are really talking about "clowns" as in "finding Nemo"
Then NO those are not freshwater fish!
Do you have a heater? 
Read article!!!!


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## DocPoppi (Mar 4, 2011)

Do not put any more meds or chemicals in your tank!!!

Also make sure you have an airstone while you raise the temp.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

FishFarmer said:


> Your clown fish died because they are saltwater and you put them in freshwater . Paraguard I don't believe is treatment for ich. You should be using something with formalin in it. Like formalin green or ich treatment.


I'm thinking we are talking about the Clown Loach here which is a fresh water fish.


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## Pigeonfish (Jun 23, 2011)

snail said:


> I'm thinking we are talking about the Clown Loach here which is a fresh water fish.


They were never specific, I'm curious as to what Clowns they're talking about...










EVERYTHING FLOATS HERE.

*r2

All joking aside, I wonder what clowns they mean. <.<


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

:really funny:


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