# Help! 3 Down, Others Getting Worse...



## foodeewaa (Jan 24, 2009)

I've got some white flaky stuff near the fins and gils of some of the fish I have left. This started just 2 days ago and has already taken out 3 of my fish. I started treating this with PIMAFIX as soon as I saw the first little bit of anything going on, but it doesn't seem to be helping. 

What is this? How to I remedy these guys?


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## Chickadee (Nov 15, 2008)

Looks like you have a case of ick to me. Slowly raise your tank temperature to 82 to 83 degrees and leave it there for the next 14 days with no let up whatsoever. The parasites leave your fish when that temperature is reached and cannot live without a host fish. The 14 days is their life cycle (parasites) and they will die. Then you can safely do a good water change and gravel vacuuming and tank cleaning and give your fish clean house and new water and slowly (a degree every other hour or so) put the temperature back to the previous level. Word of advice...ick is a cold water disease as is Velvet and Fin Rot and some of the other nasties. Are you sure you are maintaining a warm enough home for your pets? You may want to investigate the literature or check with some experts who know about your particular breeds to see if you need to have it a little warmer. 

Some fish parents do not feel good about the situation unless they are medicating their fish with "something" and the very best medication I have found if you want to use something is a med called Quick Cure. It is the only one that will supposedly give a 2 day cure. Otherwise I have used an all purpose type med for this type of thing before I found out about the temperature cure called Parasite Clear Tank Buddies..they are fizzy tablets put out by Jungle Labs and are at most pet stores. They turn the water green and you drop one in for each 10 gallons of water size in your tank. You just sit back for 4 days and do nothing and then change out part of the water and if the problem is still there you repeat the dose again one more time. It is simple and usually effective. 

Hope this helps you and I am so sorry about your fish loss. It can be discouraging but please know that this has happened to us all and we are here for you.

Rose


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## Nature neil (Jan 15, 2009)

Many shops sell "tonic salt" or just normal aquarium salt. I have found that a dose of this into the tank works wonders for almost every illness but don't use with hardwater intolerant species as it does increase the hardness of your water, Just add a little at a time and keep watching for any signs of distress. Fingers crossed


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## Chickadee (Nov 15, 2008)

I really hate to disagree but I have serious issues with using salt in freshwater tanks. I have seen it backfire badly if the amounts are not very closely watched. It is something that a very experienced aquarist may get by with but someone just starting out is better off not trying this approach as a first resort. There is a reason that they do call them freshwater fish instead of brackish or saltwater fish. The problems using the product is that there are some species also who do not tolerate any of it and since we do not know all the species we are speaking of here it is not a good idea to recommend it s use. For this instance I think it is best not used.

Rose


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## Nature neil (Jan 15, 2009)

Rose is right although I regularlly use salt with freshwater fish it must be used very carefully. I have also noticed from Reading a few other posts that many of you in the USA. Are not on normal treated mains water 100% of the time and the mineral content of ground water could react very badly with addition salt so don't use with ground water if you are on a variable supply


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