white spots ich??? using tetra lifeguard..goldfish filtration questions ASAP

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gouramimommy125

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Nov 19, 2010
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hi
I have a 35 gallon hex tank with one oranda calico at 3 inches and one choc oranda at 1.5inches and one black moor at 2 inches....they have been not swimming alot and today my calico was just sitting at the bottom...i did a 50% water change and all the parameters are great no ammonia no nitrite ph is at 7.4 and nitrate is at 20ppm..so i looking at them closer after i got the kids on the bus and noticed white spots on tails and the black moors swimming fins look pale not black...so i decided to use tetra lifeguard all in one treatment...my question is currently i have a hagen elite filter for a 35 gallon im going to petco now to get the marineland penguin bio wheel 200 ....so when i set that up i have to leave out the carbon filters right????? will they be ok for 5 days with no carbon filters and no water changes while i treat them???
 
Without the filter should be ok. As far as water changes, I would follow the directions of the med you are using. I have never used that one, but most meds I have used tell you to WC as normal, or everyday for some even. Also, are you sure you have ich? There are a lot of things that cause white spots. Ich looks kind of like salt all over the fish. If you could post a pic of the fish here, some of the people good at diagnosing disease might be able to get you a better idea of what it is, and a more specific way to treat it. Ich, IMO, is best treated with heat and salt rather than meds, but I wouldnt do that unless you know for sure it's ich. Good luck with your sick fish. - Ash
 
thanks the treatment im using is an all in one for a range of problems.......it says to make day 6 24hours after last dose the wc day and only to change 25% of the water....i have been doing daily because of the small filter but now i have the peguin bio wheel 200 so hopefully that will help with that and just incase i bough this stuff called...jungle solutions ammonia clear..it says if removes ammonia fast it says it reduces high ammonia levels in established tanks hopefully i wont need it...or maybe i should just buy some ammo lock....they did not have it at walmart...the ammonia hasnt been crazy out of whack so hopefully im good..thanks for all your help
 
I have never used those ammo products. I know prime does a good job of keeping it at bay when you can't do water changes. Good luck with the treatment. I hope the fish get better. :)
 
Prime is my recommendation for a water conditioner since it keeps the ammonia available for the bacteria but seems to protect the fish. Some products like AmmoLock seem to lock it up for both, which starves your beneficial bacteria. If you're reading ammonia on a regular basis then you either aren't cycled or are underfiltered. It sounds like you've upped your filtration so once that new filter gets cycled you should be ok at least for now.

I agree that ich is generally better treated with salt and heat, but the tetra lifeguard says it treats ich. I haven't used it either though.

As for the carbon, leave it out, but leave the rest of your filtration going. In my opinion, carbon is a bit of a waste and a way to deal with infrequent water changes, but it will also take medications out of the water, which is not a good idea in your case.

Stay with your regular water changes, don't worry about holding off. The medications don't stay in active form in the water for long anyhow, especially ones that ask for the UV sterilizer to be turned off in their directions. It means that they are photoreactive and will generally break down in 24 hours from your aquarium light and room lighting.

Pictures would be helpful for a diagnosis but Ich is one of those diseases that's fairly easy to spot (no pun intended).
 
It's hard to see from the blurry pics, but that doesnt look like Ich to me. That looks more like a fungal or bacterial infection IMO. Ich usually looks like little grains of salt all over the fish, and that looks more patchy to me from the pictures.
 
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