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Jan 1, 2014 18:50:05 GMT -5
Post by fish addict on Jan 1, 2014 18:50:05 GMT -5
im an aquarium enthusiast for many years and find myself struggling with recurring ick on one particular severum cichlid... I am in day 2 of applying steps ive learned on your site which seem much more researched and understandable than anything that days of searching the web have shown .. im in day 5 with 85 degree temp...adding aprox 3 ounce of api aquarium salt with every 2 day water changes ( 25 % )...and continuous treatment with quick cure and noted the ONLY fish with obvious white spots is the redneck severum..I have 3 large parrots / 8 different mbunas / 3 large rostratus / 3 clown loaches / 1 red jewel / 2 green terrors / 1 red tail shark / a very large featherfin catfish / 1 never dying blue guarmi... ALL in my 220 gallon aquarium with an eshopps 300 wet dry and a 110 gallon aquaclear hob... thanks so much for responding ...im thinking the ick is about to drop off and try to prepare for the free swimming stage where the chemicals will hopefully destroy the ick...then treatment for 3 more days ...total of 12 days ..any thoughts would be truly appreciated...
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Jan 1, 2014 19:33:04 GMT -5
Post by Carl on Jan 1, 2014 19:33:04 GMT -5
Welcome to Everything Aquatic CottonCandy!! My thoughts on reading as to how you have proceeded, is that you need to be careful about combining too many methods. What I mean is that with higher temperature you lower oxygen in the water, which can further stress the fish with the medication you are using; "Quick Cure" (which is an excellent Ich treatment, but is still stressful on its own) Similar can go for the use of salt along with Malachite Green based meds. Make sure you do not exceed 1 teaspoon of salt per 1 gallon of water, including with water changes. Another important consideration is the pH, and more important yet KH and GH. If any are these are low, this can have a very direct impact on the effectiveness of Quick Cure. With low pH (under 7.0) and low KH such as 50 ppm or less, the Malachite Green can be increasingly more toxic. As for GH, if you are lacking essential mineral ions, this will also impact the effectiveness of the Quick Cure. I would recommend a GH of 200 or more and the use of products that provide a supply of continuous mineral cations (positive mineral ions). AAP Wonder Shells are excellent for this, as well the Medicated version are an excellent follow up treatment too. Further Information: * www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumKH.html* www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Disease.html* www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Ich.htmlProduct References: * www.americanaquariumproducts.com/MedicatedWonderShell.html* www.americanaquariumproducts.com/FritzMardelKordon.html#quickcureCarl
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Jan 1, 2014 20:11:12 GMT -5
Post by fish addict on Jan 1, 2014 20:11:12 GMT -5
thanks for your thoughts...my ph is 7.6 ish ive checked temp back to bout 79 and my salt has been at 5 tablespoons total with the 50 gallon water change..fish are not breathing hard and appear very good...I have air stone in wetdry with large air stone in tank ..2 950 wavemakers and the 1200 gph discharging across surface to bubble
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ick
Jan 1, 2014 20:17:09 GMT -5
Post by Carl on Jan 1, 2014 20:17:09 GMT -5
Thanks for further information.
What is your GH?
Carl
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Jan 1, 2014 20:38:20 GMT -5
Post by fish addict on Jan 1, 2014 20:38:20 GMT -5
Im not sure what that is asking ? gh ?
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Jan 1, 2014 20:38:58 GMT -5
Post by fish addict on Jan 1, 2014 20:38:58 GMT -5
general hardness ?....not sure
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Jan 1, 2014 21:10:49 GMT -5
Post by Carl on Jan 1, 2014 21:10:49 GMT -5
GH= General Hardness
Please read the 3 articles I noted in my earlier post (including the Ich Article), as these explain the importance of GH in battling and preventing Ich.
Carl
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Jan 2, 2014 12:34:47 GMT -5
Post by Carl on Jan 2, 2014 12:34:47 GMT -5
I will also add as per GH, in my many controlled tests, as well as observations, the effectiveness of ANY Ich treatment in freshwater was greatly improved when the GH was maintained properly. A major aspect of my Ich Treatment regimen as outlined in my Aquarium Ich article, is the maintenance of positive mineral ions, and maintaining a GH of at least 200 ppm as well as constant replacement of these positive mineral ions (aka cations) is a must for best results. Reference: www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Ich.htmlAlso make sure you keep your nitrates reasonably low, below 40 ppm. While high nitrates are not a major factor in Ich outbreaks, my notes have shown that tanks with consistently high nitrates tend to have a higher incidence of Ich Since I notice that you have a "eshopps 300 wet dry", these are an "old school" design wet dry filter that tend to be nitrate factories Carl
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Jan 2, 2014 14:42:15 GMT -5
Post by fish addict on Jan 2, 2014 14:42:15 GMT -5
im gonna get a hardness test kit tomorrow..the reason for the 300 wetdry was I wanted a large amount of biological filtration where there are 2 chambers of aerobic bio-balls ...and I have approximately 10 mesh bags of ceramics under water for anaerobic with 2 heaters and an air stone in the sump...chemical with the hob aquaclear 110..(I really appreciate your input )..I had 2 hob aquaclear 110 and a fluval F5 running before but the tank was more crowded to keep down aggression and I found myself with a nitrite spike which killed some of my stock despite weekly 25% water changes ...that was sad.....since the eshopps is up for 2 months now my ammonia / nitrates /and nitrites are at 0 ppm with bi-weekly water changes
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Jan 2, 2014 19:00:42 GMT -5
Post by Carl on Jan 2, 2014 19:00:42 GMT -5
I certainly understand your reason for the eshopps W/D, for ammonia and nitrites this type of filter is one of the better ones. My preference though for high bio loads would be the Fluidized Sand Bed Filters, as well these can remove nitrates too when properly outfitted and with a the taller models such as the TMC FB 1500 See this article for Aquarium Filter/Filtration Information: www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Filtration.htmlGenerally ceramics are just so-so at anaerobic de-nitrification, but a nitrate test is the ultimate judge.My suggestion is SeaChem Matrix See this article for more about nitrate removal (assuming it is even a problem): www.aquarium-pond-answers.com/2007/07/aquarium-nitrates.htmlMake sure once you test your GH, that this is just part of the equation, the other part is maintenance of mineral cations From this article: www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumKH.html#depletion"Depletion of Positive Ions Think of it this way; a storage battery "works" only when a positive and a negative electrode are present to maintain an electrical current. When the positive ion charged plates become exhausted, the battery is no longer any good until recharged. In a lead/acid batteries essentially lead (Pb) and lead oxide (PbO2) are changed to lead(II) sulfate (PbSO) in the discharged state (exhausted positive ions), HOWEVER the lead is still present (as with calcium in an aquarium) in a discharged state.
Water changes and additional supplements are generally necessary to replenish these mineral ions (cations). Using the car battery as an example again, when re-charging, a 12 volt battery will show a charge of up to 14 volts in a 12 volt battery shortly after and at the completion of a charge, this is similar to the high GH (often over 400) with the use of many methods of adding mineral electrolytes such as Wonder Shells."Carl
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Jan 2, 2014 20:55:01 GMT -5
Post by fish addict on Jan 2, 2014 20:55:01 GMT -5
your explanations are making my wife think that im not so wrapped up in fish after all because your knowledge seems endless ..I love the aquarium hobby because it allows me to apply electronics , carpentry , art , and especially now , BIOLOGY ...im trying so hard to take good care of my kids ( fish )...when I applied my engineering to the stand I decided to build a stand to support 13000 pounds as to never worry about laying under it and work in the cabinet..i will get back in the next few days to explain my gh and current stats of fish...thanks again very much! p.s. I started thinking my cats name , cotton candy , wasn't quite right ?!
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Jan 3, 2014 15:04:15 GMT -5
Post by Carl on Jan 3, 2014 15:04:15 GMT -5
I like your new nickname better for what you are doing here, but there is nothing wrong with using a Pet's name IMHO
Carl
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Jan 4, 2014 8:41:42 GMT -5
Post by fish addict on Jan 4, 2014 8:41:42 GMT -5
good morning Ick update is tested high Ph and showed 8.0 , ammonia and nitrite and nitrate all registered 0 on today ..DAY 7..severum is healthy with great appetite and dark color except for seemingly subsiding white spots...looking at 6 more days of water changes and treatment..Gonna order gh/kh kit from fosters as no one locally that I shop from has one..however Ph is stable and water changes are frequent
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Jan 4, 2014 11:58:33 GMT -5
Post by Carl on Jan 4, 2014 11:58:33 GMT -5
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Jan 4, 2014 17:23:35 GMT -5
Post by fish addict on Jan 4, 2014 17:23:35 GMT -5
thank you for the info Carl as I wasn't sure of all the things that this forum offered...I wasn't wanting to take business from such a positive new found resource that I do appreciate and will absolutely spread the word when the opportunity arises !..thanks again and im gonna check out the items now..
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Jan 4, 2014 19:07:00 GMT -5
Post by fish addict on Jan 4, 2014 19:07:00 GMT -5
is there a catalog or is everything just ordered right off site by calling ?
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Jan 4, 2014 19:35:00 GMT -5
Post by Carl on Jan 4, 2014 19:35:00 GMT -5
Everything is ordered off the website, with standard PayPal shopping Carts. There is no phone order system anymore (we did away with this several years ago), as the profit margin is too low, as many persons would ask questions that the phone person could no answer, also taking up 20-30 minutes.
Carl
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Jan 5, 2014 13:34:06 GMT -5
Post by fish addict on Jan 5, 2014 13:34:06 GMT -5
thanks again and will look up a few items to get together
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Jan 5, 2014 14:59:04 GMT -5
Post by Carl on Jan 5, 2014 14:59:04 GMT -5
thanks again and will look up a few items to get together If you do not have a nitrate test kit, I would suggest this too. Carl
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Jan 5, 2014 18:56:47 GMT -5
Post by fish addict on Jan 5, 2014 18:56:47 GMT -5
thanks for thought...I did test ammonia / nitrate /nitrite and highrange ph with a still consistant 0,0,0,and 8.0
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