About Christy Expertise I can answer some questions regarding freshwater fish ranging from their care to diagnosing common diseases or problems with the fish. I can also answer questions regarding the care and maintenance of an aquarium. I haven't had much luck with live plants, so can't help in that area very much. Not real good with explaining salt water or brackish set ups too well either. Also regarding goldfish, I have some comets, and have a little experience with them but mostly just general info on them. I AM NOT THAT FAMILIAR WITH ANY OF THE FANCY VARIETIES OF GOLDFISH. YOU MIGHT BE BETTER DIRECTING THOSE QUERIES TO AN EXPERT MORE FAMILIAR WITH THEM. If I can't answer or don't know something, I'll let you know, so don't be upset if I reject your question, I'll always explain why. I would just rather not answer then give an answer I'm not confident about.
Experience All personal, first hand, general fishkeeping experience. I've had fresh water aquariums now for about 7 years. I've had tropical/community fish tanks, African cichlids, South American cichlids, brackish water puffer fish, and a lot of other varieties in between.
Education/Credentials None, all personal experience
Question I have a 1 month old 10 gallon tank w/Pengiun Bio-wheel filter and dual-temp heater. My betta is 6 months old, I realized he needed larger than the 1 gal he was in. After 10 days, I added 3 black tetras, and a week later 3 red wag tail mollies. One of the mollies, after a day or so was staying at the bottom with fins and tail clamped tight. I saw 3 or 4 small white spots and the pet store guy thought "ich" and recommended Coppersafe. He was swimming around after a day or so,seemed better, and then I could see that part of his top fin is eroded with a white edge. I thought it looked white when it was clamped up but could not tell. Yesterday I could see white patches again, which do not look like photos of ich, but small cottony spots. I asked the Pet Store fish guy, and he thought it was too soon after the Coppersafe to add fungus medicine, so I sacrificed him yesterday. Now I can see white "salt grain" specks on the betta and other fish - which do look like ich photos. The Coppersafe insert is very confusing to me, but seems to say it is OK to add some other meds. I have not done any water changes or checked water PH yet (on advice of pet store, for new tank). please advise! I'm not so sure the pet store guy is right, and I haven't caught the more knowledgeable-seeming guy at work lately.
Answer Hi Rena
Well, unfortunately your pet store guy isn't guiding you too correctly....though it is a little bit better then some stories I've heard lol :)
You're correct on the ich-looks like small grains of salt sprinkled on the fish. I recommend using the salt and heat method though for treating it when possible. It's a lot less harsh then a lot of the meds out there. Tetras are a bit salt sensitive though, they're also sensitive to a lot of the meds available, but from all I've read so far on it, they should tolerate the amount of salt ok. 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt per 5 US gallons. Slowly, over the course of the day, raise the heat in your tank to about 82-84°F. Ich is a parasite, and it's only killed off during one of it's life stages-the free swimming stage which you can't see it at that stage. The heat speeds up the life cycles and they don't tolerate the salt. Here's a couple of really good links on ich, causes, treatments, etc.
Now the other problem-fin/tail rot and white cottony stuff, sounds more like a columnaris infection-not a fungus. A true fungal infection is usually going to show up as a secondary infection to an injury or such. Columnaris on the other hand, is a bacterial infection, and thrives in poor water conditions(I'll get to that in a sec). Needs an antibiotic, and I usually recommend Maracyn Two which treats gram negative infections. I've read on several sites that salt can also help with this, I'm still out on that subject, but the salt from the ich treatment may be beneficial in helping to treat this, and maybe even for another problem you may have and not know it yet(also which I'll get to in a sec).
What I would do now, is a large water change, about 40%. When you add the new water back in, make it slightly warmer. Then look at the temperature in the tank, and raise it slowly to about 84°F over a couple of hours. Also, in one of those buckets of water you add back in, dissolve 2 tablespoons of aquarium salt. Then slowly add that to the tank over the course of a few hours as well. Doing that slowly lets the tetras adjust to it so hopefully it won't affect them. Hopefully the store has some Maracyn Two, I would use that if you can. That line of products, think it's Mardel(?), they claim their antibiotics do not kill off the beneficial bacteria in the tank, so it won't affect the cycle. I can't say whether that's true or not, but better to be on the safe side. I know you can also use tetracycline for treating this, but I know for a fact that will kill off the beneficial bacteria.
You have a new tank, so it's going through what's called the cycle process or the nitrogen cycle. Here's a great link with info on that:
Now, checking the ph is really not going to help anything. That's one that yeah, you should check it make sure it's staying stable and not fluctuating, then usually you're fine with only checking it occasionally. The main things you want to test for a new tank are ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. First you'll see the ammonia spike, then fall, then nitrites spike and fall, then nitrates. When ammonia and nitrites fall to 0 ppm after spiking, and there's nitrates present, your tank is considered fully cycled. Ammonia and nitrites are both very toxic to fish, and it stresses them and can/usually kills them. Some fish can tolerate them better then others though. Seeing ich and columnaris infections at this stage of a newly set up tank, is actually quite common. The clamped fins are a sign of poor water quality as well, and occasionally a sign of parasites=like ich, so probably a combination. Now, when there's nitrites present, salt is beneficial to the fish at that stage. Nitrites inhibit the fish's ability to absorb oxygen into their blood stream. Salt combats that, so that'll be a good thing to add since the nitrites are most likely showing up in your tank now. Normally what you want to do at this stage of the cycle, is daily water changes to help dilute those toxins in the water so the fish can survive. But with using meds, it can be difficult. Just be careful on adding the meds and salt back into the tank, and adding the right amounts so you don't overdose.
Think that covers everything. Let me know if you have more questions.
