help!!! my Peckoltia sp. (L205) have white spots on them.

caril · Post by **caril** » 08 Jan 2003, 14:20

i have 6 Peckoltia sp. (L205) and currently 3 of them have tiny white spots on their bodies. i did a 30% water change and hopefully things get better.
any advise on what i should do next???

caril · Post by **caril** » 08 Jan 2003, 14:31

ph level is 6.5
ammonia level is 0 cos i just did a water change.

Caol_ila · Post by **Caol_ila** » 08 Jan 2003, 17:28

Hi!

Sounds like ichtyo or oodinum...raise the temp to >28°C as much as your fish can take prolly 30°C. Depending on the stage of ick this could work. But theres various medicine out on the market against it...just check that theres no copper in there. Changing the water wont help much but it never hurts.

clothahump · Post by **clothahump** » 08 Jan 2003, 18:09

I have got a disease database of sorts on my site which may aid with identification of the problem.
http://www.eheim-uk.com/disease.asp

caril · Post by **caril** » 08 Jan 2003, 18:43

should i treat the infected plecos separately in a quarantine tank or treat the entire fish tank itself???

Yann · Post by **Yann** » 08 Jan 2003, 18:59

Well

I would treat the whole tank, as the other tankmates may developp these as well, plus as these parasits do multipliate themselves, you sure have different stage in your tank and some fish might already host them, better treat the whole tank...

Cheers
Yann

caril · Post by **caril** » 09 Jan 2003, 05:20

i got the medication for Ichthyophthirius.
my tank is 140litres. how much medication do i need to add into the tank.
do i need to take out the uninfected plecos.
other occupants include, 1 royal, 1 gold nugget and 1 lemon spotted green plecos.

caril · Post by **caril** » 09 Jan 2003, 05:23

can i treat the tank without raising the temp? cos i don't have a heater.
how many times a day do i need to drop the medication and for how many days???
i don't have any info regarding dosage.
thanks...

Yann · Post by **Yann** » 09 Jan 2003, 06:48

Hi!

Well it is good to raise the T° as it accelerate the metabolism of small animal suchas fish or parasits...
With parasit, by doing so you will make the medication far better, as it is strong at an early stage but then sort of loose some power...
Usually you have to add a second dose, either a day after or a few days after the first one, depending of the product...

At what T° your fish are at, maybe the water is a bit to cold for them and you shouold start thinking into buying a heater!

Cheers
Yann

Caol_ila · Post by **Caol_ila** » 09 Jan 2003, 06:52

Hi!

Id go out and get a heater asap. The Temp/salt treatment is the weapon of choice...

Depends on your medicine!? I usually treat them with a 70% dosis of whats recommended when using Punktol by JBL for example...although they never had ick...

I know you dont need that now but you seem a bit disorganized for having quite a few not so cheap plecos.

good luck

caril · Post by **caril** » 09 Jan 2003, 07:21

i will get a heater rite away. what is the ideal temp for my plecos?
should i remove the active carbon from the filter before adding in the medication?

Caol_ila · Post by **Caol_ila** » 09 Jan 2003, 07:25

yes take the carbon out!! very important!

i think i have the illness book at my girls plce...sorry cant help with dosing the medi

Easy · Post by **Easy** » 09 Jan 2003, 07:41

Try to reduce the stress factors...by turning off the lights and not bothering the fish...as stress would lower down their immunity/health

Activated carbon would only absorb the medication you put in the tank...so remove them

Increase the temp...and at the same time increase the oxygen level...as higher temp means lower oxygen content for the water..add salt

coryfav · Post by **coryfav** » 09 Jan 2003, 08:28

caril, dosage for the medicine should be stated on the box or bottle? different medicines may have different guidelines on dosage. care to tell us which ick medicine you've got there?

what's the temperature of your tank now? unless your tank is in an airconditioned room, i think it should be 27deg or so? anyway, it's good to have a heater handy.

yeah, as mentioned by Caol_ila, i'd personally use only about 70% of the recommended dosage.

caril · Post by **caril** » 09 Jan 2003, 09:23

hi there fellow singaporean,
u keep plecos too?
the brand of the medication is "sera" and the liquid is blue in colour.
can i add salt??? i thought i shouldn't do so.
i will check the temp later.
what is the ideal temp for treating the plecos???

coryfav · Post by **coryfav** » 09 Jan 2003, 09:56

Hi Caril,

Yes, I started keeping plecos last May when the year's first lot of L046 started coming in. Now I've 3 L046 with my Corydoras and the rest of my other plecos (L200, L128, etc) have their own tank.

I was using the Waterlife brand of medicine, so I'm not sure what dosage is Sera's. Will check it up if I manage to visit a LFS this evening.

On the subject of the use of salt in a pleco tank, I've also been advised against it. But I've read of some keepers using salt too, also in their Corydoras tank. I personally keep salt away from all my tanks. Maybe in small quantity...

As advised by Caol_ila earlier, you can perhaps put your heater at 28deg and gradually raise it to 29deg and then 30deg if necessary. I think it'll depend on the present temperature of your tank too. If it's already at 29deg, for example, you can then put your heater to 30deg to help with this treatment.

A note of caution: some heaters may need some adjustments to get the exact temperature. That is, you may adjust your heater to 29deg, but your thermometer shows 30deg. Your heater should come with the instructions on how you should adjust it. Oh, one more thing: (if this's going to be your first heater) don't try to save money and buy the cheapest heater. I've been reading a couple of discussions about heaters that cracked in the tanks, in other forums.

Some of my plecos were also infected with ick a couple of months back, but I didn't install my heater then cos we're experiencing a heatwave and my tank's temperature was already close to 30deg. As we're experiencing rainy weather these days, though, you should really get that heater.

caril · Post by **caril** » 09 Jan 2003, 15:17

i went to the LFS just now and got myself a 100w rena heater for $24.
the temp of the tank before i put in the heater was 28c
i did a 20-30% water change (added some anti chlorine and TetraAqua blackwater)
i have switched the heater to 29c, added 10 drops of medication for ichthyophthirius multifiliis and switch off the tank light.
any advice on what i should do next???
thanks for the advise guys.

polkadot · Post by **polkadot** » 09 Jan 2003, 17:52

Hi caril, remember to be careful not to overdose the medication. I think its ok to raise the temp to 30-31. My normal tank temp is already 29 degrees! And keep the water very clean!

caril · Post by **caril** » 09 Jan 2003, 17:59

i think 10 drops of medication should be fine since my tank is abt 145litres.
the current temp is now 30c. i'm think of doing a 20-30% water change everyday...
anyone advice please???
thanks...

Caol_ila · Post by **Caol_ila** » 09 Jan 2003, 20:04

Hi!

A bit tricky but dont underdose...when you do waterchanges you can suck clean the ground cauz the cysts fall onto it....but dont stress the fish too much
good luck

Yann · Post by **Yann** » 09 Jan 2003, 22:59

Hi!

Well usually it is highly recommanded to underdose the medication with scaless fish as they are more sensitive... you should put 50-75%, still it also depend form the hardness and T° of the tank as these are also factors that can make the product less or more harmfull...
Cheers
Yann

caril · Post by **caril** » 10 Jan 2003, 15:47

tank update:
temp 30c
ph 6.5
ammonia nil
did a 20-30% water change just now.
added in some anti chlorine and blackwater.
the last time i added 10 drops of medication for ichthyophthirius multifiliis was yesterday.
all plecos look and behave the same as before.
they ate almost all the algae wafers that i fed.
nothing unusual happen...
any advice???