# My stupidity



## gillmanjr (Jan 27, 2017)

Hey guys. I made a mistake. Last weekend I stopped in a local pet store and picked up a Pleco to add to my 75 gallon. They pulled the fish out of a 10 gallon tank with about a dozen other plecos, all 2-4" long. Like a moron I didn't quarantine it even though I was telling myself that I should. Well last night I was watching my fish and noticed some white spots on some of my cichlids. I've had most of my cichlids for a year with no health issues so there is no way I'm going to believe that this is a coincidence. Anyway I'm assuming its ick. I've never dealt with it before so I was just wondering if anyone has any suggestions. Luckily I think I caught it in the early stages because only a few of my fish show any signs of it and they are all still eating and acting normal.

Last night after I saw it I did a partial water change, pulled the carbon out of my filter, dosed the tank with Seachem Paraguard (I already had a bottle of it), added a little more salt to the tank, and I've been raising the water temp, its up to 80 now and planning to go to 82F. Is there anything else you guys recommend for this? Does anyone have any experience with Paraguard for treating ick? Do you recommend anything else? THANKS...


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## gillmanjr (Jan 27, 2017)

I have a specific question for you guys, hoping someone can answer. So I'm treating this with Paraguard which is a Malachite Green based product (some kind of blend) and I have my tank at 82F to reduce the life cycle of the ich. Does anyone know if it is OK to also add sea salt to the tank? I know that raising the temperature and treating with Malachite reduces oxygen in the water, would it be too risky to also add sea salt?


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## Old Newbie (Feb 18, 2017)

gillmanjr said:


> I have a specific question for you guys, hoping someone can answer. So I'm treating this with Paraguard which is a Malachite Green based product (some kind of blend) and I have my tank at 82F to reduce the life cycle of the ich. Does anyone know if it is OK to also add sea salt to the tank? I know that raising the temperature and treating with Malachite reduces oxygen in the water, would it be too risky to also add sea salt?


Just make sure you have plenty of surface agitation to keep the water oxygenated; I use sea salt with no adverse effects. Watch your Pleco, the Malachite is tough on scaleless fish and invertebrates. Vacuum your sand/gravel every day to get rid of the ich that falls off of the fish; it will mature in the substrate and hatch off the free swimming form of the parasite. Keep treating the tank after the white spots disappear as there will still be free swimmers; it's at the free swimming stage that the med is going to kill them off and they will keep hatching for a while.


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## gillmanjr (Jan 27, 2017)

Old Newbie said:


> gillmanjr said:
> 
> 
> > I have a specific question for you guys, hoping someone can answer. So I'm treating this with Paraguard which is a Malachite Green based product (some kind of blend) and I have my tank at 82F to reduce the life cycle of the ich. Does anyone know if it is OK to also add sea salt to the tank? I know that raising the temperature and treating with Malachite reduces oxygen in the water, would it be too risky to also add sea salt?
> ...


Thanks. Yea I have a TON of surface agitation. Both of my 3/4" outlets from my FX6 are turned directly up at the surface plus I have a 600 GPH powerhead at the surface. There is so much surface agitation right now that you can hear it from the other room. OK so I'm going to add some sea salt as well. I'm doing a water change today and will add 1 teaspoon per gallon to start off with. Then I'll take it up to 2 tomorrow.


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## Old Newbie (Feb 18, 2017)

I use 2 tablespoons for 10 gallons (6 teaspoons) which I guess is a little light, but some fish are more sensitive to salt than others. I have Mbuna which are ok with salt, but I have synodontis catfish with them and I don't like too much salt with scaleless fish.


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

I normally work up to two tablespoons per five gallons when using salt to treat ich. I prefer using super ick cure, it has worked every time I have used it.


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## gillmanjr (Jan 27, 2017)

Sorry I meant one teaspoon per 5 gallon, not per gallon.


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## joselepiu (Jul 22, 2017)

just curious, is it teaspoons or tablespoons there is a big difference...
i think...


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

Tablespoons


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## joselepiu (Jul 22, 2017)

:thumb: ...


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## gillmanjr (Jan 27, 2017)

Yea I meant tablespoon too. Anyway I added the dose yesterday during my water change. I did a dose for 80 gallon (75 gallon tank plus FX6) which just so happens to come out to 16 tablespoons which is exactly 1 cup. My fish are fine at that dose and with the water temp sitting at 83F right now. I'm going to add another half cup of salt to the water today.

BTW the ich is already starting to clear up. It was the worst on a few of my socolofi and they are almost clear of it. Paraguard says to treat for 2 whole weeks so thats what I'm going to do but I'll probably start reducing the water temp after the first week.


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## gillmanjr (Jan 27, 2017)

I have a question: This afternoon I did another 50% water change (I've been doing them every 48 hours since I noticed the white spots). I did it the exact same way I have been doing them since I started the treatment, I add a half cup of salt to the replacement water and then treat the tank with Paraguard right after. After this water change my aquarium suddenly got super cloudy. And I mean so cloudy that I can't even see the back wall. This hasn't happened before or after any other water change that I've ever done. Has anyone experienced this before? Is it just a sudden bacteria bloom?


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

Yeah, that's exactly what you're dealing with. Might be a good time to try one of those bacteria products that don't work lol. The higher temp and the meds will sometimes allow less desirable bacteria to proliferate, hence the cloudy water.


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## gillmanjr (Jan 27, 2017)

caldwelldaniel26 said:


> Yeah, that's exactly what you're dealing with. Might be a good time to try one of those bacteria products that don't work lol. The higher temp and the meds will sometimes allow less desirable bacteria to proliferate, hence the cloudy water.


I have Seachem Stability but what would that do? I'm asking sincerely, if its a bacteria bloom why would you add more bacteria?


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

Because it's a bloom of heterotrophic bacteria that causes the cloudiness and you want to increase the amount of autotrophic bacteria so they can use up all the nutrients and reduce the heterotrophic colonies. Frequent water changes and cutting back feedings will help the situation as well. It's also a common new tank issue.


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## joselepiu (Jul 22, 2017)

caldwelldaniel26 said:


> The higher temp and the meds will sometimes *allow less desirable bacteria *to proliferate, hence the cloudy water.


what kind of bacteria daniel?...


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

joselepiu said:


> caldwelldaniel26 said:
> 
> 
> > The higher temp and the meds will sometimes *allow less desirable bacteria *to proliferate, hence the cloudy water.
> ...


Heterotrophic bacteria, the type that is responsible for bacterial slime and cloudy water. I think "less desirable" isn't necessarily the best term, considering this type of bacteria is useful in converting waste. But it is undesirable when conditions allow it to proliferate unchecked.


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## gillmanjr (Jan 27, 2017)

OK I dosed it.


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## joselepiu (Jul 22, 2017)

caldwelldaniel26 said:


> joselepiu said:
> 
> 
> > caldwelldaniel26 said:
> ...


 :thumb: ...


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## joselepiu (Jul 22, 2017)

gillmanjr said:


> OK I dosed it.


with what?... :-? :-? :-?


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

He dosed the tank with Stability


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## joselepiu (Jul 22, 2017)

:thumb: thx...


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## gillmanjr (Jan 27, 2017)

The tank was cleared up this morning. :thumb:

I'm not sure how long it usually takes for this to clear up but from what I've read in other posts it can sometimes take days. Thanks for the help.


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