# Is this ich



## mbunakid (Jul 22, 2007)

Is this Ich? the tank doesn't seem to have an abbunadance of white floating particles, so I'm not sure, the fish in the pic is worst one in regards to skin lesions but he doesn't have too many white specs, but most show some sign of disease. Some have small white dots on there underside and top. The eyes are actually fine the picture just came out wrong. If so what is the best medication to use if this is ich? The tanks ph is 8.2, the temperature is 79.3, ammonia is 0 and nitrate is between 0-5 ppm, the nitrites[/img] are 0. I do about 1/3 water change weekly. I have no scaleless fish, they are all mbuna about 1-2" and theres about 25 in my 75 gallon tank so its not too overstocked and the food floats and is all eaten, the fish are trewavasae, OB peacock(not mbuna but...), Elongatus, and red zebra. Sorry for the long post I just want to make sure nothing happens, I had all my breeders in my 55 die in about 3 days due to unknown causes a couple months ago.


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## mbunakid (Jul 22, 2007)

ps they still have an appetite and eat like normal but have female dull colors
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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

With the fins all clamped like that they are definitely not happy about something.

You will not see ich in the water column. Pretty much the only time you can see the organism is when its on the fish. It looks like slat or sugar granules on the body and fins. In my experience you can usually see it on the fins first, but I don't know if its that way all the time.

The fish will also flash. They will look like they are trying to scratch their sides, or trying to rub something oof against the gravel and decor. Have you noticed anything like that?

Looking at your pictures I can't say for sure if its ich. Thet fish in the pics does look like he/she has been beaten up a bit.

If they are only 1-2inches, they should all still have the female/juvenile coloration (for the ones that have different colored males and females.).

There area couple of ways to treat ich (if that is really what you have). Many people really like the heat+ salt method. You should take a look at the Ich treatment article in the Library Section http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php This will give you all the options.

I used to use heat and salt (worked great) until I mistook a columnaris bacterial infection as ich and raise the temp. The bacteria grew so out of control, I lost the whole tank before I knew what was happening. Because of that scare, I almost always use a medication, but that is just me. Personally I use Quick Cure, but if you have clear silicone in your tank, it will stain it a horrible green color that may or may not ever fade away. I prefer the balck silicone tanks anyway, so I don't have a problem using the meds that stain (quick cure, clout, malachite green etc.)


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## jdgambler111 (Apr 1, 2008)

Hello,I have a couple of bala sharks and a firemouth that have tiny white spots on their fins and the bala has it on his body.Just wondering if there is something i can do to cure this.Looking for a couple of opions to go with my research.Thanks Jason


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## mbunakid (Jul 22, 2007)

well the majority of the fish in my tank are dimorphic from the start except the trewavasae which is bright blue sometimes but none of my fish ever get beaten, they might get chased but theres so many aggression is down. Its really strange because the fish act normal, maybe a little slow/ lazy but they eat, swim move etc. I haven't seen too many dashes, I'm thinking maybe except the acei is the worst. Maybe costia. I do see small white granules on some fish, but not all I think I will raise the temp and buy some salt.


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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

mbunakid said:


> Its really strange because the fish act normal, maybe a little slow/ lazy but they eat, swim move etc. I


Except slow and lazy is not normal for the species you have. Especially when they are young.

Don't be fooled into thinking that aggression is not present just becasue you don't see it. Infact, 90%+ of aggression happens when we are not there, often just after lights out. That said, Salt and heat definitely won't harm them is aggression related and it will do a lot for them if it is ich. Just keep a close etye on the situation when you raise the temp, just in case it is bacterial.

Please let us know how things turn out.


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## mbunakid (Jul 22, 2007)

Well the aggression may occur but 50% of my fish have lesions like this and it doesn't discriminate, my most aggressive fish (even though I never saw all of it) was my trewavasae and he was the biggest and he died this morning, I mean slow and lazy isn't normal but it seems very miniscule, everything appears the same today other than the trewavasae, but for some reason I felt like I was going to lose him...I have fish senses  but I did read the article, thank you for posting it I decided to go with the salt and heat because I'm almost certain it is Ich, Costia, or some other fungal disease so wish them luck.


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## lizzyd (Apr 6, 2008)

my fish have been looking like that and we have tried Pimafix because we have lost half the tank. It works for a little while and they have just started doing it again, we are down to our last ten cichlids. The water test fine, ph normal temp normal, but they are not eating like they should. About the throw in the towel and sell the whole thing :roll: 
any advise would be greeatly appreciated
frustrated in Arkansas


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## mbunakid (Jul 22, 2007)

Well just thought I'd come back to this thread heat and salt killed it, they even grew more than normal due to the water temp change


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