# Might be "Ich"



## sweetrnsugar77 (Feb 23, 2006)

The truth is we arent sure. We noticed our Gurami's were starting to lose a little color where their dorsal meets their backs....it just looked like they were going grey. We let it go a few days and they started acting weird.....rubbing on each other. Then we noticed other fish being very strange. No one else has the "greying" they do. 

We went to the store after reading online about "Ich" and got some medicine. We have a 30 gallon with approximately 23 fish/frogs. We have just recently gotten some fish and a plant as well and did not realize you need to quaranteen the newbies before letting them join the crew. 

HOWEVER.......we now have lost 2 fish to either stress or illness, not sure. We just dont want to lose more. 

Please help!


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

A little more info might help us. How long has the tank been set up? What other fish do you have? Doesn't sound like ich to me, usually you see white specks on the fish. Do the fish seem to have a film over their body?


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## sweetrnsugar77 (Feb 23, 2006)

The fish seem to be losing their color. Not so much spots as a fading of the orange on their backs. They also do seem to be gasping and are a lot more irritated than normal. But have no film on their bodies. I dont know for sure if they have fin clamping but one of them does keep bending his tail to the side.....like a cramp. None of our other fish seem to have signs and everyone is very strange with the medication. 

We did recently (2 weeks ago) move all the fish to a bigger tank. They moved from a 18 to a 30 and we aquired 3 more fish in the move. Im not sure if this is the only issue and we just stressed them out but we also had our Beta die this morning and his stomach was almost burst open. I dont know if this could be from over eating (unlikely) or if its part of whats already going on. 

Is this better?? Please any suggestions would help. We are thinking of taking them into the store for a look. Does that sound like a good idea?


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## garfieldnfish (Jan 18, 2005)

I'm not quite sure where to start. But let me see if I got this right, if not please correct me. You just recently moved 23 fish to a new tank, a 30 gal. Which would mean uncycled? With some of the fish you listed, even a cycled tank would be way too small once they reach adulthood, an uncycled one is a death trap.
Do you still have the 18 gal? Is it still set up? If not, get it set up as soon as possible and devide the fish/frogs between the tanks. (Please give us a complete list of the fish/frogs and we could help with what should be where, i.e. frogs would be better of in a species tank for example) It does not sound like ich, but ammonia poisoning to me. Large daily water changes might safe the fish in the short run but not for any length of time as large water changes will keep the tank from cycling properly. Loosing color means the fish are stressed. Spots resembling salt sprinkled on the fish is ich. If you ever had a fish with ich you know exactly what it is. Real easy to identify.
If you can afford it, get some bio spira. You can order it on line or your LFS might do it for you. It is biobugs in a bag = instant cycle for your tank. In your case the best solution if what I'm assuming is correct (uncycled, overstocked tank). Most fish stores do not carry bio spira because it has a very short shelf life but for your size tanks it is not a fortune either and if you consider the fish part of your family the few bucks it costs will be worth it. Until you get it, I would do daily water changes of 50%.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

"Stability" by seachem is the next-best choice.


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## sweetrnsugar77 (Feb 23, 2006)

Ok Im understanding most of the advice....and we took the fish into the LFS just to make sure it wasnt something else. However I dont know what "cycled" means. Could you please explain?


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## Daniel (Feb 17, 2006)

cycling is a method of preparing the tank so it is biologically ready to accept the bio load you will have when fish deficate. 'fishless Cycling is done with ammonia so you get nitrifying bacteria growth
eg
ammonia is converted to nitrite which is then converted to nitrate-if the tank hasn't been cycled you will have both high ammonia and nitrite reading, plus some medications deplete water of oxygen.

your best course is to do several small water changes over several days and buy a test kit. bubble some air in with an air stone too
you could also dose for internal bacteria infection as it could also be this and even if it isn't poor water makes it a likely problem later.

Good luck and remember that there is always someone here to help


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

There are some sticky threads containing cycling information, so be sure to read those.
Cycling is a nickname used for the process by which an aquarium's bacteria population grows enough to be able to take the tank through the nitrogen cycle, which is the conversion of toxic waste into relatively safe compounds. Namely, the ammonia is converted to nitrite which is converted to nitrate. Ammonia is very toxic, nitrate less toxic, and nitrate MUCH LESS toxic, but still noxious. Once a tank is able to convert the ammonia into nitrate immediately, the tank is said to be cycled. A cycled tank is a safe tank which doesn't discolor your fish.


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## sweetrnsugar77 (Feb 23, 2006)

Perfect. Thank you all.


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## Guest (Apr 6, 2006)

You could move the fish to seperate quarentine tanks.

-Tessa.


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