Home Adverts Recent Added Auction Scam Alerts Fishkeeping Forum List Your Ad ShopAds Videos
Tropical Fish Aquariums & Equip Marine Fish & Marine Inverts Cichlids Malawi Tanganyikan Cichlids
Wanted Discus Goldfish, Koi & Ponds Retailers & Services ALL ADS By County

Home      Reply		Viewed: 383 -- Replies: 10
PM | All Topics | General | Cichlids | Marine | Coldwater | Tanks/Equipment | Diseases | Members

Posted	Help
01-04-2007 21:57 by Tanyaw	I keep coldwater fish in a 115 litre tank (think thats about 26 gal). I have lost several fish to what i think is white spot, i have treated them first with a course of Protozin, and because that didnt work, after a few days i treated them with Myxazin cause i thought maybe it was a bacterial infection. My comet has 3 white patches on his tailfin, he is really active as usual, i also have a choclate and gold fish which has what seems to be a cotton wool type mass on his side which is coming out from his scales, also he seems to be retracting his dorsal and underneath fins quite a bit, he still uses them, and seems to be more active than usual. my other fish dont seem to be affected, and only one of the 4 fish that died had these white patches. I have read about putting salt in the tank and raising the temperature to help combat certain diseases, can you do this in a coldwater tank? (how much salt and what temp? and what treatment should i use?) If anyone can help and know what it is my fish have got please let me know, i dont want to loose the two fish in question because i have had them for quite a while now and have become quite attached to them. thanks if you can help. Tanya xx
01-04-2007 22:51 by Jim Son	hi Tanya well firstly, it kind of sounds like a fungus issue perhaps? white-spot is pretty unmistakable (pin-head size white dots that at first appear at random places and then get completely out of control if not treated) the fish will also RUB and SCRATCH against objects sometimes which DOESNT usually happen with fungus raising the temp WILL help tackle the white spot or costia parasite, but do NOT raise the temp if it isnt (well not for coldwater, no point stressing them more than they are if it aint white spot or costia) you say 3 "white patches" on tail fin this is certainly not like white spot to me, white spot doesnt normally stick to just one part of the fish and white spot is not "patches" As for salt, i have never kept coldwater, but salt in my opinion WILL help here, as it helps against fungus and white spot anyway. BUT wait for further advice here bear in mind - sometimes people add too LITTLE salt, once you have clarified if your fish can take salt, try to push the limits somewhat and increase aeration, dont just add a TINY bit of salt, it wont do much, its either SALT (in a decent dose) or no salt for me (when treating disease) its interesting as Protozin is usually very good at treating fungus so i am a little stumped. Did you add it on days 1,2,3 and 6? Protozin can also be used at 1.5x regular dose if you keep temp below 80F according to Waterlife i wouldnt use Myxazin really, nothing you describe indicates a bacteria infection to me. If only some fish (a minority) are affected after several days, this further reduces the liklihood its white spot Please bear in mind i have never kept coldwater, BUT my early gut feeling is salt and back to the Protozin, BUT you will need to let the Myaxin run its course as you cannot combine the two within 4-days according to label by the way "cotton wool" symtpoms usually means fungus, which is not technically contagious so i wonder how comes your other fish died? do you check you water for ammonia and nitrite?
01-04-2007 23:00 by Tanyaw	i wasnt aware i had to check water for things like that, im relatively new at this, only kept one or two gold fish up til recently. the first fish that died was a fantail and i think it died of swimbladder problem, but i have lost a blackmoor, that one had white patches which i thought had gone, but then it kept hiding away and then i found it tangled in the plants dead. the comet has 2 small patches of white on one side of the tail fin and 1 patch on the other side. one of my other fish (shubunkin) seems to have a dorsal fin that seems clamped down/lying down? but i cant see any white patches or anything on that one. do you think it could be same problem maybe? xx
01-04-2007 23:04 by Jim Son	Tanya, how many fish you got, how big are they roughly and how big is your tank?
01-04-2007 23:13 by Tanyaw	my tank is 115 litres think thats about 25 or 26 gallons. and i have a comet which is about 4 inches long, a chocolate & gold one that is 3 1/2 inches, 4 white cap mountain minnows, shabunkin 1 inch, fan tail about 1 or 1 1/2 inch. Thats all i have in the tank now. i have just moved them from a 97 litre tank also.
01-04-2007 23:33 by Jim Son	sorry i missed the tank size, you mentioned it earlier. I think salt will be a good start. Despite some views, normal table salt can be used in these circumstances (just dont use the Lo-Salt type salts) it must be regular table salt, EVEN BETTER is dishwasher salt funnily enough. You could also go and buy some proper marine fish salt. Go for 3 grams per litre, which in your case would be about 300 grams, this would be about 37 HEAPED teaspoons (you see, thats a fair bit) - but 3 grams per litre, is the dose to really make a difference. Some people may say to try 1 gram per litre (approx 12-13 heaped spoons) but its my feeling that the fish you mentioned would be fine with 3 grams per litre. People who suggest very low salt are normally not understanding the science behind it. You only EVER use "very low" salt for fish with a proven track record of salt-intolerence Just add it gradually over a few hours and increase aeration (mix the salt in warm / hot water or it will take forever to dissolve) In the morning on this forum you will get the "crew" on, they been here years, they might want to shed some light, although i doubt it, as this forum seems to be "marine heavy" and most people cant remember what to say for tropical or coldwater
01-04-2007 23:40 by Tanyaw	ok. well thank you very much for your help. i will try that.xx
02-04-2007 09:02 by Tanyaw	my comet's tail is looking a bit ragged this morning, but i've already treated for fin rot????
02-04-2007 10:47 by telboy	just in case tanya,when adding meds,make sure that if you use more than 1 type that they can be used together otherwise youll end up poisoning the fish,also when using meds make sure you take out any carbon based filtration as this will stop the meds working...good luck
02-04-2007 12:18 by diane	tanya your problem is your tank is too small for goldfish,what they have is infections due to poor water quality, comets are better suited to a pond where they have more room, i hope you sort something out for them, di
02-04-2007 23:10 by Danny Boy	well done diane at last a real answer.. tanyaw you should also know that rising temp in coldwater tanks will only promote illness. this is effective for trops not cold. i wouldnt add any salt either. as diane said its pretty clear the issues here. cold water fish produce far more waste than tropical fish so need a larger volume of water to pollute i think the old rule is and inch of coldfish to 10gallons. so you could probably fit 2 small goldfish in your tank and keep them healthy. i assume you are not doing any water changes is this correct? if so you need to change about 30% of the tanks water for fresh water once a week otherweise they will get all the ailments you mention in your post. theres too much to explain and may i suggest you buy a good book on keeping cold water fish?

Adverts Previous Fish Biz Sitemap Links All Sponsor Clubs Webmaster Our Sponsors ShopAds Visits