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New Cube

Did a complete rearranging of my den. Moved furniture and tanks to give me more room in the center. Got rid of a whole lot of old stuff and here's the result:
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Introduced two groups of four green neon tetras to the right hand tank, and have lost two so far. Another has ich, so have raised the temp to 83º following the instructions of Ben, my LFS guy who knows his stuff. There are also Nerite snails, and two otos. Hope the temp increase works. Here's an image of some of the inhabitants:
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You might read this EDIS article Ichthyophthirius multifiliis (White Spot) Infections in Fish1

This article includes link to various other publications including treatment protocols

Ben is a lot more relaxed in his attitude to ich than I am ;) 83F will accelerate the life cycle of the parasite but is unlikely to impede it; as of several years ago there are now temperature tolerant ich variants that remained infectious even with 90F temperature increases/durations (aquaculture research), there are also reports of very aggressive/resistant ich strains at aquaculture stations (though I've not looked for veterinary research on these)
(it's likely that the other 2 neons died from ich infections (whether you saw spots or not) & all fish that have been exposed are now infected)
 
If these are wild green neons, be careful with the salt, they may actually do better with a formalin treatment such as Rid X (check production/expiry dates on any formalin meds, also fish shop conditions of storage)
 
If you do decide to use any formalin (or combination) med, it's important to
- reduce temperature to 76 -78F (to increase/improve dissolved oxygen levels in the water)
- leave tank lights off 8-12 hours after dosing (re photosensitivity/reactivity of the formalin - & many other meds), fish are also generally more relaxed with subdued lighting
- at least 25% daily water changes (usually done just prior to dosing)
- have filter return gently splashing/rolling water surface to maximize oxygenation
- begin with 1/2 or even 1/4 dose, observe fish etc for negative reactions, then add remaining dose after ~1hour ... dim light if possible, but obviously sufficient lighting to observe fish respiration rates, significant lethargy etc: note it's common to see some mild stress reaction to meds, as long as fish are not gasping, spiralling, hovering at the surface or bottom etc
- have activated carbon etc on hand to help remove meds in case of negative reaction, also perform 25% - 50% water change

Many meds can interfere with N-cycle bacteria (another reason that 25% daily water change is recommended) so continue to monitor closely for the week following any treatments.

Shrimp can be sensitive to medications if they've just molted, so limiting food during any treatment is suggested, also don't begin a treatment if you see fresh casings.

If you decide not to medicate, daily water changes are always a great idea - if you're able to closely match tank & tap water parameters, 50% water change can help a lot.
 
Hi Rob, hope all went smoothly with your surgery & you're feeling better soon!
Just let the tanks sort themselves while you look after yourself :nurse:
 
Sorry to hear that, maybe talk to your lfs about replacing them as it's obvious that the fish came in with issues.
Hope you're doing better than your neons :D
 
alto said:
Sorry to hear that, maybe talk to your lfs about replacing them as it's obvious that the fish came in with issues.
Hope you're doing better than your neons :D
Click to expand...
LFS has already said they they will replace and fortunately I am doing better than the fish.
 
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