New marbled bn with (assuming) Ich?

[blondeyny]

I got this lil guy on 8/29. Put him in a 5 gal QT by himself. Used filter media from another tank to "instantly cycle" the QT. A little ammonia showed up for a couple days then disappeared. This is what he looked like when I brought him home...

Then about a week later... hopefully you can see the spots

I have been treating with a combo of salt/RidIch+ per (Ick) Parasite Treatment for Plecos by drgold for the past 4 days. I am on day 5. For the first 2 days after noticing the spots, I was using Ich Attack with raised temp to 86F. Then I was given the treatment regimen by drgold, and switched. Someone in another forum thought it was Oodinium instead of Ich. But I haven't seen the "gold dust" characteristics of Oodinium.

This is what the lil one looks like this morning...

(the last pic I used flash is why it looks brighter than other pics)

I did a 50% wc before I started the treatment, and a 25% wc the 2nd and 3rd days. The 4th day I didn't do a wc. I did a 25% change today, and replaced the salt I took out.

His diet has been small bits of algae wafer or small chunks of zucchini. I occasionally see him nibbling on it, but it's never totally gone in the morning. However, I do see poo in the tank so he has to be eating something.

I haven't seen a real change except that the "spots" don't seem as large now. They seem smaller and more of them than before. Should I keep on with the drgold treatment or change to something else? Any info would be appreciated!

 

[Doodles]

I would carry on with drgolds.

You did the torch trick to see the oodinium?
Have you checked also for nitrites?

Velvet kills a lot quicker than ich, i would of thought 4 or 5 days without velvet treatment would of killed the little guy.

 

[C8lyn]

This looks almost exactly like my little marble at the moment. I've been trying to figure out what's wrog because his colour has changed and he's not eating. You can have a look at my thread "little marble is very thin" and see the pictures I have on there.

 

[blondeyny]

I would carry on with drgolds.

You did the torch trick to see the oodinium?
Have you checked also for nitrites?

Velvet kills a lot quicker than ich, i would of thought 4 or 5 days without velvet treatment would of killed the little guy.

Yeah I've tried looking at the lil guy with a flashlight with tank lights off and haven't seen anything I would really call "gold dust". Even with a magnifying glass, just all of these lil spots. It almost makes me think of a fish form of chicken pox how they are raised and all over the place.

Did a water test today in fact and no NI's or Ammonia. Only thing showing is NA's at 5-10 ppm. That's all after a water change.

So you are thinking if it is Velvet....he would've been gone by now? So it's probably Ich?

 

[VickiandKev]

Hi,

The redness in the fins suggest bacterial infection as well as the white spot. I would recommend treating with esha exit and esha 2000 for 3-4 days. If you have been treating with any other meds do a 50-60% water change or remove the meds with a new carbon media in the filter before treating with the esha combo.

Hope the little guy gets better, let us know

 

[blondeyny]

I was wondering about the redness before, but since I have been treating with RidIch+/salt the redness has gone. (see last pic) The edges of his fins have slight damage, but figured that would be healed with good water quality as I do with my betta.

I don't think esha exit and esha 2000 are available here in US. At least I've never seen it. I'll check online to see if I can find someplace in the US that carries it.

I do have Paraguard by Seachem. Should I switch to that? http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/ParaGuard.html
If I do switch, I know I have to do a 50% wc, but how long should I run the carbon filter before adding the Paraguard?
Will the salt in the water be a problem?

 

[Doodles]

I wouldn't start changing meds now, if the redness is gone and he seems to be improving then i would carry on as you are.

 

[bigbird]

Hi All,

Just checking if anybody has worked with a salt bath before with the Ls. In the apisto world, when a fish has white spot or bacteria, some preform a 15min salt bath and within 24-36hours the white spots disappear. As Apistos come from the same region as Ls, maybe this might help. regards jk

 

[blondeyny]

I wouldn't start changing meds now, if the redness is gone and he seems to be improving then i would carry on as you are.

That's about the only improvement I've seen. The spots don't seem to be going away like I thought they would have by now. This morning when I checked on him, there seems to be a slight tinge of yellow on his belly. Also hasn't moved from it's spot next to the thermometer on the front wall of the tank in a lil over a day. Except to poke it's head out of the water occasionally. I've kept the tank lights off thinking maybe that would help it's stress level. Also, didn't seem to touch the small piece of veg I put in the tank either.

If it is velvet (never had a fish with velvet before) will the treatment regimen I am doing also kill that? That's part of the reason I am wondering if I should be changing the meds.

This lil one is making me so nervous :cry:

 

[Irene0100]

poor thing, I think the red is sign of infection. keep temp high and water very clean.
i donr know what meds you can get but if whitespot and followingthe treatment i would expect improvement by now. I assume you removed any carbon from the filter.
does he have wood to chew on and hide under (helps reduce his stress)?
he is a long fin ancistrus BN. marbled BN is often the name given to LDA08 which is a very different BN.

 

[blondeyny]

He died some time during the day. I wish I knew what was ailing him so I could've saved him and given him a good life.

 

[Big-B]

:imsorry:

 

[C8lyn]

Sorry to hear. I found my marble passed last night too. They can have fun together in fishy heaven.

 

[blondeyny]

Sorry C8tlyn. I'm just so infuriated right now that I couldn't save him. Over the 2 weeks I had him, I got so attached. No one could really tell me what was wrong or what to do.

 

[Irene0100]

oh I am sorry. I would let the tank cycle with some dither fish for a few weeks before introducing another plec. just in case any infection still there. plus a tank has to be very mature for plecs .

 

[blondeyny]

I took the tank down and did a bleach bath on everything, and letting everything dry.

I don't have the space to keep a QT constantly running. As long as I took filter media from an established tank, I was told that would be fine as far as cycling. I didn't think a QT tank had to be "mature" for them.

 

[RobHarrison]

So Sorry to hear that you tried your best to save the little guy you have to be commended for that

 

[Doodles]

 

[VickiandKev]

Hi All,

Just checking if anybody has worked with a salt bath before with the Ls. In the apisto world, when a fish has white spot or bacteria, some preform a 15min salt bath and within 24-36hours the white spots disappear. As Apistos come from the same region as Ls, maybe this might help. regards jk

Sorry i have come to this a bit late I think...

I wouldn't salt bath any L pleco. Although you can treat with salt for Ich and other infections its at a really small dose (0.25g per L) Salt has such an osmotic effect on fish and pleco seem to be more sensitive to this.

Sorry for your loss blondeyny at least you tried to help the little guy and gave him every chance of surviving I've know other fish keepers to a lot less.