jn1

Hi all, I'm treating some fish in a plastic tub with no filter or aeration. I don't have a pump and was wondering if those cheap oxygen shells from the shops would help? I'm planning on dosing with some 'wunder cure'. They're currently getting some Furan and seem ok. One fish has an ulcer and the other 2 have blood streaks in their tails. They got 1 capsule furan in 40L of water, a second capsule yesterday, will leave them for 1 more day before changing water and adding carbon. In a few more days I'll add some wunder cure cause I think they might have had whitespot or some other parasite. Any advice? Will the oxy shells help or will they react with the medications?

The place is a rental. The tenants phoned after someone who knew about fish noticed the spots on them. They may well have been like that for some time. We had no experience with fish nor have the tenants. we are all trying to learn very quickly! (Can you recommend a good book?) The previous tenants overfed the fish and there were serious water quality problems with some deaths. The pond was vacuumed (maybe 50% water change) and water problems corrected (and tested to be sure.. pH was 7.8, nitrite and ammonia were nil and nitrate was in the normal range). The filter was added after this to help mitigate any future problems. There was already a pump which runs 24/7 to a trickling pedestal so the water is aerated. The pond is now well stocked with plants (it was only stocked to a lesser degree before the overfeeding which wouldn't have helped I guess) This was some time ago now (april/may?) but yes the fish would have been stressed at the time. Tenants have a net and have been diligently scooping out all leaves etc so there is definitely very little decomposing matter in there apart from a very fine layer of sediment/sludge (with the fish out we might take the opportunity to hire the pondvac again and clean that up) Pond is only 40-50cm deep so we definitely have a good view of the bottom and are sure it's looking good. Q: Under normal conditions is it too stressful for the fish to vacuum the pond in winter? (ie: perform a significant water change?) The new tenants were feeding very carefully as per our instructions but stopped when the water got cold (we have a thermometer in there that says when they should stop being fed). Fish are definitely hibernating but when we take them out and bring them into bins inside is it possible I may have to start feeding them again? I guess I'll bring the thermometer with the fish to check that. I understand that I should wait about a week after the temp comes into the 'feeding zone' before starting to feed them? I think I will leave the salt in the bins until a week after I stop seeing spots. Then I guess gradually flush out the salt with small water changes until I get to virtually no salt before putting them back into the pond. Does this all sound ok? Really do appreciate your expertise.

Thanks for the quick reply. The fish aren't real big 3 are small fantails maybe 6cm and there are 2 bigger comets at maybe 10-12cm. Maybe I can use plastic bins to treat them with salt? Thinking I can put the 3 small ones in one bin and the 2 bigger ones in another? I have some bins that will handle maybe 40L each. Would this be ok without a pump? The bins are rectangular so have good surface area. How long would they have to be out of the pond to break the cycle? I have a biological filter in the pond. If I take the fish out but leave the filter running will this prevent the water from cycling when I reintroduce the fish? Actually.. since this is effectively quarrantine treatment (albeit in reverse) should I be treating for/with anything else to make sure the fish are free of any other parasite or diseases? Was thinking of dosing the pond with acriflavin for good measure but I can only find 20ml bottles at $5 each... I need about 50mls I think. Anyone know where I can get some medium quantity at a reasonable price?

Intersesting topic. I happen to have an Argus pet heating pad. Do you know if I could put one of these under a tank as a temporary heat source for a hospital/quarrantine tank? The pet pad is 15 watts.

Hi there, Have discovered white spot on our pond fish. I am very new at this so have alot of questions! (Pond was 'inherited' with a proprety purchase) Can I treat this in the winter or will the water be too cold to have much success? (ie: will the parasite largely be dormant?) Was hoping to treat with sea salt as per recommendations on KoiVet.com but don't know enough about the lifecycle at a cold temp. Pond water will be at most 8 deg. C... possibly less (I'm in Christchurch). The other thing is.. there are only 5 fish! Should I bring them indoors and treat them? Then wait to treat the pond until spring? I don't have any indoor tanks or pumps so I would have to 'invest' in some which I'd rather not do at this stage if I can avoid it. If indoor treatment is the answer what temp. would I have to get the water to to be successful? Also how would the salt affect water lilies and marginals (acorus, arum, milfoil, babies tears, papyrus, irises)? Would I be better of removing these and treating with something else? (Formalin, Potassium Permangenate?) Or would removing the fish break the lifecycle and avoid the need to treat the pond? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!!