BigBossPants Posted March 4, 2010 Report Share Posted March 4, 2010 My bullies have whitespot Im treating them with a product from goodings lab, apparently its still under development. Been treating them for 9 days, label says to treat for 10-14. Most of the time the temperature stays at 20 or less. Is there a treatment that wont stain the silicone which is safe and effective? I also have shrimps... Or had, I found 2 dead today so only one left now that I can see. One had turned pink, does this mean the tank got quite hot? I have a fan on it 24hrs, a filter and airstone and put ice in morning and night. It gets no sun and my room is well ventilated. Help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted March 5, 2010 Report Share Posted March 5, 2010 Hi there, Shrimp seem to turn pink when they die, I doubt that they are cooked if that was your worry I don't know what is in the treatment you are using, but crustacea are sensitive to aquarium chemicals and medications. How long have your bullies been in captivity? If it has only been a few weeks then they probably brought it in with them. However if you added a new fish without quarantining then that was your source. Always quarantine your fish for four weeks before they go into an established tank. As for non-staining treatments, I use salt for most issues on my natives, but harsher medications if the infection is severe as salt can be a little slow. Rate: 1/2 tsp salt per litre (pre-dissolve it and add slowly over a day) Regular waterchanges, adding in 1/2tsp salt per litre of water changed. Period: this is the crucial bit! Lots of whitespot treatments say you only need it for a few days. That is because at warmer temperatures the parasite goes through it's lifecycle much faster than for us with coldwater fish. You MUST keep treating for one week after the last spot falls off the fish. The thing with whitespot is they can only be killed at one part of their lifecycle. They go: *Spot on fish *Fall off fish *Cyst on ground *Cyst bursts *Hundreds of free-swimming infective stages (KILLABLE!!!) *Spot on fish So you have to wait till that last spot has fallen off and developed a little further before you can kill it. After that period your usual waterchanges will slowly remove the salt. So, either keep using your current medication, or stop using that and add salt. Salt doesn't 'clash' with other medications but there is no need to overmedicate. It also remains at the rate that you put it in - it isn't photosensitive, doesn't bind to organic matter and the effect isn't 'weakened' by the bacterial load. And all natives can deal with salt. I use salt that is both iodised and has anti-caking agent and it is FINE. There is no actual hard science to say they have any effect, only common myths and people marketing expensive aquarium salt. Looks like you are doing a good job on the temperature! Well done. Not easy this time of year. Some very useful background: http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/ich.shtml Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBossPants Posted March 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2010 Wow thanks for that stella really helpful! I dont know how high the temp gets during the day but its usually 20 or 22 when I get home, drops to 19ish after ice. Will those kind of fluctuations be stressing the fish? Also, what kind of food do they do best with? Ive been giving them pieces of frozen axy food and some of my tropical mix (flakes, colour bits, shrimp pellets and novorift) but they dont seem fussed about either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted March 5, 2010 Report Share Posted March 5, 2010 That sort of fluctuation doesn't sound too bad. The good thing with fans is evaporation (which is the cooling mechanism) works faster when it is warmer (ie when you need it more). The limiting effect is that it works less well when it is humid... So the fan is probably evening things out a bit. Min/max thermometers can be found in garden departments fairly cheaply, as either indoor-outdoor stations (stick the outdoor probe in the tank) or old-style mercury thermometers (safe as it is encased in glass). Neither are brilliantly accurate but give a good idea of the daily fluctuations. Food: My natives get a staple diet of ox heart and they THRIVE off it. They will most definitely be fussed Cut off all the fat, freeze it in chunks and dice up slices of a chunk at feeding time. I have a little knife and glass cutting slab that I use only for the heart, so I don't even have to bother washing it after. I also use live food when I can find or culture it. The diet you are feeding is probably fine nutrient-wise. In the wild they are insectivores, so high-protein is good. What sort of bullies do you have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBossPants Posted March 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2010 I think they are all common bullies but not 100% on the biggest of the three. I also have a bunch of mosquito fish in the tank, and the lone shrimp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted March 5, 2010 Report Share Posted March 5, 2010 Best that the mosquito fish do not live in your tank, the penalties for keeping unwanted organisms are high, something like $100,000.00 or five years imprisonment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted March 5, 2010 Report Share Posted March 5, 2010 Yes, Zev is right. And sorry but you have to kill them. Releasing them, even back to where they came from, is also heavily punished. Either whack them into some concrete, use clove oil, or drop them into a container of ice-water. Consider your bullies lucky that they still have fins and eyes..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBossPants Posted March 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2010 Oops I had no idea! Out they come then, Im sure I have some vodka somewhere... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted March 5, 2010 Report Share Posted March 5, 2010 so why do they have to die? can you not keep them any more? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted March 5, 2010 Report Share Posted March 5, 2010 Horribly illegal to have anything to do with them other than kill them. Unwanted organism. They spread very rapidly due to being livebearers and females can store sperm for up to six months. They can attack and kill other fish. They don't control mosquitos, despite their name. They possibly exacerbate mosquito problems due to killing off other fish that do actually eat mosquito larvae. They are a problem in many countries, and other common names include 'damnbusia' and 'plague-guppy'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted March 5, 2010 Report Share Posted March 5, 2010 oh mossie fish.. i get you. i thought you were talking about the common bullies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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