bare tank

[A.PROPHECY]

ive got alot of wood in my tank and some rocks, the fish mostly the cichlids like to hide from time to time

but i was wondering if its ok to remove all decorations and have it bare gravel, will it stress the fish or wil it b k?

reson is realy wana giv the tank a good vacum as i got a out break of ick in there and realy think it needs a good clean!

i do hav medication and all but i think it would help to have it bare for awile at least, to get it nice and clean

the fish are

25cm oscar

25cm red head cichlid

33cm pacu

20cm plec

couple of 15cm jd's

convict and some silver dollars

the plec , cichlids and pacu seem to like havn a place to hide but do you think it would be ok bare bottom ? wel jus gravel?

[Caryl]

They will be upset a little. If you want to give it a really good clean I would remove the gravel (cysts will be in there). Boil it to get it clean. In the meantime put back a few logs or decorations for the fish to hide in.

This assumes you haven't got an UGF.

Bare bottom is just that - NO gravel.

[sharn]

i would remove all your decorations appart from easily removable ones like driftwood. they will stress even more if you remove their hiding spots which will make getting rid of that ich harder. perhaps buy some large terracotta pots and chuck them in there? theyre easy to remove and will be good temporary hiding spots.

it would probably be ok if your fish werent 'hiding fish' ie the JD's which like to hide, plecos etc but because thats their security, and sometimes their territory moving all those spots out wont make em happy.

good luck

[A.PROPHECY]

ok ill leave a few big things in there for them, i realy think i gota do it 2nite sum of the fish jus aint lo0kn good!

anyone kno a good way to get rid of ick (whitespot)?

the shop jus said use wonder tonic?

any other ways? will water changes help aswell?

[Pawz]

I used Wunder White spot remover and turned the temp to 29* and all it well

[sharn]

i have always gotten rid of ick with salt and heat cause i prefer natural methods but some people prefer to use meds.

there is a product made by Wunder that is especially for whitespot, the tonic will do whitespot but is more of a broad all rounder i think. i am unsure if you have to half dose with that stuff cause of your pleco, generally half dose with all meds but i think i read that stuff is pretty gentle. if you dont mind risking the pleco just do a normal dose if you go the meds way, or you could start at the half dose and move it up as you moniter him. make sure you follow directions but do a weak dose for a week or so after just to make sure youve got rid of the lot.

if you want to go the salt way (if its bad just use meds, its quicker) use 1tbsp per 40L. leave it in this dosage for a week and a half or so and replace the amount you take out with water changes as it doesnt evaporate, after that slowly start to weaken the dosage but keep some salt in there for a while (maybe 1bstp per 80L) as it often takes 2 weeks or so of treatment to completly rid the tank of it.

up your temp to to around 28C as that will speed up the cycle so you can get rid of it quicker. gravel siphons and more water changes go a long way too so your on the right track there be persistent and keep the treatment up for a week or so after you see the last spots go just to make sure

*posted same time as pawz* :lol:

[A.PROPHECY]

thanks alot guys! hopefuly all my fish pull threw now :lol:

[Caryl]

You also need to fix the cause of the white spot outbreak or it will return.

[A.PROPHECY]

wont the meds get rid of that?, i duno what the cause was? maye one of the new fish introduced had it or sumthn?

[sharn]

if you recently added a fish you hadnt quarentined they could have bought it in. moving fish from tank to tank can bring it on from stress, chilling can bring it on etc. theres alot of things that can cause it.

im not 100% but i think ich is always in the aquarium but is an oppertunistic thing and will just take hold when one of your fish isnt feeling right and because its in an enclosed enviroment you will get large infestations easily.

[Caryl]

very true.

[Matthew]

I wouldn't bother with removing everything from your tank. Ick will remain regardless of what you do. As previously mentioned it is an opportunist, and when your fish are under stress they are more likely to be susceptible to it. One outbreak of ick in my tank occurred after an extensive gravel clean, the fish were obviously stressed by it!!!

It normally lies dormant as cysts in your tank, increasing the heat increases the hatch cycle, and so long as your fish are not stressed it is unable to attach to the fish. The ick needs to have a host otherwise it will die, from memory death occurs around the 24hr mark.

White spot cure will do the trick. Coming from a medical background I would insist that you use the recommended dose on the container. These meds have to be tested prior to being sold, and unless they state otherwise they should be safe at the recommended dose.

Otherwise salt is the other option. Tonic will do it, but that tends to stain the silicone. I have found that the whitespot cure doesn't stain the silicone as much.

[sharn]

and unless they state otherwise they should be safe at the recommended dose.

sadly this isnt always the case and very few meds will mention if its unsafe for inverts, plecos, and other sensitive fish im sure many many people have lost sensitive fish due to the package not mentioning that these meds are ok for your general fish, but not for the delicate ones like rams, ghost knives, plecos, clowns etc.