Quick cure help

[afrabat]

I noticed this morning during their feeding that my colony of P. pulchers have ich. I dosed salt and am in the process of raising the temp to mid 80s; I have a question however. I also dosed 55 drops of Quick cure and I noticed that the little squeeze bottle is hard to get drops out, Is this normal? I had to squeeze the bottle hard as I could and had to touch the tip to the water to get anything out. It is such a pain but I would like to know if other people have this problem also. If you have any other advice please let me know. I have only had Ich one time before so I haven't had a lot of practice with it.

Thanks,
Matt

[fishmaven]

You shouldn't have to touch the tip to the water to get something out of it. There may be something blocking the hole in the tip.

First, I'd shake the bottle prior to using it. If there's something hardened at the tip this may displace it. Also, the active ingredients within the meds may have fallen out of suspension. Shaking the bottle should remix the meds.

Next the idea is for the quick cure to be present in the tank throughout the day. To better ensure that, I'd use half dose twice a day instead of a whole dose once.

Unless you've introduced a new fish recently, ich is usually caused by temp fluctuations. If the room temp varies the tank temp will vary too unless you've got a monster tank. Your heater may have been adjusted improperly or not properly placed in the tank. The heater should be placed near the return of your filter, not just randomly placed somewhere.

Ich should be rare, unless you're doing something wrong. A small bottle doesn't contain much more than 400 drops initially. If you have more than one tank, I'd suggest buying the 4 ounce bottle next time.
Dan

[afrabat]

I did a water change yesterday and didn't regulate the temp of the water as I had a lot of things going on. I did at 2 plecos but it was most likely the water change. Thanks for the info about the tip of the bottle and the heater.

[fishmaven]

Matt,
It normally takes more than a day for white spots to appear. The first signs are usually flashing (twisting and rubbing against rocks and other decorations). My guess is that they had ich prior to the water change.

Most of us tend to let things slide and expect a water change to bring things right again. It doesn't always work out that way. I'd suggest feeding just prior to the water change and watching the fish for a while… then do the water change.
Dan

[afrabat]

We watch those fish every day when we feed them because they are my wifes fish. I did not see any signs like you said. No joking at all It caught me WAY off guard this morning. Thanks for the help but obviously you have to be right I swear I didn't see any signs though. I just can't believe I didn't see the signs.

[fishmaven]

Matt,
I'm not picking on you. A thread like this can be a learning experience for some and a refresher for others. It normally takes at least 2-3 days for the white spots to appear. I don't know what kind of lighting you have on the tank or the position of the lights. It wouldn't hurt to, on occasion, use a flashlight just to closely exam the females for fin damage. Also if you're familiar with their normal behavior, look for anything abnormal.

When did you add the plecos??
Dan

[afrabat]

Dan, I know your not picking on me thanks for clearing that up though! lol I added the plecos about 3 or 4 days ago. Why do you say to look for fin damage? Like I said before I only had this one other time out of 3 years in the hobby so I had no idea fin damage was part of Ich.
Thanks.

[fishmaven]

I think the ich came in with the plecos.

Whenever I keep pairs of fish together it's the females that tend to show things first. When I said to look for fin damage it was a general thing to look for when examining the fish- it's not related to the ich. It's something to look for any time you're closely looking at your tank.
Dan

[afrabat]

Okay I've never had plecos so I was wondering if they could even get it. Thanks for all your help Dan. It is greatly appreciated.

[cellarmedic]

Hi, Has any one come across a convict that was black and white stripped and after 8 weeks in the tank it is going white all over. Coni is about 6" in length eating well. Hides as normal and plays now she has settled. I thought she might have caught herself on a rock and lost a few scales but it is all over her body.
Thanks guys and gals. Im lost with this one.Kevin.

[chc]

Kevin, please post a photo if you can.

You may not have a problem at all. If when you say "white" you really mean white (not just lighter grey) you may just have a line-bred convict that is changing color. There are a number of different color forms of this fish. White is one of those forms.

[nohofish]

I noticed this morning during their feeding that my colony of P. pulchers have ich. I dosed salt and am in the process of raising the temp to mid 80s; I have a question however. I also dosed 55 drops of Quick cure and I noticed that the little squeeze bottle is hard to get drops out, Is this normal? I had to squeeze the bottle hard as I could and had to touch the tip to the water to get anything out. It is such a pain but I would like to know if other people have this problem also. If you have any other advice please let me know. I have only had Ich one time before so I haven't had a lot of practice with it.

Thanks,
Matt
My bottle of quick cure has a simlar problem. A couple drops come out and then it clogs up. I have shaken the bottle well. I have to use a paper clip(opened up to make stiff wire), jam it down through the hole to get out a few drops and then repeat the process. Must be a defect in their bottle design.
Stinks:cool:

[afrabat]

Noho, yes my bottle was the exact same as yours. Go out and by another bottle and it should work just fine. What a pain though.