fish acting like Ick but no spots?????

prinmel

I just got a few fish from Petco, and now they are all acting as if they have ick, but not a single white spot, nor any other visible signs of illness but clamped fins and rubbing on gravel and decor. but fish are dying and now my babies I have been raising for months are scratching also. I am not by any means new to fish keeping, but this has me puzzled. never seen such healthy looking fish act like this. I have only had ick two times though so maybe the spots have not shown up yet... I have had the fish for a week. I am treating for ick and put in pimafix and melafix and some salt, just because I am baffled as to what is wrong...


1. Size of tank? 55 gallon

2. Water parameters
a. Ammonia? 0
b. Nitrite? 0
c. Nitrate?
d. pH, KH and GH? really hard water
e. Test kit? yes

3. Temperature? 80

4. FW (fresh water) or BW (brackish)? fw

5. How long the aquarium has been set up? 4 years

6. What fish do you have? mollies, platies, sword tail and babies
How many are in your tank? had 10 and 7 babies, now have 5 and 8 babies.
How big are they? full grown babies.. small
How long have you had them? babies for months, adults new except mama to babies about a year

7. Were the fish placed under quarantine period (minus the first batch from the point wherein the tank is ready to accommodate the inhabitants)? no, I moved goldfish that were in there to another tank so all that was left was mama and babies. Dumb, I know! after as long as I have been doing this

8. a. Any live plants? Fake plants? fake plants
b. Sand, gravel, barebottom? gravel
c. Rocks, woods, fancy decors? Any hollow decors? rocks hollow pirate ship, maoi statues

9. a. Filtration? two 55 gallon backpacks
b. Heater? yes

10. a. Lighting schedule? What lights are used? 12 hours on 12 hours off, regular hood lights
b. Any sunlight exposure? How long? not really

11. a. Water change schedule? a full vaccuuming every 2 weeks
b. Volume of water changed? no more than 1/4
c. Well water, tap water, RO water? tap water
d. Water conditioner used? of course
e. Frequency of gravel/sand (if any) vacuumed?

12. Foods? flakes varieties
How often are they fed? every other day

13. a. Any abnormal signs/symptoms? yes see above
b. Appearance of poop? fine and lots of it from algea they eat in the tank
c. Appearance of gills? fine

14. a. Have you treated your fish ahead of diagnosis? yep
b. What meds were used? see above

15. Insert photos of fish in question and full tank shot if necessary.

Beaches

How long after adding the fish did they start acting this way? It does sound like it could be IcH, but I would not assume and treat for Ich until I saw the appearance of the cysts/spots. It could be a toxin in the water or something else aggravating them.

I would advise not using all those meds. at the same time when you don't know what it is you are treating. Using an Ich med, Melafix & Pimafix and salt could be stressing them out further and certain combinations of meds. can become toxic, the same with adding too much salt at once.

Have you always had the temp. at 80* or did you raise that as part of the Ich treatment? You want to make sure you have plenty of oxygenation/aeration/circulation going, particularly if you are using all those meds. at the same time.

I would first try and check your Nitrate & PH Levels (you had a ? against those) to rule them out, could be a water quality problem. I would just keep up with partial water changes as this stage until you are certain it is Ich.