Cherry Shrimp (x5 magnification), Image via Wikipedia
Right after my last post about my new fish, they got sick. Covered in ick sick. Poor little guys. Ick is basically aquatic lice. No fun at all for the fishes, but the shrimps got all plump and happy from eating the parasites in the water. They BOTH shed during treatment (something they supposedly wouldn’t do if they were sick or felt threatened).
I started treating them with Nox-Ich, as recommended my my local fish store: treat for 12 days by adding 2 drops per 5 gallon every other day, given right after a 50% water change, add a pinch of sea salt and a healthy squirt of Stress-Zyme, and remove the carbon from the filter system before starting treatment (or the carbon with just filter out all the medicine). It worked!
With all those sick fish, I only lost one of my rasboras, the one absolutely COVERED in ick spots, sometime on Sunday. That brought the school count down to only 5, which is too few too school. I was afraid that they would start to stress, so yesterday I bought 5 more (up to 10 total) an two baby cherry shrimp. The shrimp don’t seem to mind the medicine at all, although I’ve read that the full dose can kill them.
The ick must have hitched a rid on some old plastic plants I had laying around and added to the tank about 4 days before the ick outbreak. Stupid old plants and water parasites that can survive outside of water for YEARS. Oh well. I’ll keep treating the tank, with all the new friends I added last night, for another 4 days (2 treatments), just incase any of the new fish are carrying parasites too. Then I’ll have to buy a pair of baby stockings and put a leg over my filter intake so that my shrimps can breed! Baby shrimp! I’m so excited!
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