Euthanizing... New Fish owner... Frustrating

Hallyx

It seems some misunderstanding is happening here.

Did I understand that you removed your filter? Your ammonia and nitrites were increasing, This indicates that your tank was beginning to cycle. This requires a filter with media (foam, sponge, etc) to feed and house the nitrifying bacteria colony.

Your latest readings indicate that you're going backwards. Please read up on cycling A Beginner's Guide to the Freshwater Aquarium Cycle

Also review and read all the threads you can in the archives here with the word cycle or cycling in the title. This will give you some background and understanding of the nitrogen cycle.

tiggy104

Thank you Hallyx this is very helpful, but I think regardless of knowing this information I would have removed the filter, I was instructed to because of the ich, from my understanding if I left the carbon filter in there I was just wasting my ich medicine because the filter would stop it from going back through the tank. I treated them on Wednesday the 6th with their first dose of ich treatment then I had to wait 48hours and then on Friday the 8th (yesterday) I administered their 2nd dose, I am suppose to wait another 48 hours before replacing the filter one of my fish that did have ich no longer has ich so the medication seems to be working. I do not want to disregard your advise but I am getting mixed information which is frustrating and confusing.

Hallyx

Removing the carbon and replacing it with common filter sponge or even gravel would have been better for your cycle than removing the entire filter. That's what I would do. Forget about carbon for a simple freshwater setup.

tiggy104

I bought two small sponge filters today and my normal carbon filter, the sponges fit behind the carbon so that what I can also if need be replace one sponge at a time, that makes sense right?

Also I bought an air stone to help maintain the water temperature the fish really seem to like it they swim through the bubbles alot! I am just wondering if this is something I run constantly or is it like my light where I should give them a break from it?

I put the sponge filters in today but I gave them another round of ich treatment today so I haven't put the carbon filter back in yet till I am sure the ich is gone! Thank you all for your help!

charlie1881

Hey Tigg ,
I was wondering if anyone had mentioned the use of aquarium salt to you ? I use it as a staple for medicating my tanks , before I ever use any type of medication I will incorperate the aquarium salt ( API ) brand . It works great for alot of bacterial problems if you can catch it early in stages and its easier on the fish than most medications and its safer as far as overdose is concerned and its easy to overdose with medicine when your first starting in the hobby . Not to say that its okay to just pour it in either lol but a half a teaspoon to much wont be catastrophic . I use it in particularly for fin rot and ick myself , along with 30 - 40 % bi daily water changes .
I am very sory to hear about the lose of fish but dont let it disourage you alot / most fish you get from chain store or big name pet stores (petsmart , pet co ) an so on are so weak geneticaly that they dont make it alot of the time and have very very low ammunity to disease thats not your fault .
You will do better to get your fish from a good well known breeder online on this site for example than from the stores .
That said this is a wonderfull hobby that will bring you years of pleasure and satisfaction just keep your head above water .
Tip:- You might add some live plants to your tank they will help ALOT with water quality , oxygenation , filtration and food for alot of fish . It doesnt matter what kind they will all benifit your tanks health , a few in particular that are good starters are Java Fern ( any type ) and moss (any type ) the moss is a great detox for your tank for the nitrites and ammonias .
Good luck and God bless
p.s , if you know the stuff i told ya already im sory for the repeat i just wanted to help .

Romad

Ich takes a while to cure. Keep treating for at least 3 or 4 days after you see the last of the spots.

As for carbon, you don't need it in your filter for any reason other than to help remove meds from the tank. When you're done treating, put the carbon filter cartridge back in for a week or so. Then you can just use regular sponge or filter medium after that.

If you have the cartridges that have charcoal in the middle of floss, you can always cut away part of the floss and remove the charcoal before replacing the filter.

Air stones are a good idea to have in your tank to increase oxygenation while treating or when raising the temperature in the tank. You can leave it in there but take it out if you decide to go with live plants.

Good luck and keep us posted.

tiggy104

Hey Charlie! This was really helpful thank you!! A few follow up questions though:

If I have already treated with ich medication would it be helpful still to add the salt? How much (I have a 10gallon tank)

You recommended aquarium salt ( API ) brand, would sea salt work? Or is it very specific kind of salt?

I seen about buying fish online, How does that work with shipping, that sounds very expensive??

I had considered the live plants before but I went to go buy some and the guy at the fish store told me I had to wait till my tank had been established for 6 months is this true?

Thank you for your advice! I really appreciate the help!!

tiggy104

Thanks Romad! Just curious as to why I would want to take out the air stone if I add plants? Is it just the over abundance of oxygen would make it difficult for the plants to live?

Byron

Quote:

If I have already treated with ich medication would it be helpful still to add the salt? How much (I have a 10gallon tank)

No. Never, never combine two (or more) medications/treatments. They can interact, making things worse, or one may negate the other, or cause various chemical reactions. End result is highly stressed fish.

When treating a disease, only use one method. Do a major water change or several major water changes before commencing any other "treatment" if the first is still present.

Quote:

You recommended aquarium salt ( API ) brand, would sea salt work? Or is it very specific kind of salt?

"Salt" means different things. Common salt, sodium chloride, is not the same as marine salt. Aquarium salt is common salt. Some fish are highly stressed by common salt. Soft water fish are. There are better treatments in most cases.

Quote:

I had considered the live plants before but I went to go buy some and the guy at the fish store told me I had to wait till my tank had been established for 6 months is this true?

No. More bad advice, or strange advice, from a fish store.

Plants can go into a tank on day 1. If they do, they will help avoid any "cycle." Plants aid in establishing a fish tank.

Byron.

tiggy104

Hey all!

Bit of an update... Still have ich I am feeling kinda dishearten, I have been administering the ick medication with still no results still 2 neons with ich and one black tetra that keeps showing signs of ich on and off.

I was at a local pet store today and the store owner suggested "blacking- out" the tank. I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on this, they swore by it, but for obvious reasons I am a little unsure of taking pet store persons advice. So just wondering about this.

I am seriously considering trying the salt method because I really don't think the ich medicine is working, is it possible that I have a resistant form of the disease?