Is My Tank Cycled/ready Yet?

[Ruskull]

Well I fought the urge this morning & didn't feed the tank anything. I'll feed them when I get home tonight, then a huge water change, then I'll dose with whatever the LFS recommends specifically for Ich.

I haven't seen any improvement using the Kordon Rid Fungus.

 

[Ruskull]

Alright, I changed 60% of the water, vacuuming the bottom as best as possible, then refilled with Aquasafe treated water. Next I treated the tank with API Super Ick Cure, seven 5 ml doses for the 36 gallons like it said on the bottle. It turns the water really blue, just like it said it would on the bottle.

It says to raise the tank temp to 82 degrees and do another treatment in 48 hours, which would be Monday night. Then you wait another 48 hours & do a 25% water change. I'll probably do another 50% just to be overkill.

I'll wait a little bit longer & then test all levels.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Is that a half-dose, or the whole thing?

 

[Ruskull]

It was a full dose. I'm getting a bit desperate now, and the Corries haven't shown any signs of stress. They're still buzzing around the tank. I figure the Corries having Ick is worse than the stress of the meds.

I didn't add any salt though, I don't want to stress any of them more than necessary.

The infected female Gold Gourami is looking ever so slightly better already, if that's possible this early. I saw her briefly open her dorsal fin for the first time in days. None of the other fish show any spots but all the Gouramis have brushed against the plants & decorations a bit here & there. Maybe I caught it fast enough to kill the free swimming stage..................

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Don't fool yourself. The life cycle goes from a lesion on the fish, to a "cyst" on the substrate where they multiply. Then they go into the free swimming stage to reinfect the fish, and the cycle starts all over again. Don't stop dosing when all the fish show no more signs of sores. That is good, but the real danger is still lurking.



I just want to caution you about using the full dose with the cories. Sometimes the cure is as bad as the disease. The new dose hasn't been in the tank for that long, so they current actions aren't what to focus on. Just keep a close eye on them. If they show signs of stress, then be sure to remove some water and reduce the dose. The recommendation for half doses for corys exists for a reason.

 

[Ruskull]

Well it's the morning testing session for both tanks & my ammonia tested at or near zero, nitrite at def. zero for the 36 gallon. My son's ammonia is bright yellow with not a hint of green and his nitrites are flat at zero as well. My yellow is never quite as "green free" as my son's tank & that pisses me off a bit. My nitrites are the same exact shade of blue as his though. I'll do the extensive nitrate tests tonight.

The Corries are still buzzing around the tank sides like they've always done and if anything I've noticed they head to the top at feeding time along with the Gouramis.

The reason I gave a full dose is because I've read multiple sources that claim the Ich can develop an immunity to the treatment is used only as a half dose, especially since I've had it for so long. I will follow your advice at the very first sign of stress with the Corries, I promise. I don't want any of them to suffer but in my humble opinion removing the Ich from the tank is the top priority since it effects all 7 fish where the remedy is possibly bad for only 3 inhabitants. According to all sources I read, there is no cure that doesn't stress scaleless fish or I would've bought it. Salt and medications are all bad. I also raised the heat to 82-83 degrees to speed up the life cycle of the Ich making them more vulnerable to the medication.

Again, I saw no visual improvement from the Kordon Rid Fungus but the fact that no other fish show sign of the white spots leads me to believe that the Kordon did possibly kill the free swimming tomites before they could attach to new hosts. I haven't seen any of the other fish rubbing against plants for a couple of days or so and the smallest, Gold Gourami female is looking a bit better, brighter & her dorsal fin opens up here & there.

 

[Ruskull]

PS:

I saved my son's ammonia reading so I can compare directly to mine later. I'd like to see how much more yellow his is than mine. Just going by memory, mine looked slightly lighter and a tiny bit more green. This is after a water change of 60% last night for my tank. I haven't done a water change for my son's tank in 2 weeks..........he has 24 creatures, mostly small, in his tank. That's some good bacteria right there..............

 

[eaglesaquarium]

If you could steal another bit or two of media from his tank, that would be fine. It will only help your fish. Fish produce more ammonia when they are stressed. Raising the temp, dosing with meds and dealing with a parasite are all stress factors for the fish, so their bodies will exude MORE ammonia. During this dosing time, keep your feedings to a minimum. Every other day is probably best for now.

 

[Ruskull]

Alright, it's their daytime now & I turned on the light and gave the final dose of Stability, which was only a single capful.

I waited about 20 minutes & did the final dose of API Super Ich Cure. The stuff really turns the water blue................

The small female Gold Gourami that had the white spots looks much better now, her dorsal fin is up & down and she's swimming better too. Still no signs on any of the other fish so that's a huge plus.

I'm just waiting for some of the blue to clear up & I'll run the tests again. If the ammonia is too high I'll add some more of my son's media to spike the filter in my tank. His tank is so good I hesitate to mess with what's been working, I haven't changed his water in more than 2 weeks. I'll probably change 25% of his tonight or tomorrow.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

No worries taking a bit of media from your son's filter to help your other tank. Ultimately, fish keepers have been doing that for generations to seed new filters. Just be glad that you have that option. It's far more reliable (and WAY CHEAPER) than any "bottled bacteria" and it is guaranteed to have cultured bacteria and with no real change to their environment, they probably won't even slow down in their processing.


Just be sure to replace the borrowed media with new stuff so that it can be recolonized. These colonies can double in 24 hours, so in theory you could take half of the media without a major problem. In practice though, it is recommended you limit your borrowing amount to no more than 1/3rd. If you are worried about a spike in his tank (it shouldn't happen) just don't feed that tank for 24-48 hours. They will be fine.

 

[Ruskull]

No worries taking a bit of media from your son's filter to help your other tank. Ultimately, fish keepers have been doing that for generations to seed new filters. Just be glad that you have that option. It's far more reliable (and WAY CHEAPER) than any "bottled bacteria" and it is guaranteed to have cultured bacteria and with no real change to their environment, they probably won't even slow down in their processing.


Just be sure to replace the borrowed media with new stuff so that it can be recolonized. These colonies can double in 24 hours, so in theory you could take half of the media without a major problem. In practice though, it is recommended you limit your borrowing amount to no more than 1/3rd. If you are worried about a spike in his tank (it shouldn't happen) just don't feed that tank for 24-48 hours. They will be fine.

Well actually his biowheel isn't spinning as much as it used to meaning the filter cartridge is getting a bit clogged again. I'll put a new cartidge in his filter box and this time I'll take the old one apart to fit more of it in my tank's filter box. Keep in mind that my box is full already with the stock cartridge, the donated old cartridge and a few rolled up pieces of the cartridge I got from PetCo. I will have to remove something to add anything, what do you suggest?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I would remove the old cartridge from PetCo.


Then, I would cut up the old one in your son's filter, and put most of it back into his filter, and the rest in yours. Personally, I wouldn't trust the biowheel to house ALL the bacteria, so make sure to put some of the old media back into his filter, just in case.

 

[Ruskull]

Thanks again, that's exactly the type of answer I needed. I'll put a new cartridge in his tonight since he has 2 slots. Then I'll cut his old one up & put 1/3 in mine & the rest back in his. I'll remove the rolled up stuff from the PetCo cartridge and replace with the fresh rolled up stuff from my son's. That plan sounds the best. I don't trust that there's enough bacteria on the bio wheel either...................

 

[Ruskull]

I added a big Wisteria plant & a medium sized Moneywort. I bought both for $2.99 each at Petsmart.

Tested for ammonia again & it was zero. Nitrite is ever so slightly toward purple, but nowhere near what would be considered .25 ppm. Still, it's a bit of a surprise. Maybe it has something to do with messing with the substrate to plant the plants? I mean the gravel did kick up some poo...........Gouramis have very distinct poo.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Yeah, disturbing poo in the substrate CAN do that sort of thing. I would vac up the poo that you see and complete a PWC to lower the nitrite, just to be safe. Removing the poo will save you some trouble down the road and doing the pwc to remove it will lower the nitrites... two birds... one stone.