lil'swimmer
New Member
My first tank. Its an 18gal tall and I'm getting it set up with driftwood (soon to add Java Moss, Java Fern, and some Anubias). Eventually I want a school of tetras (neon or emerald eye) and a pair of blue rams.
So I've had my tank set up for about 5 weeks now and I'm about 28 days into the cycling process. I've been doing 20% water changes every 5 days. My Ammonia levels are practically zero, while nitrite is still way up there. I began cycling the tank with a common pleco; mainly because I've got a lot of driftwood that was growing a white fungus and wanted a pleco to clean it all up for me and something to get the cycling going. I've decided that the next time I cycle a tank I'm going to do fishless cycling - I didn't realize how rough this was going to be on the pleco.
When I began the cycling I had put the pleco in and all was going well. He ate, swam, was very colorful (for a pleco). After about 12 days he jumped out the back of the tank near the power filter one night and my dog ate his tail. The next morning he was dead. I took him back to the lfs and got another pleco (14 day return policy no questions asked). I've had this guy in for 16 days now. The third day I owned this fish he did the same thing as the first one and jumped out the back of the tank. I found him the next mornining and he was dry, but still alive. I rinsed him in the sink and put him back in the tank.
A couple days later he began to develop a few white spots. I'm ashamed that I didn't pay closer attention to it then - I was more focused on the water and the nitrate cycle. Its been over a week since I first noticed the white spots and realized just last night that he looked really bad. For the past week I thought he was just stressed out because of high nitrite levels and didn't like his new home. Well of course he had the ICH and from what I've seen on the internet today maybe one of the worst cases of ich ever.
The water temp had been 81F and last night I turned the temp up to 85F. It reached the temp by this morning. Last night I also put in 20 drops of Aquarisol and removed the carbon filter from the Penguin 125 biowheel powerfilter. Today he looks worse than ever. He is entirely covered in cysts, eyes too. His fins are starting to rot, and he sits was sitting at the top of some driftwood right under the light.
Questions:
Is there hope for this fish or should I just put him out of his misery?
Does Aquari-Sol (Copper Sulfate) effect my nitrifying bacteria if used as directed?
I plan on putting in 10 drops of aquarisol every night for the next 13 nights and keep the temp at 85 and maintain the 20% wc ever 5 days, After 2 weeks I'll do a 50% water change and put in a new filter cartridge. Anything else I should (or shouldn't) do?
So I've had my tank set up for about 5 weeks now and I'm about 28 days into the cycling process. I've been doing 20% water changes every 5 days. My Ammonia levels are practically zero, while nitrite is still way up there. I began cycling the tank with a common pleco; mainly because I've got a lot of driftwood that was growing a white fungus and wanted a pleco to clean it all up for me and something to get the cycling going. I've decided that the next time I cycle a tank I'm going to do fishless cycling - I didn't realize how rough this was going to be on the pleco.
When I began the cycling I had put the pleco in and all was going well. He ate, swam, was very colorful (for a pleco). After about 12 days he jumped out the back of the tank near the power filter one night and my dog ate his tail. The next morning he was dead. I took him back to the lfs and got another pleco (14 day return policy no questions asked). I've had this guy in for 16 days now. The third day I owned this fish he did the same thing as the first one and jumped out the back of the tank. I found him the next mornining and he was dry, but still alive. I rinsed him in the sink and put him back in the tank.
A couple days later he began to develop a few white spots. I'm ashamed that I didn't pay closer attention to it then - I was more focused on the water and the nitrate cycle. Its been over a week since I first noticed the white spots and realized just last night that he looked really bad. For the past week I thought he was just stressed out because of high nitrite levels and didn't like his new home. Well of course he had the ICH and from what I've seen on the internet today maybe one of the worst cases of ich ever.
The water temp had been 81F and last night I turned the temp up to 85F. It reached the temp by this morning. Last night I also put in 20 drops of Aquarisol and removed the carbon filter from the Penguin 125 biowheel powerfilter. Today he looks worse than ever. He is entirely covered in cysts, eyes too. His fins are starting to rot, and he sits was sitting at the top of some driftwood right under the light.
Questions:
Is there hope for this fish or should I just put him out of his misery?
Does Aquari-Sol (Copper Sulfate) effect my nitrifying bacteria if used as directed?
I plan on putting in 10 drops of aquarisol every night for the next 13 nights and keep the temp at 85 and maintain the 20% wc ever 5 days, After 2 weeks I'll do a 50% water change and put in a new filter cartridge. Anything else I should (or shouldn't) do?
