I also added a new filter cartridge to my son's tank after rinsing it of course. The wheel spins a bit, then stops, then spins. I'm going to remove the old, rolled up bits of PetCo filter cartridge from my filter & add some from my son's tank's old cartridge.
Is My Tank Cycled/ready Yet?
- Thread starter Ruskull
- Start date
My son's nitrates were around 60-80 ppm so I changed 30% of the water last night after splitting his old filter media into 2 parts. I put the larger of the 2 back into his tank & the smaller part into mine. I threw out the plastic & the spent carbon. His biowheel now spins freely.
The Ich stricken Gold Gourami female shows no signs of the white spots & she swims around more than she used to. My tank shows zero for ammonia & zero for nitrite. I'll check the nitrates later today.
I'll probably treat the tank for Ich again just to finish the stuff off.
Happy Thanksgiving! If all remains well I'll feed both tanks some frozen brine shrimp....................for their Turkey Day.
The Ich stricken Gold Gourami female shows no signs of the white spots & she swims around more than she used to. My tank shows zero for ammonia & zero for nitrite. I'll check the nitrates later today.
I'll probably treat the tank for Ich again just to finish the stuff off.
Happy Thanksgiving! If all remains well I'll feed both tanks some frozen brine shrimp....................for their Turkey Day.
You should treat the tank for as many days as the bottle says AFTER the last sign of ich on the fish. Remember, when the spot leaves the fish, it settles into the substrate and multiples. Then it bursts out as more free swimming parasites (these are the only ones capable of being killed by the meds.
Don't stop dosing just when you stop seeing signs - that leads to relapses.
Don't stop dosing just when you stop seeing signs - that leads to relapses.
Well I haven't updated this cycle log for a bit so here goes:
I finished off the ich treatment and then realized my Gold Gourami male had gotten it, pretty severely too. He looked terrible and didn't swim around much only popping out of the decoration here & there. That's probably why I didn't notice it right away. Last night I found him floating pointing upward, barely trying to swim & I was faced with having to either let him fight to survive or putting him out of his misery. My wife said he's still trying so let him be. He died minutes later sinking to the bottom of the tank. I immediately netted him out & my son & I said a short prayer and flushed him. I still can't believe the King died. I bought the bigger tank for him..............
Meanwhile, my larger female Pearl Gourami had 2 distinct white spots on her forehead and a single white spot at the front of her dorsal fin. I had noticed this before I noticed my Gold Gourami had gotten such a severe case of obvious Ich. To be honest I don't know if it's Ich or a fungal infection or what on the Pearl female since the spots are distinct & there's only three of them. Since I already had that stinky Kordon Rid Fungus stuff I read extensively on their site about it & decided it was the best treatment for my tank since it supposedly has no ill effects on Corries, Otos & the new Tetras. I began a double dose regimen with one dose in the morning before work & one at night when I get home from work. Luckily I have the big bottle.
I came home from work & I noticed a dead female Cherry Barb stuck in a plant. She had been flashing against the decorations last night. I have to assume it was the Ich. I just tested the tank's ammonia & nitrite & I got bright yellow & bright blue. I plan to do another Rid Fungus treatment at 7:30 tonight and hopefully I don't lose anymore fish.
Yes Eagle, I know you told me so with the continued treatments for the Ich. I might have saved the King if I bought the bigger bottle of Super Ich Cure. I was afraid to overuse it because of the Corries, Otos & the Tetras. Basically it was a lose/lose situation.
I still can't believe that King Tiger is gone. When this is all over I'm going to get a male Pearl Gourami to go with the 2 females. They are much more peaceful and the males are extremely good looking. That won't happen for at least a couple of weeks after I see no signs of Ich, flashing, white bumps, etc.
I finished off the ich treatment and then realized my Gold Gourami male had gotten it, pretty severely too. He looked terrible and didn't swim around much only popping out of the decoration here & there. That's probably why I didn't notice it right away. Last night I found him floating pointing upward, barely trying to swim & I was faced with having to either let him fight to survive or putting him out of his misery. My wife said he's still trying so let him be. He died minutes later sinking to the bottom of the tank. I immediately netted him out & my son & I said a short prayer and flushed him. I still can't believe the King died. I bought the bigger tank for him..............
Meanwhile, my larger female Pearl Gourami had 2 distinct white spots on her forehead and a single white spot at the front of her dorsal fin. I had noticed this before I noticed my Gold Gourami had gotten such a severe case of obvious Ich. To be honest I don't know if it's Ich or a fungal infection or what on the Pearl female since the spots are distinct & there's only three of them. Since I already had that stinky Kordon Rid Fungus stuff I read extensively on their site about it & decided it was the best treatment for my tank since it supposedly has no ill effects on Corries, Otos & the new Tetras. I began a double dose regimen with one dose in the morning before work & one at night when I get home from work. Luckily I have the big bottle.
I came home from work & I noticed a dead female Cherry Barb stuck in a plant. She had been flashing against the decorations last night. I have to assume it was the Ich. I just tested the tank's ammonia & nitrite & I got bright yellow & bright blue. I plan to do another Rid Fungus treatment at 7:30 tonight and hopefully I don't lose anymore fish.
Yes Eagle, I know you told me so with the continued treatments for the Ich. I might have saved the King if I bought the bigger bottle of Super Ich Cure. I was afraid to overuse it because of the Corries, Otos & the Tetras. Basically it was a lose/lose situation.
I still can't believe that King Tiger is gone. When this is all over I'm going to get a male Pearl Gourami to go with the 2 females. They are much more peaceful and the males are extremely good looking. That won't happen for at least a couple of weeks after I see no signs of Ich, flashing, white bumps, etc.
I am very sorry for your losses. 
Well I treated the tank again this morning and now the water looks very brown. I did ammonia & nitrite tests and again, they were bright yellow & bright blue. Very good. Now the bad, nitrates are high. The test shows somewhere between 40 & 80 ppm. I don't know why those 2 colors are so close to the same on the chart. In fact the orange color for 10 & 20 ppm looks very similar as well. It's ridiculous to try to tell the difference between the two in my humble opinion. Either way I'll need to do a 50-60% water change before any additional treatments of the kordon rid fungus.
I guess it's a good thing if my bacteria are taking care of the ammonia & nitrite since they're obviously turning those into nitrate.
Another note: I just noticed the Corries look stressed. They aren't buzzing around quite as fast as they usually do. One of them is chilling at the bottom too much. Much more than I've ever seen them do.
I guess it's a good thing if my bacteria are taking care of the ammonia & nitrite since they're obviously turning those into nitrate.
Another note: I just noticed the Corries look stressed. They aren't buzzing around quite as fast as they usually do. One of them is chilling at the bottom too much. Much more than I've ever seen them do.
I wouldn't say that the nitrates are "high". That's about where they should be before you need to do a water change. Not that big a deal really. The bigger issue would be the corys acting odd. Cories are sensitive to meds. Keep an eye on it. THe water change should help.
Am I crazy for thinking that the colors for 10 & 20 ppm and the colors for 40 & 80 ppm are almost exactly the same? I mean, how am I supposed to get an accurate reading when double the amount looks the same on the chart? I guess I never had it this high for it to matter. I'm not color blind either, I match colors all the time at my job. I'm a sign designer & salesman.
I just finished the 60% water change & the Corries are buzzing around normally, at least the way they always do. The distinct, white larger spots on the Pearl Gouramis are going away too. The smaller one has it on her top lip though, and that's a bit scary. It's the only spot on her. The other larger female has a single spot left on her forehead. No other fish in the tank have those type spots. I think it must be a fungus right? It probably came with them from the fish store.
Should I back off the double treatments? I'm afraid the Ich might return if I don't. Currently no fish show any signs of Ich but I know it can re occur if I don't keep up the treatments. Remember, this is the kordon rid fungus which is 100% organic & supposedly doesn't have any negative effects on scaless fish, or so they claim. The tank temp is currently 83 degrees according to all 3 thermometers and it has been for at least a week.
I just finished the 60% water change & the Corries are buzzing around normally, at least the way they always do. The distinct, white larger spots on the Pearl Gouramis are going away too. The smaller one has it on her top lip though, and that's a bit scary. It's the only spot on her. The other larger female has a single spot left on her forehead. No other fish in the tank have those type spots. I think it must be a fungus right? It probably came with them from the fish store.
Should I back off the double treatments? I'm afraid the Ich might return if I don't. Currently no fish show any signs of Ich but I know it can re occur if I don't keep up the treatments. Remember, this is the kordon rid fungus which is 100% organic & supposedly doesn't have any negative effects on scaless fish, or so they claim. The tank temp is currently 83 degrees according to all 3 thermometers and it has been for at least a week.
I'm not sure if I ever posted pics of my tank on here. Since you've helped me so much I think it's only fair to show you what you're helping. Here's a pic of my Opaline female................
Here's the tank in the corner of the Master Bedroom. Notice the garden tub where I do my water changes is only a few steps away.
Here's the tank in the corner of the Master Bedroom. Notice the garden tub where I do my water changes is only a few steps away.
I'm not sure. I guess keep up the ich treatment until the treatment has been thoroughly run through, then look for the other spots to go with lots and lots of water changes. Meds can be a double edged sword. Water changes can certainly help almost any condition. Fish can heal a lot of times on their own with just water changes and more water changes. But, I would try to get the ich situation rectified first (have you raised the temp of the tank), then deal with the fungus.
I've had the temp steady at 82-84 degrees for over a week. Sometimes I feel like too many water changes can add to the stress level, especially big water changes of 50% or more. Should I do the double dose or back off to once a day?
I would go with the directions on the package, but keep an eye on the corys.
The package claims it's okay to use a double dose for severe cases. I just dosed again. The Corries are still happily buzzing around.
What do you think of Stress Coat? It's made by API and it's supposed to be better for water changes because it has something in it to increase the protective slime coat on fish as well as neutralizing the chlorine in the tap water. I just bought a huge bottle of Aquasafe but I'd gladly spend another $13.99 if it would help the fish.................
What do you think of Stress Coat? It's made by API and it's supposed to be better for water changes because it has something in it to increase the protective slime coat on fish as well as neutralizing the chlorine in the tap water. I just bought a huge bottle of Aquasafe but I'd gladly spend another $13.99 if it would help the fish.................
Stress Coat is my second favorite dechlorinator after Prime. Prime I like because of how concentrated it is. Stress Coat is good. I'm not sure how well it works with the slime coat, or if aloe is good for fish or not. I do know that it detoxifies ammonia though. That's good. I only use Prime or Stress Coat. Currently I have both in my tank cabinet. 
I skipped the dose this morning and I lost the smaller female Pearl, the one that had the white raised spot on her lip. She was laying on her side at the bottom and strangely enough, the white on her lip is gone. I'm going to bag her & return her to the store where I got her. They said to bring a sample of the water and I'm also going to bring sample of the tap water.
The other 3 Gouramis are all swimming around normally, the Corries are buzzing, the Tetras are playing around with the Cherry Barbs and each other. I fed the tank a small bit of flake.
I'm going to test everything & I'll post the results. The fish store guy probably doesn't believe that I have a test kit & he wants to check the water like I'm retarded or something. I've been working hard at this! I've thrown a good deal of cash at this tank & I still love it. It's not nearly as relaxing as I thought it would be. I've been stressed about these fish like you wouldn't believe, how do I replace my own slime coat?
The other 3 Gouramis are all swimming around normally, the Corries are buzzing, the Tetras are playing around with the Cherry Barbs and each other. I fed the tank a small bit of flake.
I'm going to test everything & I'll post the results. The fish store guy probably doesn't believe that I have a test kit & he wants to check the water like I'm retarded or something. I've been working hard at this! I've thrown a good deal of cash at this tank & I still love it. It's not nearly as relaxing as I thought it would be. I've been stressed about these fish like you wouldn't believe, how do I replace my own slime coat?
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