Noob Trying To Fix Mistakes

[retro]

Hey,
When i first got my tank i didn't clean it enough ect ect to i know at some stage it had poor water quality.
Since reading more/learning more i've cleaned it when i am supposed to ect ect (Followed guides).
Some of my fish rub themselfves againts the gravel/wood in my tank, this is probably down to some parasites or soemthing i got when the tank was in a bad quality.
It doesn't happen ALOT more like i see a fish do it once or twice a week, and some fish never do it.

So i am just wondering what should i do to stop it?
I'm going to get a water testing kit later and wondering what if any medications i should pick up?

Tank wasn't cycled, i used the media from another tank and took 50% of that water (That tank has never had infections/parasites) This what as xmas.
I've never had a fish die or anything.
Also i think i have a case of fin rot, some of the fishes tails have some jagged edges what should i buy to treat that?

Thanks

 

[Miss Wiggle]

when asking for which products to buy it helps if you've put your location in your profile, different countries have different medications so we need to know where you live so we can advise on local products.

fish can flick just from poor water quality, may be they have no disease but are just irritated by the ammonia/nitrite in the water, need your test results before we can see if that's the case.

the torn/jagged fins could be fin rot, could also be where they have nipped each other.

really best to get the test results and then we can advise on the best treatment.

 

[orange shark]

to stop the flashing, i think you raise the temperature and then use whitestop medication. (someone please correct me if im wrong)

and for the fin rot, just go to your lfs, they will have lots of medication so just look for some fin rot medication

 

[retro]

Im from the UK, didn't realize it wasn't on my profile
Yeah i wasn't planning on treating until after my water results, but im a newb so wanted to make sure there isn't something i should pick up

Also, if i bought a tiny tank, should there be any snails i can add to it for food for my puffa/loaches?
I was thinking of getting a small tank with a small filter and just adding some of the cone snails (CMT?)
I'm pretty sure it's fine rot as my fish are really peacefull and have never seen a fight/nipping

 

[Miss Wiggle]

to stop the flashing, i think you raise the temperature and then use whitestop medication. (someone please correct me if im wrong)

and for the fin rot, just go to your lfs, they will have lots of medication so just look for some fin rot medication

flashing can be a sign of whitespot, it can also be a number of other things, as it's just a little bit and the OP has not reported any other symptoms of whitespot I would not wade in and treat for whitespot just yet. important to take your time and firm up a diagnosis before treatment as treating for the wrong thing can have serious consequences.

 

[waterdrop]

Hi retro,

You've been around a bit in some of the other threads and probably have been reading a number of them so have seen this, but I'll just repeat:

You want, on your LFS trip, to try to find a master test kit that has liquid-reagent based tests. There will be small bottles and little test tubes with caps. Several companies make good ones and it will be essential to start with ammonia, nitrite and pH tests. Beyond that its nice to also start out with a nitrate test.

Its also nice to have some little syringes that are marked for volume and/or little glass droppers. Good luck finding the right kit and hopefully this will get you started with the right things to report here. You will be in good hands, MW will probably keep and eye on you and make comments on your results.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[retro]

Hey thanks, i wasn't sure on what kit so i was going to ask at the store as they've very helpful
How much is one of these going to cost do you think?
Need to withdraw the money before hand and don't want to undercut/overcut

 

[Miss Wiggle]

between £15 and £20 usually

 

[retro]

Awesome
Im thinking when i sort the problem out i may treat myself with a nice plec, the nuggets look amazing, or maybe a ray ;D

 

[Miss Wiggle]

rays are not for community tanks

can probably get a nice plec though

 

[retro]

I've kept a ray in a larger tank with lots of different fish for over 6 months, never ever had a problem at all
He died last month though

He wasn't a predatory ray though, i'll look up the name for him.
Something like angel/arch, they could also be kept in cold water.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

oh you can keep rays with other fish, just not in a standard community tank, they require excellent filtration a lot of space and specialised feeding.

6 months isn't very long at all to keep one tbh.....

 

[retro]

Yeah but that was in a community tank, which had hundreds of different fish pass through.
What do you meen by specialized feeding?
He was happy with algae tabs

 

[Miss Wiggle]

6 months is not a veyr long time, just cos it worked for a short while does not mean that it will not end in disaster!!

here's some info on ray care http/www.geocities.com/david_upton_73/tentips.html

you'll see min tank size 75gallons (your record is 25gals) for tankmates should be nothing small enough to fit in it's mouth!

 

[retro]

By ray i ment some sort of sucker fish can't remember the name, had same body shape as a ray but wasn't directly from that family line or so i think