Starting from scratch

[Da_Oz]

If all the fish died, then the ich would eventually just die off, without having any hosts to live off of

and the platies have already had ich and are now immune.

Ok when you treat for ICH you kill the living ICH long enought for the fish to get back to good health and not get reinfested. But this is not like chicken pox where once they had it they will never have it again.

Best way to kill ICH is to take out all fish and turn temp up to 90 to as high it will cook. That will kill it all. But on the down point more than likely when you get new fish you will put it right back in the tank. 90% of fish tanks in world has ICH in them. Maybe not on the fish but in the tank. Why do you think there is so many post here about it.

Ich lives in fish tanks. It can lay asleep at the bottom of the tank for a good while (many different thoughts on time from lots of smarter people than me). It outbreaks when fish are stressed and get weak to fight it off, it just starts with one then can jump to 1,000 of them in a few days.

Changing the water will take out some of the sleeping ones but not all of them. I can promise even if you boiled scrubed every thing in the tank one cloud live.

So the best cure for ICH is not to stress the fish and feed them right. And to keep your tank temp as high as you can, that way ICH cycles faster and less chance of a outbreak.

Also makeing a good choice on the not going with a Gourami tank. Be there done that not a good idea. One is cool but not a tank load.

 

[Rose]

I have a lot of those fish you want to put in a 20g tank and I can say NO go on a lot of them due to size or temperment. Here we go.....(if you need more help holler)


4 zebra danios: These guys will do just fine but the more the merrier with them. They zip and love and need to be in groups.

4 platies (the fry of my soon to be parents): These guys will do fine as long as you keep the ratio 3/1 (3 female for every 1 male.) this will cut down on a LOT of stress on the females. males are relentless here.

8 tiger barbs: These are fin nippers and I have had them in just about every combo you can think of. They will do good with the danios. 8 is a very good number for them. As with the danios the more the merrier. THey are some very additudinal fish. I have found that a species tank works best with these guys unless you can have a dozen or more of them.

1 rainbow shark: This would be a NO go. His size is just not small enough for a 20g tank. I have one in a 55 and it's a tad on the small size for him.

4 peppered cories: These would work well in that sized tank. 4 is a good number for them as well. They will go well with the danios and platies.

3 pictus catfish: This is a most deffinate NO go. At 12" full grown a 20g is waaaay too small for them. I have 3 in a 55 all around that size and I need to get a much bigger tank for them. They are also hunters so they will prey upon the smaller fish in your. These work better with the bigger fish like Oscars and Bala sharks, fish of those sizes.

Rose

 

[Angry_Platy]

90% of fish tanks in world has ICH in them. Maybe not on the fish but in the tank. Why do you think there is so many post here about it.

I agree with this statement....but the ich doesn't just appear in the tanks....it has to come from somewhere....from fish or other live things added to the tank...including plants. I know for a fact that I have not had ich in my 75gall tank and my 6 gall tank.....I know the 75gall is safe as there are loaches in there....very prone to ich.....that a few months ago were subjected to sub tropical temperatures. If there were ich the clowns would have got it for sure. I cannot be 100% about the 6gall but I know that no fish with ich have bene in or near the tank!!! My 30gal and 10gal are another story....I had a bad outbreak of ich in my 30 gal before I had the quarantine tank....took me ages to get rid of....but it is probably lurking there somewhere...I have been lucky it hasn't infected my fish again. As for the 10gal...I have had one platy I bought with bad ich (felt sorry for it).....that was trested in there till it was well enough to go in the 30 gal...

NOW....back to the topic...

I like your fish choices David. I was a bit concerned when I saw you had clown loaches in your tank in the first place. You have realised what you did wrong and are taking steps in the right direction. Fins crossed that it works out for you this time. Have you considered getting a quarantine tank? Even something like a 6gall all in one would suffice. It would surely stop a lot of grief later.


GOOD LUCK DAVID!!!!

 

[David]

I have a lot of those fish you want to put in a 20g tank and I can say NO go on a lot of them due to size or temperment. Here we go.....(if you need more help holler)


4 zebra danios: These guys will do just fine but the more the merrier with them. They zip and love and need to be in groups.

4 platies (the fry of my soon to be parents): These guys will do fine as long as you keep the ratio 3/1 (3 female for every 1 male.) this will cut down on a LOT of stress on the females. males are relentless here.

8 tiger barbs: These are fin nippers and I have had them in just about every combo you can think of. They will do good with the danios. 8 is a very good number for them. As with the danios the more the merrier. THey are some very additudinal fish. I have found that a species tank works best with these guys unless you can have a dozen or more of them.

1 rainbow shark: This would be a NO go. His size is just not small enough for a 20g tank. I have one in a 55 and it's a tad on the small size for him.

4 peppered cories: These would work well in that sized tank. 4 is a good number for them as well. They will go well with the danios and platies.

3 pictus catfish: This is a most deffinate NO go. At 12" full grown a 20g is waaaay too small for them. I have 3 in a 55 all around that size and I need to get a much bigger tank for them. They are also hunters so they will prey upon the smaller fish in your. These work better with the bigger fish like Oscars and Bala sharks, fish of those sizes.

Rose

Rose, it is a 46 gallon, not a 20 gallon. I have decided to scrap the pictus cats and this is my final plan.

4 zebra danios
4 platies
8 tiger barbs (I have heard that this is th minimum number for them not to bother the other fish)
1 rainbow shark
3 peppered corydoras

Is this good? (My betta will get his own 2 gallon and the discus and clowns will go back to shop. I will be really sad to get rid of them, but it must be done. At least they will go to good homes ).

 

[David]

With regards to the ich: there is no way I can prevent new fish getting stressed out when I put them into the tank, so invariably the ich will strike. What can I do to have the best chances of this NOT happening? I will follow your suggestions and remove all fish for a day or two and crank the temp up, to kill as many as possible. What else can I do?

 

[David]

3 pictus catfish: This is a most deffinate NO go. At 12" full grown a 20g is waaaay too small for them. I have 3 in a 55 all around that size and I need to get a much bigger tank for them. They are also hunters so they will prey upon the smaller fish in your. These work better with the bigger fish like Oscars and Bala sharks, fish of those sizes.

Also Rose I don't think pictus can get to 12". I believe 6" is the max for them, am I right?

 

[gaya]

Hey David,

how much time do you spend acclimating your fish when you bring them home and how do you do it?

you probably already do this but i'll say it anyway. When I bring fish home I set the bag in the water so they get used to the temp. After fifteen minutes I remove a little water from the bag and add a little water from my tank to the bag. I add water from my tank to the bag every fifteen minutes until the water doubles. This is so the fish can get used to the ph difference. Also, if I can remember to do so I check the ph of the water in the bag and see where the ph is in my tank and do what ever I can to match them up as close as possible. This may be a bit anal but IMO ph and temp changes make unhappy fish.
good luck!
gi

 

[David]

I do that as well, but I am not as "anal" about it, lol. I let it sit for 15 minutes and the add a bit of water to bag, 5 minutes, add some more water, 5 more minutes, and release the fish. I don't really like to keep them in that little bag for extended periods of time.

 

[canarsie11]

I do that as well, but I am not as "anal" about it, lol. I let it sit for 15 minutes and the add a bit of water to bag, 5 minutes, add some more water, 5 more minutes, and release the fish. I don't really like to keep them in that little bag for extended periods of time.

That part of fishkeeping is just as vital as other parts, gaya is not trying to tell you to be anal about it.

However, I take 45 min to acclimate my newcomers to avoid any problems from that area

 

[David]

I do that as well, but I am not as "anal" about it, lol. I let it sit for 15 minutes and the add a bit of water to bag, 5 minutes, add some more water, 5 more minutes, and release the fish. I don't really like to keep them in that little bag for extended periods of time.

That part of fishkeeping is just as vital as other parts, gaya is not trying to tell you to be anal about it.

However, I take 45 min to acclimate my newcomers to avoid any problems from that area

No comment.

 

[canarsie11]

I do that as well, but I am not as "anal" about it, lol. I let it sit for 15 minutes and the add a bit of water to bag, 5 minutes, add some more water, 5 more minutes, and release the fish. I don't really like to keep them in that little bag for extended periods of time.

That part of fishkeeping is just as vital as other parts, gaya is not trying to tell you to be anal about it.

However, I take 45 min to acclimate my newcomers to avoid any problems from that area

No comment.

What is the problem with you, once again we are trying to help you and you are getting smart.

Now just listen for second. Now you are starting from scratch because you have had many problems. And you were asking for advice.

Many of your problems in your tank has started from diseases that wait for fish to become stressed or sick.

So gaya asking bout your acclimation technique, and you answer him like its no big deal"I dont get anal with it"

However, maybe if you took this part of fishkeeping more serious that will help in the future.

Now I wait 15 minutes between adding tank water (doing twice) after the original 15 minutes of it floating.

Your 5 min then 5 min . then release fish may not the best technique. thats all gaya was stating, and thats why I told you what I do.

The whole idea is for you to improve on your techniques now, which you have had no success...

 

[gaya]

oh and by the way I do this first in the quarantine tank and then two weeks later I do the same when I put into the main tank. My tanks don't all have the same ph and I think that is because my quarantine tank is not planted. I notice a much lower ph in my non planted tanks.
Also, I was reading somewhere on the web about this guys who does it for at least an hour and a half but this was for angelfish breeding pairs ($$$) so he was super careful.
Either way I think it's very good practice to acclimate as slowy as I can. I started keeping fish in June and I have only lost two neon tetras in my quarantine tank (that just vanished....and I blame my cats! they had access (sp?) for awhile) and two guppies that were damaged in transport). But who knows, it's still early in the game.

 

[David]

I unlike you, was not trying to start up an argument with anyone. Gaya said he/she was a bit anal, and I found that funny, so I just repeated it. I then stated what I do, because Gaya asked me to. We were perfectly fine until "big surprise" guess who comes along and tries to start another argument. I swear to God it's unavoidable. You're like a disease. I only said "no comment" because I could tell you were once again trying to rub me the wrong way and I was letting you know that I refuse to fall for it.

 

[canarsie11]

I am not trying to argue with you, dont know what you are reading..................relax

 

[gaya]

I'm a girl and no more snipping. you guys are acting like my angelfish