Things I'm Learning As A Noobie

[mtv8dmarine]

There are many things to learn along the way of becoming an experienced aquariast. I've battled Ich twice. The first time with temperature and learned it was my treatment was lacking somewhere when it returned a few days later. At that time I was expecting platy fry so I blasted it with medication. Two weeks later (present time) it has appeared again. I've spotted two particles. One on each of two fish. Both are located around the mouth or eye depending on which fish it is. So this time I'm avoiding chemical treatment as it was only a panic last resort last time.

Side note...of the 9 fry that I found, 5 are still living and growing. Perhaps in another month they'll be bigger than my largest angelfishes mouth.

Back on topic, so I'm bumping the temp. in the tank up to 87. The warmer daytime weather here in southern California will help maintain that temp for me too as I live in a 3rd floor apartment.

My question regarding the ich treatment is with the use of aquarium salt. Is this required? Does it simply facilitate the process? How much do you use per gallon or water? What it is solution introduction rate into a 55 gal tank? ...certainly not all at once.

I took a look inside my tank last night as I was winding down and heading for bed and noticed a brown substance on my silk plant in the aquarium. I did some research and found it likely to be brown algae. So I turned out the lights since it was already very late and headed to bed. This morning my first priority was to clean the tank. I normally do it every Tuesday after work. This week has been exceptionally busy and so today was the day I planned on instead. I fed the fish some peas on Wednesday and I'm not entirely sure if the algae was due to the fact that some of the pea pieces weren't eaten and lingered in the tank too long, simply not cleaning the tank on schedule, or over-feeding. Algae had built up on the tank covers, the inside of my canister filter and definitely inside the intake tube of my power filter.

I've learned you can tell a lot by the tank readings. This morning before I cleaned the tank my readings were 0 ammonia, 10 ppm nitrate, and 0.25 ppm nitrite. I know last week my nitrites were zero. I'm taking a noobie guess and hypothesizing that I was overfeeding and a delayed cleaning caught up with me but also, that perhaps the algae covered filter elements tells me I should be cleaning them more often.

What more experienced thoughts are there out there about not only the aquarium salt but also about what I'm thinking about the algae issue I cleaned out?

Thanks!

 

[Harlequins]

With ich i think the downfall of it returning is because peeps may not have gone the full course wth the treatment,in theory when treating with meds,you must do the full quota,i've read peeps not doing the 2nd lot of treatment after 4 days because the spots have disappeared,but the spots(parasite) have fallen off and are lurking in your water,plants etc,ready to attach itself to the fish again,(obviously more in depth that that)so upping the temp and retreating is the way to go.

Brown algae is a common occurrence in a newly set up aquarium. It is generally caused by too little light, an excess of silicates, an abundance of nutrients, and too little oxygen.
So Increase the lighting will inhibit re-growth of brown algae. As a new tank matures brown algae is often eliminated naturally by plants and green algae competing for nutrients.
Air stone may help with the oxygen exchange and is your filter breaking the water surface?

I'm not sure about the aquarium salt side...depends what fish you have in there,has corys and certain bottom dwellers don't handle salt at all well.
Your temp is excessively high,80 will do for ich treatment

 

[mtv8dmarine]

On the salt, I've been adding 1 teaspoon per gallon every 8-12 hours. I have one more dosing left (total of 3).

On the oxygenation, I have two air rods that run the length of the tank. My canister filter output of course is submerged so it cannot break the water surface but my power filter pours into the water from above. Oxygen has never been an issue at least as far as the fish are concerned if that's an indicator. None of the fish including the Corys ever visit the surface for air when temps are normal. Of course when temps are elevated they do since the oxygen in the water is reduced.

If 80 is an ok temp I'm curious why every guide and white paper I've read states 85. Which temperature is ideal? If the ideal temp is 80 then why does everything else differ in what it says? BTW, I'm not questioning you, just wanting to know the reasoning so I'm better informed.

 

[OldMan47]

The guide to a salt treatment is to run temperatures at 85F if you have fish that can survive it. If not, you will need to treat longer in order to be effective. One of the ideas behind the 85F is to shorten the life cycle of the parasite to make treatment effective quicker. Another reason to raise temperature is that ich can often be effectively treated with temperature alone if your fish can tolerate a high enough temperature. By coming close to that temperature, the salt treatment works much faster to control the ich.

 

[mtv8dmarine]

It's interesting to note a few things. The fish that have survived this round of the ich are the same ones that survived the other two. Sure, I've had some casualties with this one. I'm certain 2 of the 3 of them were from the addition of salt.

It's been two days since I've upped the heat and started adding salt. The last 1 tsp/gal treatment went in last night around 6 pm. All remaining platies seem fine. Crayfish is ok and all corys are ok too. Tank temp has pretty much settled on the 87.5 mark during the day when the air temp is higher. It'll go down to 86 in the evening.

The only visible ich sign left on any of the fish is on one of my dear angels. The tailfin has 2 spots that just aren't dropping off yet. Hopefully within the next few days she'll be clear of it and I will at least then know my fish are in the clear, it's just continuing to treat the tank at that point.

 

[mtv8dmarine]

Brown algae is a common occurrence in a newly set up aquarium. It is generally caused by too little light, an excess of silicates, an abundance of nutrients, and too little oxygen.
So Increase the lighting will inhibit re-growth of brown algae. As a new tank matures brown algae is often eliminated naturally by plants and green algae competing for nutrients.
Air stone may help with the oxygen exchange and is your filter breaking the water surface?

I guess I have a second question here...do I need live plants to remove the brown algae?

To be honest, adding another element of (perceived) potential disaster is quite a bit unnerving. Yes, at some point I'd like to get into live plants, but I feel safer using plastic and silk for now.

EDIT: I think for now I'm going to bet the excessive algae growth is due to overfeeding and that if I back off the quantity it will not reappear so bad and in the interim take the opportunity to read up on planted tanks. I'm willing to bed it's not as scary of an endeavor as I make it to be.

 

[OldMan47]

Brown colored algae is harmless. It looks a bit off but will not harm the fish. When the last sign of ich spots is gone, wait a few days before reducing the salt concentration. You do not want a fresh outbreak because you were impatient. The 87.5F temperature is a bit too high for some fish but will work fine for the ich treatment. As long as you get really good water circulation to optimize oxygen content of the water, most fish can tolerate high temperatures like that for a few days.