BeccaN
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Hey everyone, I've been anonymously reading through threads on here since before I set up my 20 gal. tank, but I couldn't seem to find the answer to my recent issue.
Here's the back story: About a month ago one of my platys developed a white patch on its head. The tank was still cycling, so despite my frantic internet search on how to fix it, most answers pointed to stress because of water quality. So I made some extra water changes and started using the dip test strips for ammonia in addition to the 5 in 1 nitrate/nitrite/ph/hardness/alkalinity strips i was already using on a nearly constant basis. I also read that some people use a little salt to speed up the healing process. And for about 3 weeks my fish looked like it was on the mend! I was excited. But suddenly he took a turn for the worst and died
That left one scared platy all alone amongst the other fish in the tank, so since no one else showed symptoms, I left for the store and brought back three young platys to help even out the groups (3 females 1 male for each molly and platy) which I know pushes the limits of my tank (i've been using aqadvisor to watch my stocking levels) ANYWAYS, I get back from the store, get the new fish settled in and notice the betta had a patch now.
Since none of the diseases I looked up sounded right, I went and got LifeGuard from the store, took the carbon out of my filters, and treated for 5 days. Well...the LifeGuard seems like it cured the white patch I was worried about as well as the ones that started cropping up on some of my older fish, but now the water is cloudy, smells strongly, and half of the fish have cloudy white-ish patches on their sides. I've checked all the test strips. The ammonia is a little high (.25ppm), but it tends to be a little high after I do a water change and then goes down over the next few days. and the nitrites are still 0. Nitrate at 20 ppm.
A little extra info. The water here is very hard, ph very alkaline, and I've been adding some aquarium salt to the water whenever I do a water change. It doesn't look like little spots like ich. Nor does it look hairlike. Just like cloudy/shiny (depending on the fish) patches. Nothing on the mouth. No redness of the gills. There is the occasional itchy fish, but not persistent.
Im so confused! Any advice???? (sorry about the long post. I've just noticed a lot of the questions that get asked later on and thought I'd head them off)
EDIT: It's a 20 gallon with 2 Aqueon Quietflow 10 Filters. 4 Mollies (3 female 1 male). 4 Platys (3 female 1 male) (+1 fry). 1 female betta. 2 ghost shrimp. 2 male guppies. been set up 2 months. WAS fully cycled not so sure now after medicating the tank. Most of my fish look adolescent in size. 4 are full grown (betta, 1 platy, 2 molly).
Here's the back story: About a month ago one of my platys developed a white patch on its head. The tank was still cycling, so despite my frantic internet search on how to fix it, most answers pointed to stress because of water quality. So I made some extra water changes and started using the dip test strips for ammonia in addition to the 5 in 1 nitrate/nitrite/ph/hardness/alkalinity strips i was already using on a nearly constant basis. I also read that some people use a little salt to speed up the healing process. And for about 3 weeks my fish looked like it was on the mend! I was excited. But suddenly he took a turn for the worst and died
That left one scared platy all alone amongst the other fish in the tank, so since no one else showed symptoms, I left for the store and brought back three young platys to help even out the groups (3 females 1 male for each molly and platy) which I know pushes the limits of my tank (i've been using aqadvisor to watch my stocking levels) ANYWAYS, I get back from the store, get the new fish settled in and notice the betta had a patch now.Since none of the diseases I looked up sounded right, I went and got LifeGuard from the store, took the carbon out of my filters, and treated for 5 days. Well...the LifeGuard seems like it cured the white patch I was worried about as well as the ones that started cropping up on some of my older fish, but now the water is cloudy, smells strongly, and half of the fish have cloudy white-ish patches on their sides. I've checked all the test strips. The ammonia is a little high (.25ppm), but it tends to be a little high after I do a water change and then goes down over the next few days. and the nitrites are still 0. Nitrate at 20 ppm.
A little extra info. The water here is very hard, ph very alkaline, and I've been adding some aquarium salt to the water whenever I do a water change. It doesn't look like little spots like ich. Nor does it look hairlike. Just like cloudy/shiny (depending on the fish) patches. Nothing on the mouth. No redness of the gills. There is the occasional itchy fish, but not persistent.
Im so confused! Any advice???? (sorry about the long post. I've just noticed a lot of the questions that get asked later on and thought I'd head them off)
EDIT: It's a 20 gallon with 2 Aqueon Quietflow 10 Filters. 4 Mollies (3 female 1 male). 4 Platys (3 female 1 male) (+1 fry). 1 female betta. 2 ghost shrimp. 2 male guppies. been set up 2 months. WAS fully cycled not so sure now after medicating the tank. Most of my fish look adolescent in size. 4 are full grown (betta, 1 platy, 2 molly).
