Alright guys I'm new to the forums here. I've been browsing a lot of this site recently taking advice. I'm new to the fish scene and have had an aquarium for about a month and a half now, and now I'm in big doo doo. I originally started my 15 gallon tank with no fish and let the temp set and filter cycle empty and then around 3 days later I purchased 3 Boesemani Rainbows to start with. I originally received them from Petco and the staff there where pretty friendly with advice. They told me to do water changes around every 2 weeks and wait a month before adding any new fish so I did. Everything was fine until a month passed and I wanted new fish. So to complete my collection I picked up a rubber lip pleco and a rainbow shark from Petsmart.
At the same time my mom picked up another pleco for her tank and we were pretty happy. Well then 2 days later I noticed my moms fish looking pretty bad and they had white spots. I immediately went to petco to get the water tested and find out what was up. Well the tank got ich so the rep told us to crank up the water temp gradually to 83 degrees and also put salt in the water and do water changes. Well it scared me so I was frantically watching my fish for signs and what do you know a day later the spots where present so I felt pretty good starting the treatment early. So I go to bed wake up my moms fish are all dead and one of mine is hovering at the top gasping for air. I immediately lowered the water level to create a little more aeration in the tank. The boesemani eventually died the next morning.
So then I frantically get my water tested to make sure everything is good with my tank and the Petco rep says my water is a little high in nitrate and ammonia so he showed me a product that would help. I also did another water change and added a little more salt and also the product. I'm now feeling a little better but today I wake up and another fish is gasping and then a few hours passed and another boesemani is gone. I immediately did another water change and I'm going to test it here soon to see if I need to add more of the nitrate product.
The spoors are still present on the last boesemani but there aren't as many. The algae eater has some spots but he looks to be doing fine. The rainbow shark hasn't had any spores at all.
What can I do to ensure my little guys are going to make it. I'm broke so if there are any home remedies that would work I would love to know. I know that's a lot of information but I want to provide you guys with as much info as possible.
At the same time my mom picked up another pleco for her tank and we were pretty happy. Well then 2 days later I noticed my moms fish looking pretty bad and they had white spots. I immediately went to petco to get the water tested and find out what was up. Well the tank got ich so the rep told us to crank up the water temp gradually to 83 degrees and also put salt in the water and do water changes. Well it scared me so I was frantically watching my fish for signs and what do you know a day later the spots where present so I felt pretty good starting the treatment early. So I go to bed wake up my moms fish are all dead and one of mine is hovering at the top gasping for air. I immediately lowered the water level to create a little more aeration in the tank. The boesemani eventually died the next morning.
So then I frantically get my water tested to make sure everything is good with my tank and the Petco rep says my water is a little high in nitrate and ammonia so he showed me a product that would help. I also did another water change and added a little more salt and also the product. I'm now feeling a little better but today I wake up and another fish is gasping and then a few hours passed and another boesemani is gone. I immediately did another water change and I'm going to test it here soon to see if I need to add more of the nitrate product.
The spoors are still present on the last boesemani but there aren't as many. The algae eater has some spots but he looks to be doing fine. The rainbow shark hasn't had any spores at all.
What can I do to ensure my little guys are going to make it. I'm broke so if there are any home remedies that would work I would love to know. I know that's a lot of information but I want to provide you guys with as much info as possible.