FishMama814
Aquarium Advice Newbie
HELP! 10G tank, 5 GloDanios, and 5 GloTetras (I realize that's pushing it for a 10G so feel free to lecture me ) My Glotank was my "golden child" tank: Perfect cycled water before adding fish, added fish 3 (and one group of 4) at a time over the course of a month and a half, they all loved each other and schooled and played, no water parameter issues, no concerning behavior, no issues. I started noticing same-species aggression (Tetras to Tetras / Danios to Danios) a few days ago and noticed ONE green Tetra had fin damage. When looking up causes/treatments, I came across ich descriptions and then noticed possible white spots on the green one. Could be a "google paranoia" issue . Now I can see white dots on a few of them.
Question 1: Sometimes the spots look like actual white spots, and sometimes they look like glistening/silvery scales. Does ich sometimes get overlooked/misdiagnosed because of this? Or should the white spots be SUPER obvious no matter the angle, direction, lighting, etc? Don't want to treat for something I don't need to.
Question 2: IF it is ich, I want to go the heat/salt route first to avoid medications. I will increase my temp by 1-2 degrees every couple hours until I reach 86 Fahrenheit. I will also do a small water change to add a gallon of conditioned water + salt (3 tblsp). I have plants in the tank but will move them to another tank during this process. Can danios and tetras handle water temps at 86F or higher? Everything just tells me what they typically need. And danios typically need 65-77 and tetras 75-81F (to be specific - this is what I have read for Glo Danios and Tetras). I know 88-90 is ideal for treating ich but I am even nervous to move it up to 86 for these fish. And I know 86F is the minimum for treating ich.
Question 3: If the fin damage doesn't improve with the ich treatment, should I do a round of fin rot treatment after I have completed the heat/salt ich treatment (as in - completed all necessary water changes to remove salt)?
I am sort of a newbie at this. I have 3 tanks and do A LOT of research and really consider my fish part of my family as most feel about their dogs. In my heart, I know the aggression is leading to the issues and the aggression is probably because they are overcrowded. My husband will probably stick me on the side of the road if I get a bigger tank and I don't want to remove any if I don't have to. I am willing to take out decorations to provide them more space if it's an overstock issue but then I read they need more places to hide if there is fin nipping. Sorry for the long post. THANK YOU for any help you can provide!
Question 1: Sometimes the spots look like actual white spots, and sometimes they look like glistening/silvery scales. Does ich sometimes get overlooked/misdiagnosed because of this? Or should the white spots be SUPER obvious no matter the angle, direction, lighting, etc? Don't want to treat for something I don't need to.
Question 2: IF it is ich, I want to go the heat/salt route first to avoid medications. I will increase my temp by 1-2 degrees every couple hours until I reach 86 Fahrenheit. I will also do a small water change to add a gallon of conditioned water + salt (3 tblsp). I have plants in the tank but will move them to another tank during this process. Can danios and tetras handle water temps at 86F or higher? Everything just tells me what they typically need. And danios typically need 65-77 and tetras 75-81F (to be specific - this is what I have read for Glo Danios and Tetras). I know 88-90 is ideal for treating ich but I am even nervous to move it up to 86 for these fish. And I know 86F is the minimum for treating ich.
Question 3: If the fin damage doesn't improve with the ich treatment, should I do a round of fin rot treatment after I have completed the heat/salt ich treatment (as in - completed all necessary water changes to remove salt)?
I am sort of a newbie at this. I have 3 tanks and do A LOT of research and really consider my fish part of my family as most feel about their dogs. In my heart, I know the aggression is leading to the issues and the aggression is probably because they are overcrowded. My husband will probably stick me on the side of the road if I get a bigger tank and I don't want to remove any if I don't have to. I am willing to take out decorations to provide them more space if it's an overstock issue but then I read they need more places to hide if there is fin nipping. Sorry for the long post. THANK YOU for any help you can provide!