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Thanks Andy, good to know. I like your suggested plan. Everyone had always said that neons were so hardy, so I took that as even further evidence that something must be wrong with the tank if the "hardy" fish were still dropping off.

Hi everyone, This question isn't referring to a single sick fish per se, but more of a general question related to higher-than-normal rates of fish loss: at what point do I just completely break down the tank and start over? I have a 20g high tank set up and cycled for ~18 mo now. I...

Thanks Colin, sorry for my delayed reply, have been busy... The current tank light is a plain white LED. The stronger light that I was using and eventually took off (Finnex Stringray II) has white, blue, and red spectrum lighting, although none are adjustable (other than a low blue light only...

Hi, I am very new to planted tanks and could use some help. I have a 20g high tank that was once all plastic that I am trying to convert to a low tech planted tank. I wanted to start simple with low-light plants that do not require CO2. Since the substrate is medium/large gravel, I am starting...

Thanks Colin. I thought Columnaris could naturally colonize a tank, and didn't need to be introduced by other fish? At any rate, so far so good. The lesion on the CPD is unchanged and the white lesion on the lip of the neon tetra is almost already gone. I am wondering if both were actually...

Update D'oh! I may have spoken too soon. I just found a white lesion on one of my tetras. Do I have a columnaris outbreak?

Hello, hoping someone could lend an opinion on my CPDs. Over the course of the past month, I have lost 2 CPDs and my last one is sick now as well. I had started with 6, but they seemed to shoal very happily with my neon tetras so wasn't planning on restocking. I lost the first three months and...

Thanks Aiken, sorry I should have clarified. The first time I treated, I treated until all lesions were gone, and then an additional 7 days, so it was close to 2 weeks of treatment total, the final week being when all fish were visibly clear. This time, there actually weren't any visible...

Hi everyone, could use some second opinions on whether my neon tetra has ich or not. ~3 weeks ago, I noticed a white spot on the tetra, and was worried it was ich. My tank had an outbreak several months prior, which I successfully treated with Ich-X. I had not introduced anything new other...

Hey everyone, would appreciate some guidance/advice on treating my sick guppy. I think it is columnaris but I'm not sure and am seeking second opinions. I am on my third day of treatment, as described in detail below. My specific questions are: 1. Is this columnaris and is acting as...

Oops sorry thought I had inserted a screenshot--but on the Fritz website there is an FAQ that addresses this, listing each water conditioner product based on active ingredient and compatibility with Ich-X. Any sodium thiosulfate conditioner was deemed safe.

Thanks, based on your reply I did some more digging, which led me to another thread which references this from the Fritz website: https://fritzaquatics.com/products/fritz-complete I think what this all means is that there is a theoretical risk with Ich-X and some water conditioners but that...

So confused about water conditioners compatible with Ich-x. Everyone says not to use Prime due to the sulfated ingredients interacting with the ingredients in Ich-X. Does anyone definitively know if Ultimate (as Hikari recommends) is absolutely required? Tetra AquaSafe (all I can find on it...

Thanks Aiken. Yeah, I get the protozoa are in the tank, but if most fish are unaffected when healthy (certainly my guppies and CPDs aren't showing any signs), I am debating whether full on eradication is necessary or not, if I'm just diligent about keeping my fish as healthy as possible. I...

Hi, unfortunately less than 2 weeks after stocking my new tank (after completing a fishless cycle), I think I have a mild outbreak of ich among my neon tetras. Would appreciate some guidance here as this is my first time dealing with this. I have two main questions. First, I have CPDs in the...

Thanks Jake, sorry I forgot to mention I got all 6 neons, although unfortunately one didn't survive the stocking so there are now 5. She was *tiny*, I didn't realize how little she was, if I had noticed at the store I probably would have asked for a slightly more mature fish. It is a 20...

Hi everyone, I am so psyched to be at the stocking stage of my tank. It is 20 gallons and I completed a fishless cycle, it will cycle out 3.5 ppm pure ammonia completely to nitrate in 24 hours. I exchanged water to get nitrate down to 5 ppm, with 0 ppm ammonia and nitrite, and started my...

FYI, just a follow-up: Tank completed cycling last weekend after ~ 6 weeks. Challenged with 3.5 ppm ammonia, it will cycle out completely to nitrate in 24 hours. Timing was unfortunate as I needed to wait another week to stock, kept dosing smaller doses until ready. Just started with my...

Ok thanks, that makes sense to me. I guess the morale of the story is to not obsess over the individual numbers given how inaccurate and subjective the test kit readings are, and just focus on the pattern of falling ammonia and nitrites until you get to 0 in 24 hours.

Thanks Aiken, that is what I suspected, but if I am seeing a ten-fold fall in my nitrites, how come I'm not seeing the nitrates going up? Shouldn't the reason for nitrites falling is that they are being converted to nitrates? Or is there another way for the nitrite to disappear from the tank?

So not quite sure how to interpret the numbers I am seeing now. First, I was able to find some sponge filter material from an established tank and added it to my HOB filter 2 days ago. That same day, I did a 25% water change to get nitrites to a level easier to measure, and re-dosed ammonia back...

Thanks. An update: since my last post, ammonia started dropping again, slowly. Taking 2-3 days to fall from 2 ppm to ~0.5 ppm or so, have topped off twice back up to 2 ppm in the last week. Can't tell anymore what the nitrites are, even with dilutions I still can't tell what shade of purple...

Thanks! Will give it a try and continue to be patient...

Thanks, yes from all I've read Ace brand is pure ammonia. I did the "shake test" and no bubbles. I went with the fishless cycle actually because my kids preferred it, the tank was a birthday present for my son, and I said we could try the fish-in cycle but there was going to be a slightly...

Hi all, this is my first post, I'm trying to get my very first tank started and am worried my fishless cycle is stalled. I was dosing with 10% ammonia and got nitrite and nitrates in the tank, but now ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels are all just stuck and not changing. The tank is 20g...