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Aquarium Advice FINatic
History:
My fish have been dying constantly for the last two months. About one in four of them has shown ich at some point. The rest died before any was visible. My nitrites have been at 0.1ppm for a while as well. I didn't notice this at first because my test chart shows in incriments of 0.25ppm.
Current Problem:
I have a 10 gallon QT tank set up, but uncycled. I have a single green chromis left who has been with me through all of this. The longest-lived fish thusfar has been around for about 7 days with the exception of this invincible green chromis who has been in my tank for nearly the whole two months. I tried to put him and my bi-color blenny in the QT tank a couple days ago, and they both did NOT like it. The blenny croaked immediately, and the chromis started breathing hard and acting shy. I figured it wouldn't hurt to just let him die in the main tank so I could take the QT down and put it away. Then I was going to wait for six weeks for the ich to run its course and then start adding fish again. Well, the chromis got better. He's acting normal and showing no signs of stress or ich. He's back in the main tank now, where the ich is (assuming it ever goes away. I hear both ways - ich is always there, and any ich is an infestation and should be dealt with). I'm at a loss. It appears that if I put him in the QT tank, he'll die, but if I leave him in the main tank, I can't decisively say that the ich has been eliminated, as he could possibly host the parasite.
What does everyone think I should do? :?
My fish have been dying constantly for the last two months. About one in four of them has shown ich at some point. The rest died before any was visible. My nitrites have been at 0.1ppm for a while as well. I didn't notice this at first because my test chart shows in incriments of 0.25ppm.
Current Problem:
I have a 10 gallon QT tank set up, but uncycled. I have a single green chromis left who has been with me through all of this. The longest-lived fish thusfar has been around for about 7 days with the exception of this invincible green chromis who has been in my tank for nearly the whole two months. I tried to put him and my bi-color blenny in the QT tank a couple days ago, and they both did NOT like it. The blenny croaked immediately, and the chromis started breathing hard and acting shy. I figured it wouldn't hurt to just let him die in the main tank so I could take the QT down and put it away. Then I was going to wait for six weeks for the ich to run its course and then start adding fish again. Well, the chromis got better. He's acting normal and showing no signs of stress or ich. He's back in the main tank now, where the ich is (assuming it ever goes away. I hear both ways - ich is always there, and any ich is an infestation and should be dealt with). I'm at a loss. It appears that if I put him in the QT tank, he'll die, but if I leave him in the main tank, I can't decisively say that the ich has been eliminated, as he could possibly host the parasite.
What does everyone think I should do? :?