Greeting's Fish Friends,
I really REALLY hate to have to write this. Thor, if you read this I sure hope you can give me more GREAT advice like you did last time with the Tetra SafeStart
I may possibly be facing my first fish illness. I'm reading a dozen different ways to treat Ich (Ick). Would love to hear more opinions on dealing with this.
My tanks is new (almost 6 weeks old) 5.5 gallon fluval tank with 5 very active guppies. The tank has cycled. My pH is
7.2, Ammonia 0. Nitrite 0, Nitrate .05-.10. I'm doing 1 gallon water changes about every three to five days. I also have a small
10 watt heater in the tank and that keeps the water temp at exactly 78*. I also put a small amount of aquarium salt in
the water as PetSmart told me this would be beneficial to the guppies (1 Tbsp. for 5 gallons). There are no live plants in this tank.
The guppies are VERY active and eating well. This aquarium is on my desk and I see these fish all day long while I'm working. Yesterday I
noticed 1 fish was occasionally 'scratching' himself on one of the rock decorations in the tank, I didn't think anything of it at
the time. Today all 5 guppies are doing this intermittently. There are NO signs of white sugar like specks on the fish...but I am
wondering if this might be the beginning of Ich? One week ago I added 2 guppies from LFS to the tank.
I don't want to be a 'fish tank hypocondriate'....but I also don't want to be caught off guard in the event this turns into
something more. I keep reading that these medications can/will kill your biological filtration (which I have worked so hard
for these past 6 weeks)...I sure hate to wipe it out now and have to start over...plus, what in the world would I do with the
guppies in the meantime? A dilemma
I also am reading about the high temperature treatment which I really like the idea of. I would have to go buy another heater which would allow me to control the temperature (that's no problem).
Any thoughts from your vast knowledge would be appreciated
Many Thanks,
Dave
