Fish tank has Ich

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

what would be normal water parameters? I know ammonia should stay at 0 and nitrate NO2- should be 0 but what about nitrate no3- and ph and ph high range?

There's no such thing as 'normal' parameters, other than zero readings for ammonia and nitrate, once you've taken control of your ecosystem, which is artificial.
The rest will come with your water supply and, whilst you can manipulate water hardness and pH, it's usually far simpler to just get fish that would be happy in your water.

 

[Byron]

Numbers are OK. On the ammonia, do they add chloramine to your tap water? This is a common thing when we see 0.25 ammonia, as chloramine has ammonia to strengthen its effectiveness.

The pH, use only one test, they will read different (as you see here) and with those numbers, the normal range test is the one to use.

Nitrate at 5 ppm is OK. You want nitrate as low as possible, and then consistent over weeks and months and years, never increasing. Test it prior to the water change, and again an hour or so after. It should be consistent; if it increases substantially prior to the next W/C, action should be taken to prevent this (we can go into that if it is relevant).

Edit. I read your question differently from Bruce, but no matter, we've both given good advice.

 

[Rhys19]

Numbers are OK. On the ammonia, do they add chloramine to your tap water? This is a common thing when we see 0.25 ammonia, as chloramine has ammonia to strengthen its effectiveness.

The pH, use only one test, they will read different (as you see here) and with those numbers, the normal range test is the one to use.

Nitrate at 5 ppm is OK. You want nitrate as low as possible, and then consistent over weeks and months and years, never increasing. Test it prior to the water change, and again an hour or so after. It should be consistent; if it increases substantially prior to the next W/C, action should be taken to prevent this (we can go into that if it is relevant).

Edit. I read your question differently from Bruce, but no matter, we've both given good advice.

ah thanks, and my water is well water (A well driven into the ground). the hose (What I use to fill up) doesn't go behind a water softener because i'm unsure whether it's safe or not to use the water thats behind a water softener since it has salt in it, although if it's safe it's a much better way to fill up since I can just get the water temp just right since it's also behind a water heater...

 

[Byron]

ah thanks, and my water is well water (A well driven into the ground). the hose (What I use to fill up) doesn't go behind a water softener because i'm unsure whether it's safe or not to use the water thats behind a water softener since it has salt in it, although if it's safe it's a much better way to fill up since I can just get the water temp just right since it's also behind a water heater...

You do not want to use water that goes through a softener using sodium chloride (common salt).

What is the GH?

 

[Rhys19]

You do not want to use water that goes through a softener using sodium chloride (common salt).

What is the GH?

I don't have a GH tester yet. I was always told to use the hose water since it's not connected to the softener it goes from the pressure tank to the hose

 

[Byron]

I don't have a GH tester yet. I was always told to use the hose water since it's not connected to the softener it goes from the pressure tank to the hose

You should know the GH of the source water, as this can affect fish even more than pH. Rather than waste money for a test you may only use the once, can you take some water (direct from the well, before it goes through any softener) to a fish store? Most will test GH. Make sure you get the number and their unit of measure, and write them down.

 

[Rhys19]

You should know the GH of the source water, as this can affect fish even more than pH. Rather than waste money for a test you may only use the once, can you take some water (direct from the well, before it goes through any softener) to a fish store? Most will test GH. Make sure you get the number and their unit of measure, and write them down.

Will do that as soon as I can get out again, also I got some good news all of my fish are acting normal again! I do not see any White spots disease or any symptoms of Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, but I am going to keep the heat treatment for a couple more weeks (As i've done some reasearch your supposed to keep the heat at 86*F or 30*C to kill off any ich left) will keep up some updates

 

[Rhys19]

You should know the GH of the source water, as this can affect fish even more than pH. Rather than waste money for a test you may only use the once, can you take some water (direct from the well, before it goes through any softener) to a fish store? Most will test GH. Make sure you get the number and their unit of measure, and write them down.

so I have been having water softener issues now the water softener is set at hardness level 25 I know this is after the hose but thats what my water softener says. I'm still unsure what my well hardness is (without the softener) If i get time this week I will go to a fish store with a container of water/cup of water & get it tested as for an update the tank is amazing! its been 2 weeks and 3 days since I turned the tank temp up and every other fish seemed to have survived I am not seeing any white spots and itching off of plants or any other symptoms. will keep the heat going for another week and update this thread before I turn the heat back down!

 

[Rhys19]

My water softener has 15 PPG written on the lid does this mean anything about the hardness level?

 

[Byron]

My water softener has 15 PPG written on the lid does this mean anything about the hardness level?

I've no idea what this number is, but the issue you need to resolve is the GH of the well water on its own. Softeners usually use common salt sodium chloride and this is harmful to freshwater fish so the well water pre-softener may be safer--but until we have the GH we can't know for certain.

 

[Rhys19]

I've no idea what this number is, but the issue you need to resolve is the GH of the well water on its own. Softeners usually use common salt sodium chloride and this is harmful to freshwater fish so the well water pre-softener may be safer--but until we have the GH we can't know for certain.

alright will update when I can get the GH and for the hose water right? (The hose isn't after the water softener)

My plumbing works like this:
1st it comes from the well
then it goes into the pressure tank
then it goes into the hose
the copper line that goes to the hose fitting splits into 2 one goes to the hose and one goes to the input of the water softener from there after the water softener is the water heater & the rest of the house

so in conclusion the hose is BEFORE the water softener

 

[Byron]

alright will update when I can get the GH and for the hose water right? (The hose isn't after the water softener)

My plumbing works like this:
1st it comes from the well
then it goes into the pressure tank
then it goes into the hose
the copper line that goes to the hose fitting splits into 2 one goes to the hose and one goes to the input of the water softener from there after the water softener is the water heater & the rest of the house

so in conclusion the hose is BEFORE the water softener

Yes, that is fine.

 

[Rhys19]

so an update, all of my tiger barbs have died one guppie has died the only few remaining in my main tank is 1 guppie, a pleco, and a chinese algae eater

with that in mind I moved them over to my small hospital tank I had setup this week with the quick start api and my params in it were perfect, and entirely redid my main tank put new gravel (The stuff that makes the fish glow i had the dark blue rocks before) and then I put my plants up in the front of my tank and then refilled it with my hose water like I did when I first got my tank & then put quick start in it and the temp has finally gotten back to 86*F and the water params are already looking normal nitrates are 0 ammonia is 0 PH is like 7.2

should I wait for my ph to get back up to 7.6 or wait a few days to put my fish that survived back in?

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

so an update, all of my tiger barbs have died one guppie has died the only few remaining in my main tank is 1 guppie, a pleco, and a chinese algae eater

with that in mind I moved them over to my small hospital tank I had setup this week with the quick start api and my params in it were perfect, and entirely redid my main tank put new gravel (The stuff that makes the fish glow i had the dark blue rocks before) and then I put my plants up in the front of my tank and then refilled it with my hose water like I did when I first got my tank & then put quick start in it and the temp has finally gotten back to 86*F and the water params are already looking normal nitrates are 0 ammonia is 0 PH is like 7.2

should I wait for my ph to get back up to 7.6 or wait a few days to put my fish that survived back in?

So you've basically started afresh and you need to cycle the tank properly, to give your remaining fish half a chance.
Keep a very VERY close eye on your 'hospital' tank's parameters, with daily testing. If your tank truly was 'perfect', it would stop being so as soon as you added a living creature to it.

 

[Rhys19]

So you've basically started afresh and you need to cycle the tank properly, to give your remaining fish half a chance.
Keep a very VERY close eye on your 'hospital' tank's parameters, with daily testing. If your tank truly was 'perfect', it would stop being so as soon as you added a living creature to it.

alright, and just to be clear right now I have a 3 gallon hospital tank when I get paid i'm getting a 20 gallon if not bigger this tank is just a tetra starter tank thats 3 gallons and came with a filter, a lid, and stuff. so far my main tanks parameters are ok will check again in a few days. also I have one of those Ammonia alerts how accurate are these? I'm trying to think whether to buy another one since it's been a year and they say they only last a year and buy a ph version too or just stick with manually checking them