CrystallinEntity
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My husband and I recently got some glowlight tetra, who are in our 10 gallon quarantine tank, and we think they have ich. Their symptoms are some small white specs on their fins and body. They are still eating, they aren't gasping for air at the surface (hopefully their gils are ok?), and they aren't rubbing against the decorations. The outbreak doesn't appear to be too bad; I didn't notice it until I had been staring at the fish for quite a while.
I've read about ich treatments (here and elsewhere), and we are interested in trying the salt and temperature method, rather than medication. But I know that certain tetra are sensitive to water conditions and can be intolerant of salt, so I have questions about safely using this treatment for glowlights.
Here are the tank's vitals:
size: 10 gallon
filtration: Whisper "bio bag" (the filter medium came from a cycled tank, so the tetra "shouldn't" be stressed by cycling)
stock: 6 (small) glowlight tetra
planted?: yes, lightly
salted?: yes, 2 tbsp
temperature: 81 degrees F
pH: around 7.4? (between 7.2 and 7.8 (*))
GH: 300 ppm ("very hard") (*)
KH: 120 ppm (*)
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: < 20
Other: 1 Nutrafin CO2 canister (discussed below)
(* Hard to tell exactly on the test strip.)
Here are my questions:
1. Guides for a salt/temperature ich treatment suggest increasing the temperature to 85 degrees. But, some guides I found for glowlight tetra state that 77 degrees (F) is their ideal temperature, which makes me reluctant to raise the temperature to 85. (Right now, it's 81.) Is 85 degrees safe for glowlights, while treating for ich? If not, what is the maximum recommended temp?
2. Ich treatment guides suggest using salt at levels around 1 teaspoon per gallon. I've read that fish which prefer soft water, such as tetra, are sensitive to salt. But I've also read that glowlights are a hearty tetra and are more tolerant of hard water than others (e.g. neons and cardinals). How much salt could glowlights tolerate in our hard water, at least for the short term while treating ich (~ 2 weeks)?
3. I know that as temperature goes up, aeration needs to increase, as warmer water can't hold as much oxygen. We've just started using a NutraFin CO2 system for the plants. Should we discontinue that for the time being? I want to ensure the fish get enough oxygen, but I don't want to suddenly alter the tank's chemistry by turning off the CO2. As far as O2 goes, we already have an airstone running at about half of its capacity and can turn it up if necessary.
4. If the salt/temp treatments don't work and we decide to treat chemically, for glowlights, which of copper sulfate or malachite green is less bad? I've read that "certain tetra" (neons/cardinals?) are sensitive to malachite green, so copper sulfate sounds safer, but I was curious what people have experienced first-hand.
As a final note, I first saw the spots on Monday but wasn't sure what I was seeing...they were defintiely there yesterday, and now tonight, they're gone again.
I'm assuming it's ich (not me seeing things) and that it's in the free floating stage now.
Thank you for reading.
I've read about ich treatments (here and elsewhere), and we are interested in trying the salt and temperature method, rather than medication. But I know that certain tetra are sensitive to water conditions and can be intolerant of salt, so I have questions about safely using this treatment for glowlights.
Here are the tank's vitals:
size: 10 gallon
filtration: Whisper "bio bag" (the filter medium came from a cycled tank, so the tetra "shouldn't" be stressed by cycling)
stock: 6 (small) glowlight tetra
planted?: yes, lightly
salted?: yes, 2 tbsp
temperature: 81 degrees F
pH: around 7.4? (between 7.2 and 7.8 (*))
GH: 300 ppm ("very hard") (*)
KH: 120 ppm (*)
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: < 20
Other: 1 Nutrafin CO2 canister (discussed below)
(* Hard to tell exactly on the test strip.)
Here are my questions:
1. Guides for a salt/temperature ich treatment suggest increasing the temperature to 85 degrees. But, some guides I found for glowlight tetra state that 77 degrees (F) is their ideal temperature, which makes me reluctant to raise the temperature to 85. (Right now, it's 81.) Is 85 degrees safe for glowlights, while treating for ich? If not, what is the maximum recommended temp?
2. Ich treatment guides suggest using salt at levels around 1 teaspoon per gallon. I've read that fish which prefer soft water, such as tetra, are sensitive to salt. But I've also read that glowlights are a hearty tetra and are more tolerant of hard water than others (e.g. neons and cardinals). How much salt could glowlights tolerate in our hard water, at least for the short term while treating ich (~ 2 weeks)?
3. I know that as temperature goes up, aeration needs to increase, as warmer water can't hold as much oxygen. We've just started using a NutraFin CO2 system for the plants. Should we discontinue that for the time being? I want to ensure the fish get enough oxygen, but I don't want to suddenly alter the tank's chemistry by turning off the CO2. As far as O2 goes, we already have an airstone running at about half of its capacity and can turn it up if necessary.
4. If the salt/temp treatments don't work and we decide to treat chemically, for glowlights, which of copper sulfate or malachite green is less bad? I've read that "certain tetra" (neons/cardinals?) are sensitive to malachite green, so copper sulfate sounds safer, but I was curious what people have experienced first-hand.
As a final note, I first saw the spots on Monday but wasn't sure what I was seeing...they were defintiely there yesterday, and now tonight, they're gone again.
I'm assuming it's ich (not me seeing things) and that it's in the free floating stage now.Thank you for reading.
