Unidentified source of scratching (currently treating)

[BetaGrumm]

Good morning.
I’m looking for advice on what could be going on in my aquarium.
I’ve spent that last few weeks observing, reading and researching and I’m out of ideas.

The issue:
My fish are scratching and I’m having trouble identifying why.

Tank setup:

• 29 gallon tall
• Real drift wood, red lava stone, and fake plant decor
• Pea gravel substrate

Stock:

• 1x common pleco (part royal, part bristlenose. Born and raised in my tank.)
• 1x fancy guppy
• 5x white skirt tetras
• 6x glowlight tetras
• 1x clown loach
• 1x Pearl gourami

Latest water test results:

• ph : 7.2
• Ammonia: 0ppm
• Nitrite: 0ppm
• Nitrate: 5ppm
• dGH: 3-4
• dKH: 8
• Temp: 78 degrees F

dKH is a tad high for my goal, but overall the water is exactly as I expect.
25% water changes three times a week. (To maintain nitrate levels)

Water change products:

• 7 gallons total RO/DI water mixed with tap (water softener leaves tap water PH too high so I mix)
• API Proper ph 7
• Seachem Equilibrium for GH maintenance
• 1 tbls API aquarium salt

A NOTE about the salt: I never used to run salt, but I had a bunch lying around and after much reading, decided to try tossing a teaspoon in to see if they liked it. They would congregate where I put it in the aquarium. Based on this, I assumed they might need a little mineral content and began adding it per the recommendations on the box.

Current Medications:

• Seachem paraguard

Background:
I have been keeping a freshwater tropical community aquarium for about 10 years now but I’ve never encountered this kind of scratching before.
Mid to late last year I redecorated and restocked my aquarium and have had a go around with ich after I added my white skirt tetras. I quickly and successfully treated that with a two week treatment of Seachem Paraguard.
A few weeks after I added a clown loach and a gourami.
Three weeks after that addition, I noticed the clown loach beginning to scratch on his driftwood. There were no noticeable signs of ich, flukes, or any other sort of disease. All fish looked and behaved healthy.
A few days later, I noticed my guppy scratching on the substrate.
Later that same day I saw my gourami scratch on one of the fake plants.

I immediately began another treatment of Seachem Paraguard. The scratching ceased almost immediately. I’ve been treating for about 10 days and still have 11 to go. (Three weeks total.)

Last night, again about 10 days into the treatment, I saw the loach and the guppy scratching again.
I ran a full battery of water tests. (see the results above)
The water seems exactly as intended.

There are no visible signs of disease. All fish are eating well, calm, comfortable, no signs of aggression, great color, shiny scales, full healthy fins, no sign of ich or issues with gills.

I’m stumped as to what could be causing the irritation.

One note on aggression, When I began this treatment I did crank up the temperature to 84 (high, but after all my reading/research, I decided to push it and see how it went).
All the fish seemed fine for the first few days, and then suddenly the gourami became extremely aggressive and territorial over a few plants. He began striking the white skirt tetras who came near hard enough to knock scales off them.
I immediately turned the temperature back down assuming environmental stress and the aggression ceased.
Apart from that incident the stock has always been very peaceful. Light striking once in a while between the white skirt tetras. That’s been the extent.

What could be causing the irritation leading the fish to scratch?
Could this be a result of the added salt? But then why only scratching so in frequently and not after every water change? (It's technically less than the recommended dose from API for fresh water.)
Could this simply be a fresh “hatch” of the parasite (assuming parasites) that will be killed off as the treatment continues?
I’m just really surprised to see the scratching start back up mid treatment. Especially since I never positively identified ich to start with, I leads me to wonder if it was never parasites to begin with.

I will post updates as the treatment progresses.
Thanks.

 

[Colin_T]

The gourami probably became territorial when you increased the temperature due to feeling randy. Gouramis and a lot of other fish start breeding when the water temperature rises. By increasing the water temp to 84F you stimulated the gourami and it started to stake out a territory for breeding purposes.

--------------
When the tank lights are off, shine a torch on the fish and see if they have a yellow or gold sheen on their body. If they do then they have velvet (Oodinium). They could also have a low grade whitespot infection that I being partly kept in check by the regular water changes.

The safest way to treat tropical fish for whitespot, is to raise the water temperature to 30C (86F) and keep it there for 2 weeks. Then reduce the temperature.
You do a huge (80-90%) water change and complete gravel clean before raising the temperature. This reduces the number of parasites in the tank and gives the fish more chance of surviving for a few days while the heat kills the parasites.

You can use this treatment for some Oodinium infections but there are strains of Oodinium that can tolerate this temperature. However, it's worth trying before adding chemicals.

If you need to use chemicals then copper or Malachite Green can be used to treat both whitepsot and velvet. Copper is safer than Malachite green but does kill invertebrates like shrimp.

Malachite Green is a known carcinogen and can cause cancer in fish and people if they are exposed to it. Care must be taken if using this substance. Avoid inhaling, ingesting or getting it on your skin. Wash hands and arms with soapy water after using it. Try to get a liquid version of Malachite Green because the dry powder forms can blow around and contaminate you and your clothing.

--------------
If you can post some pictures and a short video showing the fish rubbing, it might provide more information.

 

[seangee]

Hi and .
Don't want to be the bearer of bad news but your water is too soft for guppies and they will live short unhealthy lives. Clown loaches need to be in groups of at least 6. They also need a tank length of at least 180cm (6'). When I downsized to a 55G tank I sold my clown loaches because keeping them would have been cruel. The pleco does not need to be in groups but also needs a much larger tank.

Aside from your current issues this does need urgent attention.

Just FWIW a 75% change once a week is far better than 3 25% changes. I do this as a matter of course in all my tanks.

 

[Byron]

Several issues can cause flashing, but 8 or 9 times out of 10 it is ich. Ich attacks fish in the gills long before we ever see spots, and healthy fish can fight this off so you never do see it. But any and all stress weakens the fish and this can go on longer.

In addition to what has already beeen mentioned, two additives need correcting. Salt (aquarium salt, sea salt) does nothing of benefit when added as here, but it can cause more stress. Salt as a treatment for specific issues is a different issue, but not as some sort of "preventative." You can read why in my article:

Salt FW Aq Art Hosking

The API Proper pH is also causing issues for the fish. And it is not likely to work, given the KH. Never use such products with fish in the tank.

Seachem Equilibrium shouldnot be used here. This is a plant-related product, and Seachem themselves do not recommend it for fish-only tanks. It too contains stuff that gets inside the fish for no good reason. Except for the guppies, none of the other species here need a higher GH as they are soft water species.

 

[BetaGrumm]

Hi, all, and thank you for the posts so far.
Let's see if I can address everything...

@Colin_T : Great info on the gourami. After some more research on breeding habits of the pearl gourami, what you said and what I observed make perfect sense. He was absolutely obsessed with HIS plants and was constantly swimming through them and "checking" them. Almost as though he was prepping for a nest.
I'm glad I know he can tolerate the heat ok.

Also thank you for the insight on Velvet. I have never had to deal with velvet before and most images on the web are apparently of extreme cases. I did quite a bit more reading on it, especially of the more written descriptions and spent quite a bit of time inspecting my fish.
It's subtle, but now that I know what I'm looking for, I think Velvet may be the answer. I see it best on the pleco as he's darker in color and creates a better contrast, and again it's subtle, but if I look closely, what I thought was just his beautiful scales, now looks like green and gold dust edging his scales and the thicker parts of this fins.
I have noticed this before, and just assumed he was actually just a subtly beautiful fish (which I still think so) but the subtle iridescence may in fact be the only visible indication of velvet.
I will continue on with the treatment and we'll see how it goes.

@seangee
Could you point me to some resources for Guppy water hardness? I've historically had a hard time finding any information on guppies and water hardness. Let alone anything consistent. It seems that most people ignore water hardness for guppies with the excuse that they "Tolerate anything". Some links for this info would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your concern and insights into the habitat needs of my loach and pleco. I was already aware of the loaches needs, but I appreciate you pointing that out as you have no way of knowing whether or not I did, and it's best for people to be informed.
The pleco was born in this tank and the parents and siblings were re-homed / given to local fish stores.
When I redesigned the tank, he was less than an inch long, but he's definitely growing.
And yes, the clown loach is temporary while he's still a baby.
He and the pleco are eventually both going to be moved to an aquarium I'm helping design with my employer at my work place. This new aquarium will be upwards of 1000 gallons (still in the design phase). So that will be plenty of space for him (and more of his kind).
It should be complete and ready for both of them to move into later this year.

I'm curious about your claim of a 75% over multiple 25%. I would have taken the opposite claim.
I used to do larger water changes years ago, but decided that more frequent and smaller changes made for more stable water conditions. A large change means a greater change in water parameters at the time of change.
What causes you to favor large changes less frequently?

For the record, 3 changes a week is more than I prefer as well. I'm dealing with nitrates for the time being and I prefer to keep them consistently low as opposed to letting the levels rise between changes.

@Byron
I agree about Ich. I just had to deal with it myself with one of my recent additions and the local fish stores are RIDDLED with it right now. Have been for a while. It's annoying. That's why I just assumed it was an ich resurgence from the latest addition. And the immediate cessation of flashing upon treatment supported that assumption, but I guess it concerned me a bit to see them pick up the flashing again half way through the treatment and thought it better to just double check to see if I missed something and was treating for no reason. If I don't have to treat my whole tank I certainly don't want to.
I've never had them scratch mid treatment like this. That's what was different about the whole thing.

The salt:
I was unsure about the salt, but I think I'll pull it from the additives.
Like I said, I never used to use it. The only reason I added it was on the suggestion to try it and see if they congregate to it. And they did. So I went with the experiment of trying it out more regularly in my change water to observe overall wellness changes. There's a tremendous amount of information surrounding salt in freshwater aquariums and non of it is consistent.
I'm skeptical of salt as a treat all for everything as it's often touted. But that's neither here nor there and an experiment for another time.
Over all I haven't seem much of a difference at all, and If i don't have to buy more things/add more things to my water, I don't want to. I do want to give my fish the best water I can and I'm willing to try a few things to see what is best for them.

About the API proper PH 7, I'm surprised to hear you clearly don't like it.
It does in fact work when I use RO/DI water. And it does not rebound. (I tested this over 48 hours in a test bucket)
I never add it directly to my tank. Only in change water, just FYI. The tank itself stays in credibly stable PH wise. I always test the PH before water changes, I test the change water before putting it in, and I test the aquarium again 4 - 6 hours later or next day (depending on the schedule).
If I were to use just tap water, then you are correct, it doesn't have the capacity to over come the KH in my tap water. (It's in the 20s dKH somewhere. I just stopped measuring) I would have to buffer that, but I chose instead to use RO/DI and in all my testing the proper PH has worked just fine in creating a stable PH at 7 (ish. I can only stare and blues and greens on my test kit so long before they all start looking the same)

The addition of Proper PH is fairly recent (about a year ago). I used to use just tap water and condition it with a chlorine remover and the PH was fairly stable. Close enough. But about a year ago the building I live in put in a water softener and I only found out because one day I went to start gathering my change water and it had a PH of 8.2 and rising. (what the...)
After measuing the actual KH, I decided it was much easier to get RO/DI and adjust to 7 than to try and buffer down something that was that full of carbonates.
At any rate, Since I don't have plants yet, (soon) it was my go to option to get my PH where I wanted.
Do you have an alternative recommendation and why?

This brings us to Equilibrium. Because I chose to use RO/DI, I have the softest water ever. So I had to add something to bring up my GH.
Seachem Replenish was the obvious first choice, except that they specifically state that it should not be used in planted tanks, and instead Equilibrium should.
I do have some java moss, but mainly I plan to gradually add plants in the future (always have planned this, just never got around to it).
While it's true, I don't have a planted tank now, I decided to go ahead and find and start working with a product that will support it/get used to dosing/see how it affects the tank and water change routine etc before I actually started planting.
What in your experience makes Equilibrium bad for fish?
It seems to be THE option for GH if you have plants, so I don't understand how it can be harmful. Usually, product makers give warnings about using things that are bad for plants, not the other way around. In other words, everywhere I look, both options are good for fish, but only one is good for plants.
Can you expound on this subject?

All that aside (great discussion), I think we are getting a tad off track.
While I appreciate the good tips and personal suggestions for general aquarium keeping, I'm specifically wondering why I see flashing half way through a parasite treatment and wonder if that's been experienced by others, because I have not. If you think the above topics are causing the flashing, could you explain more as to why?


Thanks for all the help so far.

 

[seangee]

Could you point me to some resources for Guppy water hardness? I've historically had a hard time finding any information on guppies and water hardness. Let alone anything consistent. It seems that most people ignore water hardness for guppies with the excuse that they "Tolerate anything". Some links for this info would be greatly appreciated.

Seriouslyfish.com is about the most reliable site for this. As far as water changes go its easiest to think about how much bad stuff is left in the water rather than how much clean water you add. 3x25% changes leaves 42% of the bad stuff behind. A single 75% change only leaves 25%. I am on holiday so can't illustrate this easily but the arithmetic is fairly simple if you want to verify.

 

[Colin_T]

You do water changes for 2 main reasons.
1) to reduce nutrients like ammonia, nitrite & nitrate.
2) to dilute disease organisms in the water.

Fish live in a soup of microscopic organisms including bacteria, fungus, viruses, protozoans, worms, flukes and various other things that make your skin crawl. Doing a big water change and gravel cleaning the substrate on a regular basis will dilute these organisms and reduce their numbers in the water, thus making it a safer and healthier environment for the fish.

If you do a 25% water change each week you leave behind 75% of the bad stuff in the water.
If you do a 50% water change each week you leave behind 50% of the bad stuff in the water.
If you do a 75% water change each week you leave behind 25% of the bad stuff in the water.

Fish live in their own waste. Their tank and filter is full of fish poop. The water they breath is filtered through fish poop. Cleaning filters, gravel and doing big regular water changes, removes a lot of this poop and makes the environment cleaner and healthier for the fish.

---------------------
Common livebearers (guppies, platies & swordtails) need a pH above 7.0 and a GH of 200ppm +.
Mollies need a pH above 7.0 and a GH of 250ppm +.

 

[BetaGrumm]

@seangee Thanks for the site reference. Somehow I've never come across that site and it is indeed a good one. Bookmarked.
I see they list hardness in terms of general which is great. I so rarely come across general hardness. Usually it's listed as KH and I often wonder if they aren't using GH numbers with a KH suffix. (It's a little wild west out there)

I get what you're saying about the water changes, and yes it makes sense. I think there is more to it than just a simple "what's left" measurement.
For example, "75% remaining bad stuff" doesn't tell the whole story. It might be 75% of a lot of bad stuff, or 75% of very little bad stuff. Those are two different things in terms of concentration.

If you're playing catch up, or you need an immediate remediation of tank parameters, yes of course, a large change removes 75% of bad stuff at a time when the concentration of bad stuff was high, therefore you remove a lot of bad stuff, but if you're already "caught up" and keeping considerably low "bad stuff", then your 75% water change is less effective and can have other affects on the system and fish. I think it becomes situational.
Overall I agree with you. I just think there are more assumptions to be had depending on the application of the water change, the context of your water, and the purpose for the change.
For the record I vac my gravel at every change. Waste removed up front is nitrates I never have to remove.

I know this doesn't always come across well, so I'll just say, I'm not trying to be argumentative or disrespectful in any way, I think this is a really great discussion and my replies are an attempt to plumb the depths of your knowledge which I can learn from.
Thank you.

@Colin_T I haven't seen any further flashing since I posted so I wasn't able to get any video.
I'll obviously keeping an eye on them.
At this point I'm assuming what I saw was a new batch of parasites that were safely protected from the medication by egg/cyst and had hatched out and will be taken care of as the treatment continues. To repeat myself, I still have about 10 days left in my current treatment.

ALSO, while reading up on Velvet, I came across a resource that stated the parasite was photosynthetic and recommended shutting off your lighting for the duration of the treatment.
Thoughts on this?
And, if this is true, it might be worth noting that I have recently replaced my bulbs which were considerably past their prime (one of them is a plant bulb) and was leaving my lighting on longer. Basically blasting fresh photon energy into the tank. Could that have had an affect on the out break assuming it were velvet? (I haven't confirmed anything, I'm still hypothesizing as to what this is)

 

[Byron]

I don't know how you were treating for ich, but it is often the case that one or two will get through the treatment. As I said previously, healthy fish fight this off. But an occasional flash usually means it is still around but clean water is the best preventative. Treating the tank is always risky in itself, and any additive/medicine will stress fish regardless, and this can only make it more difficult for the fish to deal with this or that.

On the salt, my linked article covers that in depth.

As for the API pH adjuster...these are without any question harmful to fish. Now, "harmful" does not mean the fish will turn belly-up dead, anymore than the claims that such things are "safe" means they are harmless because the fish do not immediateely die from them. Understanding fish physiology is not easy, but it is essential to know the basics in order to avoid harming and eventually killing fish. Fish have a relationship with their aquatic environment that is totally unique among all animals. Water is continually entering the fish throough every cell, and any substance in the water is thus getting into the bloodstream and internal organs. At the very least this causes stress, which weakens fish; but often it can be much worse. And the detrimental effect is often not externally visible to us until it has weakened the fish so severely they either die or become clearly incapacitated. This is one significant issue. The other is the pH itself...fish must maintain a blood pH that is equal to the water they live in. It is without question safer to allow the pH to establish naturally, this being dependent upon the inbitial GH, KH, pH and the dissolved CO2.

If you use RO water, there are safer ways to increase the GH, KH and pH...and note, these absolutely must be dealt with together. The GH is the more important to fish, because of the dissolved minerals that they either need (harder water species) or do not need (softer water species). Most (with a few exceptions) soft water species if kept in RO water will be fine with absolutely no mineralization, and the resulting acidic pH will benefit them. Harder water species must have the minerals added, and the KH and pH will naturally be higher with these. Buffering is the same; it is not necessary for the majority of soft water species. It is usually essential for harder water species but this will naturally follow if the GH is increased safely to what the fish require. Never attemnpty to buffer the KH for pH without also dealing with the GH. Using a calcareous substrate (aragonite sand, not crushed coral alone) is one way, or using the rift lake salts is another. All of this depends upon the fish species. And true soft water species should not be combined with true hard water species because there really is no "middle ground." Now, there are some species that do very well in either slightly soft or slightly hard water, that is a different thing. But most species have a distinct preference, and providing this water will always mean healthier fish because they do not have to spend energy dealing with inappropriate water parameters. Again, it goes back to that unique relationship with their environment.

Plants. If fish are present in the aquarium, then fish should be the focus. Provide what the fish require and expect. Select plants that will manage. It is acceptable to use fertilizers to provide the essential minerals and nutrients, depending upon the plant species and numbers (and taking into consideration the effect on different fish species). But, these need to be kept minimal again because they get into the fish. I used Equilibrium for a few years in two of my larger tanks, to add calcium for the large swords which had calcium deficiency without it. The fish species in these two tanks were those that could do well with a low GH, and I kept it around 4 or 5 dGH. One of the tanks developed an issue that I won't go into as it is not directly relevant, but in trying to pin down the issue I consulted a couple of marine biologists. One of them looked at the ingredients in Equilibrium, and asked me why i thought these were needed by fish, or would not impact them? Bottom line, I tossed out the Equilibrium, as the fish come first. I tried Seachem's Flourish Tabs for the swords, and now, some five or six years later, the swords are still lush and green. Flourish Tabs do not dissolve into the upper water column to affect fish; I do not know how Seachem achieve this, but studies show their claim is true.

 

[BetaGrumm]

Excellent response. Thank you so much for this.
Just to flesh out some more details on your middle paragraph:

If you use RO water, there are safer ways to increase the GH, KH and pH...and note, these absolutely must be dealt with together.

What would a combination of what products look like if you were to accomplish this?
(I have my own hunch based on some passive reading, but since I've never actually applied that hunch, I'm interested in your experience here)
Let's say you're starting with RO/DI water with a PH of... say 6.4 or maybe even lower. 6.0.
What order would you add what addative? GH first? What affect will have that, and what would you add next and to what effect?
My intuition tells me that something to promote GH should go first, followed by something else to add carbonate ions to bring up the PH to the desired with an added buffere to hold the ph in it's place. This obviously would take a little time to allow to stabilize and would not be an instant "add" and dump into your aquarium.
Could you provide just a bit of detail or provide some resources on balancing PH through mixing your own elements vs using a pre made adjuster/buffer?

Back to the case at hand, I am mid treatment with Seachem Paraguard (aldahydes and malachite green as described by seachem) as I stated in my previous posts. I'm treating for 21 days and I'm about 11 days in. So the treatment is not yet complete.

 

[Essjay]

I so rarely come across general hardness. Usually it's listed as KH and I often wonder if they aren't using GH numbers with a KH suffix. (It's a little wild west out there)

There are two types of hardness - GH and KH. GH is the amount of calcium and magnesium in the water and this affects fish directly. KH is the amount of buffer in the water, mainly carbonates and bicarbonates, which indirectly affect the fish by stabilising pH.

We should aim to keep fish in water with the same GH as the water they originated. Soft water fish kept in hard water will have calcium deposits in their organs; hard water fish kept in soft water will not have enough calcium to keep their bodies functioning properly.

 

[seangee]

I get what you're saying about the water changes, and yes it makes sense. I think there is more to it than just a simple "what's left" measurement.
For example, "75% remaining bad stuff" doesn't tell the whole story. It might be 75% of a lot of bad stuff, or 75% of very little bad stuff. Those are two different things in terms of concentration.

Remember my illustration assumed nothing (i.e.) nitrates is added between changes. This is obviously not usually the case in an aquarium so it is easy to get nitrate (or pH) drift despite doing a lot of small changes. Having said that I would never criticise someone who does 3x25% changes a week .

You mention nitrates so I will say that plants play a massive part in avoiding these (note avoiding not reducing). The 55G tank in my signature uses RO (and nothing else). According to Aqadvisor (not a site I trust BTW) my tank is seriously over stocked and critically under filtered. I do change 75% every week even though the nitrates are still 0 before the water change. This is simply because the plants deal with the ammonia without turning it into nitrites or nitrates. Basically all the filter does is move the water around and pick up organics. As you can see its not particularly heavily planted - although there is a significant amount of frogbit. I do clean my filter sponges every week but FWIW I never clean the sand.

 

[BetaGrumm]

@seangee

This is obviously not usually the case in an aquarium so it is easy to get nitrate (or pH) drift despite doing a lot of small changes.

I agree completely. I test my nitrates religiously for just this reason and make water change adjustments as necessary. (Usually greater volume at a time as you originally suggested)
I rarely do things with my aquarium based on routine without verifying water parameters. I've had sneaky drifts before and learned my lesson.
Is that your tank in your signature? It's beautiful. A planted tank has been my dream/goal for a long time now. It's what got me into the hobby to begin with I just haven't gotten around to it. :\

 

[Byron]

What would a combination of what products look like if you were to accomplish this?
(I have my own hunch based on some passive reading, but since I've never actually applied that hunch, I'm interested in your experience here)
Let's say you're starting with RO/DI water with a PH of... say 6.4 or maybe even lower. 6.0.
What order would you add what addative? GH first? What affect will have that, and what would you add next and to what effect?
My intuition tells me that something to promote GH should go first, followed by something else to add carbonate ions to bring up the PH to the desired with an added buffere to hold the ph in it's place. This obviously would take a little time to allow to stabilize and would not be an instant "add" and dump into your aquarium.
Could you provide just a bit of detail or provide some resources on balancing PH through mixing your own elements vs using a pre made adjuster/buffer?

You only deal with GH. The KH and pH you leave alone, always. It is the GH that matters most, and if you provide the appropriate GH for the fish, the KH and pH will follow suit. The fish in any aquarium must share the same requirements respecting water parameters, at least generally. [There are always oddities and exceptions, but to get across the basics I am being general.] The guppies in post #1 must have moderately hard water; the other species listed are soft water fish.

If you have for example a tank of all soft water species (and again, you really cannot mix soft and hard water fish, again in general terms)--for purposes of an example, lets say the soft water species in post #1, being glowlight tetras, white skirt tetras, gourami, clown loach...these will be fine with zero GH and KH. The pH will naturally drop due to the biological processes as the organics are broken down by bacteria and produce CO2 which produces carbonic acid which lowers the pH. Leave it alone. This will result in stable water parameters, and the fish will thrive because they are designed by nature through evolution to function in such water.

If on the other hand you have a tank of livebearers (like your guppies) which must have moderately hard or harder water, and your source water is soft (RO, or naturally soft), then you must add minerals to raise the GH. You can do this with a calcareous substrate or with the rift lake mineral salts (calcium, magnesium, and some others, not common "salt" sodium chloride which should never be used in a freshwater tank except as a specific disease treatment temporarily). Yoou raise the GH up to where it is needed, say 12 dGH for livebearers. The KH will naturally be raised, and the pH will naturally follow suit and be basic (above 7).

Targeting the pH on its own is dangerous. First, it may or may not respond (because of the GH and KH and CO2). But second, and just as important, the fish must have harder water in order to carry out their every-day life functions. The GH, KH and pH should always be seen as a unit, and it is the GH that almost always is the parameter to deal with because it determines the others but more to the point, it has the greatest direct impact on fish.

Back to the case at hand, I am mid treatment with Seachem Paraguard (aldahydes and malachite green as described by seachem) as I stated in my previous posts. I'm treating for 21 days and I'm about 11 days in. So the treatment is not yet complete.

I tend to stay out of disease issues as my direct experience is very limited (fortunately). But if this is ich, and I assume from what you've told us that it is, I would certainly not use Paraguard. This is affecting the fish just by being there, which makes it more difficult for the fish to deal with this and that. Malachite green is a highly dangerous drug for soft water fish especially; I use it to dab directly on fungus as it kills it instantly, but I would never add it to the tank water. Also, clown loaches are notorious for carrying ich and once they get it is can be very hard to deal with; and the lone clown loach is seriously stressed by not having another four loaches, this is as highly social species [I believe seangee went into this earlier]. If this were my tank, |I would do massive water changes to clean the water, then raise the temperature to 86F (30C) to deal with ich. Safer than any medication. If something further is needed, salt would be preferable.

 

[Byron]

I test my nitrates religiously for just this reason and make water change adjustments as necessary. (Usually greater volume at a time as you originally suggested)
I rarely do things with my aquarium based on routine without verifying water parameters. I've had sneaky drifts before and learned my lesson.

Just spotted this response...water changes should be regular and substantial, and you should absolutely never see any change in nitrate from one to the next. If you do, then the water changes are not adequate, or the fish load is beyond the capability of the system, or the fish are being overfed, [or nitrate is present in the source water]...all things that add organics and this raises nitrates. And nitrates are poisonous to fish; they take longer to do it than ammonia and nitrite, but they still do weaken fish the higher the nitrate and/or the longer the fish are exposed. Some species are more sensitive than others to nitrate, but the aim should be to keep nitrate as low as possible (zero would be perfect, but most of us cannot do that, my tanks are in the 0 to 5 ppm range and have been in every test over more than 10 years now). And my weekly water change of 60-70% of the tank volume at one go is likely one major reason.