Louise02

Ich broke out in one of my planted aquariums. I moved the fish to the hospital tank. Is there any way to clean and keep the plants and snails that remain in the tank? Do I have to run Ich-X in that aquarium for a while?

Thank you! I usually pick up RO, but I can't pick up enough RO fast enough. Do you typically change your water once per day while fighting ich? TIA!

Thank you!

Do SeaChem Prime and Ich-X play nice?

Any great ideas on raising aquarium temperature? We're dealing with ich, and my heater is not cooperating with raising the temperature. It just shuts off when I add another heat source...so the temperature is not going up. Ideas? (Other than buying a new heater? It won't be here for about a week.) TIA!!!

I'm going to take a page out of your book and make that house policy. We were so lucky in the beginning. Our bettas lived for years without any issues. I should have had a hospital tank, but at least I had IchX, salt, etc. on hand. Thank you for taking the time to explain all of this to me. My daughter thanks you (these are her fish).

@Odd Duck Thank you. In the future I am just going to pay more for rounder river rock and call it good. The clay is nice until it's not.

Thank you. I had not intended to medicate in this tank. I will be moving the fish that have ich in a few hours after the new tank is set up. The new tank, that was supposed to be here long before the fish, was delayed in arriving, due to weather. This clay substrate will actually only see two rounds of ichX before I move these fish. Would you still toss the substrate, since it is a formaldehyde product? or can I save it?

I need a substrate for the 29-gallon that we are going to set up. One that I used in the past was an enriched clay product - it took six months to get the ammonia level safe in that tank. HOWEVER, I love that that material is spherical in shape. Many of our bettas have nestled into substrate (under a leaf or something similar) and torn their tails. Is there an inert substrate that is similar (like tiny little marbles) that would work for our bettas, shrimp, and guppies, but not add ammonia to the water column? or do I just have to run the next tank for six months before adding fish? Thank you!!!

If you add some salt to your molly aquarium, but still grow plants, what do you find to be a safe level of salt for the plants? 1tsp per 10 gallons? Also, what have you had success with in slightly brackish water? or is it not even worth trying?

Do you keep your hospital tank set up?

Thank you. Yes, we use the tabs from Aquarium Coop. Should I remove it?

We started a dwarf lily bulb six months ago. The plant is great, but the bulb looks like it is growing (and spreading) bacteria. Can I remove the bulb?

I am in the process of establishing a hospital aquarium. In the meantime, I had to treat mollies and guppies in a tank with Aqueon Plant & Shrimp aquarium substrate. I love that substrate (after six months of cycling without fish), but now I have contaminated it with several meds. Is it best to throw it out? or can I continue to use it?

Thank you @Huckleberry and @ScandiDefense. That helps! The little bully can just stay with the gourami until he chills out. Thank you for explaining how this works to me!

So sorry that this happened to you. When our new fish kept dying we eventually discovered the same issue. Now we haul in RO water for every change.

My daughter's molly was in a tank by himself as the other molly died and the gourami (that was aggressive) had to be moved to his own 10-gallon aquarium. Her uncle picked up two male mollies for her, so that the original male molly would not be alone. After introducing the smaller, younger mollies, the first molly immediately started bullying them. Is that normal. Purchasing all of the additional aquariums and supplies so that this molly could be separated from the gourami and placed with other mollies was expensive. I was so miffed that he was beating up on these smaller fish! I netted him up and put him back in with the gourami. This first molly had been like this with the female that was originally with him, but she died. I figured that he behaved like that because she was a female, but now he is bullying males! Is it normal for a molly to bully other mollies?

Thank you. The reason that I did not give tank size and parameters is that this single molly is in a five-gallon. I am trying to decide if I should move him to a 10-gallon or 30-gallon. I would not add other fish to the five-gallon that he is currently in- I would move him to a new set up. I wanted to plan which fish would join him before setting up the new tank.

Thank you. In the past we always kept ADF with guppies, which really worked beautifully. Amazingly, I can't find healthy guppies. Thank you for steering me away from ADF + mollies.

Can ADF handle the aquarium salt that mollies need? Thank you for all of your help!

What can you keep with ADF?

Adding aquarium salt to the aquarium water saved the last of our mollies. What can I use for a clean up crew in an aquarium that has that much salt (maybe 1T per five gallons)?

What do I do with a single male molly? Is it best to just get a few females?

Thank you!

My daughter has a single, gold dust, male molly. He lost his mate to some weird illness. He seems to have an issue, as he sometimes looks pregnant. Perhaps internal parasites? Due to the many issues that he and his mate arrived with, he has been treated with one round of parasite treatment, salt, and antibiotics. He is definitely better, but I am wondering if I should try another round of parasite treatment to rid him of any newly hatched worms in his gut. Any advise? Also, he was with a gourami that became to hostile. They are separated, so both are alone. I am trying to figure out what to do about tank mates for him. He seems really upset about being alone. I have a gentle betta that I could put with him. However, I am concerned about both him making her sick and the salinity of his water. Should I try putting them together? getting new females? a male? Advise? Thank you!