Tony s

Well, the problem is identifying what he has. Ich is a parasite. Epistylis is a bacterial infection. And treatment is exact opposite. Ich you use high heat. Epistylis gets worse under heat. Ich will look like salt granules all over. Epistylis are more in patches and on the surface of the eye. Epistylis needs the kanaplex or maracyn2. Ichx for ich

Correct. But still net positive. But yeah, tank is too small for bristlenose. Could do clown pleco though.

Honestly I think they get a bad rap for that. They’re constantly grazing, so whatever they do poop comes from somewhere. Usually from the algae that people don’t notice. In a tank, they’re usually a net positive.

So you added a permanent source of hard water. Honestly not really an issue. Most fish species will do just fine in it. I'd stay away from appistos, german rams, discus as well as most wild caught species from south america. most other species will adapt just fine. 85% of the US has hard water. only the east coast, gulf coast, and pacific northwest has a amount of soft water. even discus can be done in harder water. that's growing but not breeding. guppysnail raises rams in harder water and jwcarlson raises his discus in harder water. so, it can be done just fine. most fish are raised by fish farms and their water is whatever they have on hand. usually hard. no problems. I think it's more important to raise them in clean water than worry about hard water

It depends on what you’re really wanting. If you’re wanting babies, I’d start with a trio of high quality guppies. Then they’d fill out the tank to what it would support. Keep something like guppy grass, hornwort, or water wisteria in there to provide fry cover. if you’re wanting a colorful tank with lots of movement. Maybe 5-6 of all male guppies. You could even order higher end ones online to improve their health and survival.

And send us more pics so we can verify what you’re looking at. And colu would confirm on the correct course of action. He gives the best medical advice. The other thing to think of. Dwarf gouramis get an iridivovirus. It doesn’t happen often, but does happen. If he gets it, really can’t do much. So keep us updated.

You’re probably fine.swim bladder is not contagious, usually. If the white spots spread, it could be epistylis. Or fungus. Keep an eye on it. But from the picture, I don’t see anything really alarming. That changes if it spreads. If they spread and look raised above the skin a bit. if it does spread, I’d lower the tank temperature to around 72. And run a course of kanaplex through the water. Following label directions very closely. Possibly adding in salt. Maybe 1 tablespoons to 10 gallons of water because of the high plant density. Remembering to remove all carbon if you’re using any.

Okay, what are you thinking the symptoms are. And what happened to your previous fish. zero nitrates? How long has your tank been running? Usually you expect to see something.

Sorry for your losses. Before we can do much for you. Do you have the current water parameters. What kind of symptoms is it showing. Not eating. At the surface often. Not swimming around. What were the symptoms of the ones you lost? For symptoms of epistylis. It mostly looks like ich if you’ve had that before. Small areas of white raised bumps on the skin. Including on the eyes. Unlike ich, it moves very fast and grows very well in higher temperatures. @Colu we’ll see if we can get you some help

You are so correct. We’ve had a platy only tank for several years. But wanted these for her bedroom tank. Tried guppies from big box stores with absolutely no luck at all. She may be 9 after Saturday, but she still gets upset when one of our animals passes. That’s why I did a bit of an overreaction. I needed these to be viable and thriving for her. And never imported guppies before now. Just very happy with them so far 😃 t

So far, so good. They’re really doing great. Searching and playing all over. They came already transitioned to fresh water. So now just have to watch for worms for about a month. They’re kind of subtle but very pretty. I’d have went more bold, but my daughter chose these. She made a great choice. I now have to get her tank ready for them. She chose a blue gravel the first time. It drowns out everything. Especially blue guppies. 🤣

Same product with different spelling??? @Colu?

Another strategy, take your picture to a regular vet. Just show up and see if they’ll help you out. Tell them what you have and what you need to fix it. Maybe they’ll understand and get you a script. Possibly charge for it. But totally worth it.

I agree with this for the most part. Depending. As long as the nitrate stays under the level you’re comfortable with. But for heavy plant loads, changing water brings in micro nutrients in the water and that helps them with growth and keeps the algae under control. If you’re waiting a month or so, be careful you don’t enter into what’s called old tank syndrome. Where your ph drops and your kh is completely used up. All of which can be tested for.

I think you’ll need a fish vet. Not sure a normal vet would have any idea what they’re looking at. We have only one anywhere close. But I believe they take pictures during a remote consultation.

Local fish store is all relative. The nearest store of any sort is an hour away. Our favorite lfs is in Indy. About 2 hours. Or Chicago which is 3 hours. So, I usually just go get what I want and plan the day around that. Or, more often, I wait for my daughter’s gymnastics meets and I get to buy fish after. Wherever we’re at 😀

I’d first make sure all your parameters are good especially your nitrites if your ammonia is fine. It can also kill. Possibly faster than ammonia. Are they still showing the red wound-like symptoms? It may be bacterial in nature. If you want you could run a course of maracyn and that should help. Last time I saw a wound like that it was caused by poor water quality caused from blue green algae. Which maracyn will get rid of. I wouldn’t worry about higher ph guppies love that. Hard water usually works best for all live bearers. Soft water will cause problems. But you’d have to test for that. Personally, until now I’ve never been able to keep guppies alive at all. And we have guppy water coming from the tap. But sourced from petsmart/petco, they just wouldn’t stay alive. We went a bought some higher end guppies from a good online retailer and it seems to have made all the difference in the world. The new guppies are doing very well. So, it could easily be a sourcing issue.

Have you got a vet anywhere close that can get you a script? even a video or text visit should work if you show them the last picture

Some of the substrate would work somewhat. Moving the water won’t do anything. The bacteria live on the surfaces. Not in the water column. usually I like to seed a filter for about a month. To give them time to densely populate it. That’s why I leave an extra sponge in my bigger tanks. And the bonus from that is higher oxygen levels.

Get the colorful one. I got the standard ivory mystery snail. Of course it hatched eggs and I got 100 more white ones. Gold would have been much better. 🤣 and the bag from topfin would be great

Yes. That’s true. But also depends on the hardness of the water. In good hard snail water , they can get it directly from the water. In neutral water, supplements are a good idea

They will basically eat anything organic. Leftover food. Dead plant material. Dead fish. If it’s edible at all. She’ll get it. But slowly. Leave her the algae to eat for a while. Then if you start to run out. Or you want to give a treat. Algae wafers work. Veggies definitely work. But don’t leave any treats too long in the tank or we go back to the ammonia thing again

Only toxin in the tank would be the nitrogen compounds the bacteria eat anyway. Without flow through it it may not be completely saturated with bacteria, it will have it deep into the surface though. But if you need it to start the new tank, you could always use the other one. Or take it lightly on the stocking for a bit as it builds more bacteria. But, no, no toxins to worry about

Any mesh bag should work. Probably get it where you get the coral

Honestly, I like the barb idea. Barbs can be a bit feisty. Pairing them with other barbs is a great idea. Odessa’s would be cool. Gold barbs. Green tigers. 6 banded or mascara. Just a ton of barbs. Most with a bit of attitude. Could really get a ton of color and movement.