Amy P

Thank you all, this gives me hope that I can have fish AND take some trips 🙂

Hi Everyone! I haven't had to travel since getting my tank established, but will need to be away from my sweet school of Glowlight Tetras (and a snail) for a weekend soon and a full week down the road. These little cuties LOVE meal time (micro pellets and crushed flakes usually)! It is a true feeding frenzy twice daily, however once the food hits bottom they will not touch it. Good news for my mystery snail, bad news for the tetras. What do you do for travel? Unfortunately a pet sitter is not an option. Any of the timed release foods I have seen appear to sink to the bottom, and I am afraid they will starve!

Colu, Just out of curiosity what is the reason for medicating through food vs water? Is it to preserve the tank's beneficial bacteria, or is it somehow more accessible to the fish? My last neon didn't seem too hungry yesterday, so considering following the package instructions and just adding the maracyn to the water. Thanks!

Thank you for sharing all of this wisdom!

My understanding is that cycling required something biological to get started, so after several days of running filtration, heat, water conditioner, and testing parameters, I added a small amount of very small fish (not fully grown tetras, maybe about .75"-1"). I have been testing water every few days since I know it is a young tank and easy to get out of whack, but levels have stayed constant. Nitrate 0, Nitrite between 0-0.5, ammonia 0. The spots are slightly raised, like grains of salt.

Hi everyone! I kept fish for many years over a decade ago (including a goldfish that lived for 19 years!), but decided to get a tropical tank going with my young kids. We had an existing 10g kit aquarium, so decided to use that and go for small fish. I got three cardinal tetras and three neon tetras to start and they schooled together. Day one I noticed a spot on one of the cardinals, but being on its lip I didn't think much of it. ...Until the other cardinals developed spots within a day or two of that. I ran out to my local chain store and got API Super Ick Cure, but wonder if it was too late or a misdiagnosis. I have been medicating for 7 days and there has been no improvement, and now we have lost all but one of the neon tetras. Does this look like Ich? or have I been treating for the wrong thing? I'm in Denver, CO. 10 true gallons (tank holds 12 minus decor), 78ºF water, mix of live plants and plastic/resin plants and decorations. Ph is between 7-7.5, and all of my other water parameters are low except KH is moderate and GH is fairly high due to our local tap water being high in mineral content. Not sure if I should treat for something else, add salts, or drain and sanitize with bleach and start over since we have only had fish for a few weeks. Would love any advice! Amy