Mr_Manifesto

A water softener is really just exchanging one type of ion, calcium, for another one, sodium. which technically 'softens' the water, but does not change the TDS. the difference is it adds sodium. The Platys would probably be just fine, but the Corys and the tetras, I don't know. it depends on how much sodium is actually mixing into the water. There is usually some sort of bypass near the water softener itself. Also, check the plumbing lines, sometimes the main kitchen sink is already bypassed because its the main source of drinking water. I read somewhere that drinking softened water is like 1% of a persons sodium intake, so some newer construction stuff might bypass that. You could also test the salinity with a refractometer (15-20$ on amazon) and see how much is actually in the water. Other than that... the hose idea is great, or RO.

Final Update: I raised temps and added a UV sterilizer to the quarantine tank. Held temps above 87F for two weeks. about 3-4 days in, all the visible ich was gone from his body. He ate live black worms, grindal worms, BBS and bug bites then entire time and seemed active. another week in quarantine with temps around 77F and he seemed perfectly fine. I have seen no other worms attached to him, perhaps that short time in the meds killed them? Anyway. He's cleared quarantine and in a 55g to grow up a bit.

Update #2, He has ich.. noticed it this morning. going to raise temps.

Just an update, after I added the med trio, the ghost knife started looking real bad, about 20 hours in the water and it started to turn cloudy and the fish was losing his slime coat... made the decision to water change and add carbon to get the meds out. He immediately started showing signs of improvement. Its been several days now... he still has the issue with flashing, and has some white spots, (doesn't look like ich) on his body, they look more like where flukes might've been attached. either way. I'm not sure which med it was, but i suspect the Ich-X. I did get a UV sterilizer, but dunno what that's going to do with the stuff on him already. I may try to medicate again, but it will only be 1 med at a time. The definitely sensitive to one or all of the meds in the trio.

yeah, the one I have is definitely flashing and can see at least one worm attached near his gills. I added the trio last night. gonna find out.

Anyone have experience with a ghost knife fish and the med trio? I've heard meds can be very hard on them. anyone have any experience with the Trio on them?

I have 2 tanks with pea puffers in them, and I feed frozen bloodworms, live blackworms, and pond snails. I have tried and tried to feed them Vibrabites, but they ain't having it. They also won't eat anything that is frozen other than the bloodworms.

@FlyingFishKeeper has solid advice. My experience is that water quality is a main reason Cory's lose their barbs, another reason might be the substrate you're using. So keep the water clean, use the med trio as directed.

Ich can live 7-10 days without a host, and internal parasites are pretty similar. I'd say at least 2 weeks to be safe, in my opinion.

I don't know if you have a place to store anything but Petco has fish tank sales for 1$ per gallon pretty often, from 10g, 20g high, 20g long and 29g. so you can pick one up pretty cheap if you decide to get an extra tank. Also other competitors will usually price match, if you prefer another big box store.

YAY!!! Dark mode is back!

Have you tried anything with a shell? like snails or even small clams/shrimp from the grocery store? I believe these puffers have teeth that will grow continually and need something hard to keep it from getting too long, Like a beaver. Maybe his teeth are at that point where he's suffering because of it.

That is a very strange injury. Is there any kind of reflection in the tank where he was attacking it and damaging himself in the process? Seems like the type of injury they get from 'fighting' with other fish but none of the other fish seem like they even care to fight with a betta, which makes me think he's attacking his own shadow/reflection. Something to look into, but definitely looks like an injury.

If this is ICH, and it sounds a lot like it is, keep the temps up for at least 10 days after you see no more spots on the fish. those white spots are actually egg like cysts that fall off and then hatch in the substrate. And they take a few days to hatch once they fall off.

15 tetras in a 5 gallon tank is going to cause some sort of spike in your cycle. That's a bunch of fish for a small 5 gallon tank. I understand it was cycled, but you just increased the bio-load by a lot, especially if you're feeding them heavier. I would keep up frequent, daily water changes for a little while till I was certain the tank could handle the bio-load. The sunken bellies and clamped fins, are a sign of a few things. definitely run the med trio. Maracyn, Paracleanse, and Ich-X. Also, my experience with this is if the med trio doesn't knock this out, then you'll need stronger deworming meds, like Levamisole. EDIT: just saw the part about the kanaplex, I would use it, but you might need something more.