WhosTommyM

I will definitely medicate in the future. This is my first experience with ich. Disappointed the LFS denied it and blamed my water rather than using it to teach and make good on it.

Fortunately these fish never were in with any other fish.

TW: dead fish(no pics), long post but I want to get all the details I can. I set up a new 20 gal long tank. Sand substrate, some seiryu stone, java fern, pogostemmons, water sprite, money moneywort, and a sponge filter. Throw some food in the tank as an ammonia source and let it sit to cycle. After about two and a half weeks ammonia and nitrite tests are registering zero. Some algae has started growing on the rocks and substrate also. I wait another week and a half and head to the lfs for fish. I bring a picture of the algae growing because it doesn't look like any I've seen, don't bring a water sample because I thought all was good. LFS employee suggests testing the nitrate before adding fish but otherwise not worried about the algae. Bring home 5 cherry barbs, a nerite snail, and 2 amano shrimp. Test nitrates before adding fish and they are sky high (80-100 ppm). Do a 50% water change and vac out most of the algae, before adding livestock and then add after acclimating them. Next day test the water and there is ammonia(.25-.5) and nitrite (~.25) registering. Add some Complete conditioner to detoxify the water. Grab a 1oz bottle of turbo start at the store, do another 50% water change, and add the whole bottle of turbo start. Monitor the water for the next few days(levels never register above 0.5 for ammonia or nitrite)adding Complete every 24 hours. Lose 2 of the fish. Day 4 after adding turbo start ammonia and nitrite are registering zero again so I think I'm in the clear. Two days later, lose another fish. Bring a water sample to LFS that weekend. Their test shows a slight amount of nitrite, no ammonia, good nitrate levels. Ask if they think I can add fish back to the group and they say yes so I get 4 more cherry barbs and add to the tank. Next day another fish dies. Check NH3 and NO2, still register zero. Two days later notice white spots on a couple of the remaining fish. Remove fish to a 10 gal quarantine tank with 1tbs aquarium salt per 2 gal and a heater to start raising the temperature up to 82/83F. Fish do okay for 2 days but still have white spots. By the end of the third day the remaining fish have passed. No NH3 or NO2 register in the quarantine tank. Bring a water sample back to LFS, show them the pictures. They claim it's bacterial issue due to water quality. They say thier test show ammonia and nitrite (see pic, I use API test kit, not sure what they use so I don't know what color the test should be). Home API kit test same day as LFS test not registering ammonia or nitrite (unless I'm reading wrong). I want to figure out what the problem could be so I don't lose more fish. I know there are things I could have done better along the way (test before bringing fish home/bring water sample to the store; not add more fish until I had a better idea why I lost the first ones) so I don't want to continue and lose more. It looks to me like ich. Is it likely ich or bacteria issue due to poor water quality? Or a combination of all these factors over stressing the fish? If you've made it this far thank you for reading. Snail and amano shrimp are still alive btw. Other water parameters: Temp: 74F

How soon can I cut the runner off from the main plant? I'm pretty sure this one is good but I probably should have done it sooner. Want to get the plant out of the pot.

Unfortunately this fish did not make it. It was swimming erratically, going up to the top and sticking its mouth out then swimming down and around. None of the other four fish in the tank were doing anything similar and they seem to be doing okay. I removed this fish and it passed shortly after. In this picture it does seem to have some fuzz but later did not see any. It did have a black spot on the lower lip. Have some more pictures but I don't know if they would help and the fish doesn't look good. It doesn't seem to be able to close its mouth so I'm wondering is something was stuck in it? I could not see anything but it is tiny. Thank you for taking the time to look, I'll be keeping a close eye on the rest to see if anything similar develops.

Brought some cherry barbs home for a newly set up 20L 2 days ago. Noticed something on/around one fish's mouth this morning. Thought the tank was cycled but apparently not, ammonia around 0.25-0.5 ppm (added turbo start yesterday evening) test strip results in pic., water temp 77F Any idea what is on this ones mouth? What to do about it?

@411fishkeeping thank you for sharing! Good to know I will get them trimmed off.

5 Easy Tips for Making a Good Aquarium Better Here you go! Root tab advice is at about the 1:32 mark

Got this dwarf chain sword about three weeks ago. Did the root tab in the rock wool trick Cory shared. Already have a runner! Should I trim away the melting leaves? Should I add a root tab at the runner's roots? Any other tips/advice is welcome!

Recently (about 6 months ago)got back into fishkeeping after being given a 10 gallon tank. Kept guppies and mollies as a kid and had a betta for about 6 years in my 20's. Went to YouTube for ideas on setting up the 10 gallon and was sucked in immediately. Quickly discovered fish keeping has come a long was since I last dabbled in it. Now have the 10 gallon with a dwarf gourami, 6 galaxy rasboras, a siamese algae eater, and a mystery snail; a 15 gallon with neons tetras, neocaradina shrimp, 2 amano shrimp, and a nerite snail. Also have a 32 gallon that I'm waiting to set up. Excited to share and learn here on the forum. I'm in the Orlando FL area and got to meet the crew at Aquashella which was an amazing experience.