Guppies bouncing off plants but I don't think it's ich...

[ToothlessTheGuppy]

Hello, I've started my aquarium about 2 months ago, I've waited for 1 week before I've moved in 5 small snails. 2 weeks later (3 weeks old tank) I've moved in 5 male guppies (from 2 shops) and after few days I've noticed that all my fish bouncing off plants and sometimes substrate... 

My local fish shop recommended me ich treatment and increasing temperature a little bit. I've bought a medication (with methylene blue) that was reccommended to me in the shop and I've read many positive reviews about it. 

I've used the med. according to the instruction - I've used one dose of medication and after one week I did water change and then dosed a portion of it again. It took us 2 weeks but it didn't help. (After all, I've used active carbon to clean the chemicals (according to the medication instruction).)

I've also noticed that none of them developped those specific white dots (not even one stain) and nothing changed about their apperence/behaviour. They even develloped brighter colors and their gills also look fine. 

Guys have really good appetite, they are mobile and get along together - they like playing in a group. They sleep on the substrate or floats in the water. Their poops also look right, I guess (dark, not white or stringy).

It's been a month after noticing these bouncing behaviour and I don't know what it is. Could it be that my tank isn't fully cycled yet? Because of ich treatment I'm affraid I might have killed beneficial bacterias. Is it stress? Or chemicals from the tap water? I'm using water conditioner (Seachem prime) and nitrate bacteria (Seachem stability or Neo V) and vitamins. I'm also mixing tap water with destiled water for aquariums.

Few words about my tank and conditions: 
12 gallon tank, 5 male guppies, 5 snails. Tank is about 2 months old.

Ammonnia: 0
NO2: 0
NO3: haven't measured it yet
dGH: 9,5 
dKH: 10 
PH: 7,4
Temperature: 75 F / 24 C

I'm sorry for possible grammar mistakes, I don't use english very often. 🙂

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Hi @ToothlessTheGuppy! Welcome to the forum. I'm thinking since now they seem to have gotten over the initial illness and are, besides the bouncing off plants- ((do get this on video and post if you can this behavior so if there is something wrong we can help))- they may be otherwise healthy you may be over that hump. However, with no Nitrate being detected it's possible the tank is not cycled or was setback by the heat and medication. Just confirming the heat is "off" or at a more tolerable temp like 78 give or take now? Higher heat means more bacteria growth when using meds this comes in handy as it is killed off by the med, but when the med is not present higher heat may encourage bacterial infections. If I were in your shoes I would presume this tank is uncycled and consider I am doing a "fish-in" cycle, carefully monitor the parameters testing every day, if that's not possible at least every other day, doing small water changes when necessary and dosing something like Prime until only Nitrate (even a small amount is an indication things are going well) is showing on the test. 

Edited June 23, 2023 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[ToothlessTheGuppy]

Hey @xXInkedPhoenixX, thank you very much for your answer!
They hardly ever do that, but they do. I have my aquarium close to my working space so I could watch them all day, and once a day/few days I see one og them rubbing few times in a very short time and then they stop. I filmed them for like 30 minutes but none of them did that in that time. But I've found something on youtube. It's bouncing and rubbing, like at the begining of this video. Like something itches them, especially from the bottom, but sometimes they scratches their sides. I looked at their gills but their colours seems normal. They're not pink or red.

I will do fish-in cycle, after reading about it.
I do water changes once a week, now I see, that the ammonia is at level 0,02 ppm so it's time for water changes or should I let the bacterias work a little bit and wait for Nitrate to increase? 
 

 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Oh yes, if ammonia is present and there is no Nitrate in a newer tank then yes, you aren't cycled yet. I bet that explains the behavior. 

Personally when I fish in cycle, I change at least a little water everyday and dose something like Seachem Prime. I don't want my fish to be uncomfortable. Follow whatever instructions about the method that's easiest for you! Water conditioner like Prime is your best friend right now regardless of what method you follow for fish in! 🙃 Good luck! 

[ToothlessTheGuppy]

@xXInkedPhoenixX Thank you, I'm gonna do it 🙂 Yes, I'm also using Seachem Prime 😄