Help!
So, My boyfriend and I are new to the fishy world however we felt as though we were doing pretty well considering it's been about a month or so since we began our little tank.
We have a 20 gallon freshwater tank with 6 tropical fish - 2 angels, 2 gourami, 1 ghostknife and 1 albino pleco. (biowheel filter, 2 live plants, a medium-size castle ornament, and a med pirate ship ornament plus about 4 fake plants.)
Everything seemed okay until we noticed white spots on our one angel (Yea, we know it's ick) which has since spread to all of our fish except the pleco and ghostknife. (lightly spread i must add, there are some very few spots on the other fish. Only one has been affected more so)
We've only found out about it yesterday and will be picking up medication for it tomorrow. (quickcure?)
What I'm really worried about is the bloating in the two of our angelfish. Our tiger angel has Ick the worst (and has sat in the bubbles throughout the last hour, which is why I cannot get any photos of him), but isn't as bloated as our other angel. Our one angel (which I have posted images of) is heavily bloated by the looks of things and this has just started within the last few days.
we've been cruising the net and we've seen horrible effects of both bloating and pop eye, and now we're noticing things we're not sure is even there or not.
*note: We recently put in our Gourami's and the ghostknife, they've been there for about 2 weeks. We've noticed that one of our Gourami had a white-ish small line that almost looks as though he's scraped it against something or another fish nipped at him and it's dead flesh, however we could be wrong. Will post a photo of this if any one thinks it could be something more serious. He may have been this way from the pet store, even...*
You can clearly tell his lower abdomen is obviously protruding quite a bit.
The weird thing is, both of them that have this are swimming around normally (Except for the tiger, which has recently {last 45 minutes} been staying in the bubbles which i'm sure is to help ease it's discomfort) and they are very enthusiastic when it comes to their food. We've been feeding nutrafin max tropical fish flakes and frozen blood worms 2 times a day. They're pooping a deep orange color, and rather thick - not thin and a tan color <--- this is how they were pooping when we got them, and up until now.
We have been doing a 30-50% water change today and yesterday and will continue. But have done little in terms of water changes since we started the tank.
We're going to try fasting for a day and see if it lessens up. I've heard of the use of aquarium or epsom salts... But will that mess up our pH levels? And will that be okay with the pleco and ghostknife?
Any information would be GREATLY appreciated, as we're getting so many mixed messages from different sources online.
Our pH is 7.6 and the temp sits at approx 75-77 degrees Fahrenheit.
We'll be getting tests to read nitrate and ammonia soon.
We use stablility for adding new fish and water conditioner for water changes.
I cannot stress how much we're hoping for some good news. My boyfriend had 2 goldfish for a year and ever since they died a few months ago, he's been wanting more fish. We're broke college students who just wanted a little something to watch and enjoy around the house so we pooled together the money we had to spend on some awesome little companions. I've had animals since I was young and generally pride myself on them always being in the best of health, but have just not had the best of luck with fish at this point!
So, My boyfriend and I are new to the fishy world however we felt as though we were doing pretty well considering it's been about a month or so since we began our little tank.
We have a 20 gallon freshwater tank with 6 tropical fish - 2 angels, 2 gourami, 1 ghostknife and 1 albino pleco. (biowheel filter, 2 live plants, a medium-size castle ornament, and a med pirate ship ornament plus about 4 fake plants.)
Everything seemed okay until we noticed white spots on our one angel (Yea, we know it's ick) which has since spread to all of our fish except the pleco and ghostknife. (lightly spread i must add, there are some very few spots on the other fish. Only one has been affected more so)
We've only found out about it yesterday and will be picking up medication for it tomorrow. (quickcure?)
What I'm really worried about is the bloating in the two of our angelfish. Our tiger angel has Ick the worst (and has sat in the bubbles throughout the last hour, which is why I cannot get any photos of him), but isn't as bloated as our other angel. Our one angel (which I have posted images of) is heavily bloated by the looks of things and this has just started within the last few days.
we've been cruising the net and we've seen horrible effects of both bloating and pop eye, and now we're noticing things we're not sure is even there or not.
*note: We recently put in our Gourami's and the ghostknife, they've been there for about 2 weeks. We've noticed that one of our Gourami had a white-ish small line that almost looks as though he's scraped it against something or another fish nipped at him and it's dead flesh, however we could be wrong. Will post a photo of this if any one thinks it could be something more serious. He may have been this way from the pet store, even...*
You can clearly tell his lower abdomen is obviously protruding quite a bit.
The weird thing is, both of them that have this are swimming around normally (Except for the tiger, which has recently {last 45 minutes} been staying in the bubbles which i'm sure is to help ease it's discomfort) and they are very enthusiastic when it comes to their food. We've been feeding nutrafin max tropical fish flakes and frozen blood worms 2 times a day. They're pooping a deep orange color, and rather thick - not thin and a tan color <--- this is how they were pooping when we got them, and up until now.
We have been doing a 30-50% water change today and yesterday and will continue. But have done little in terms of water changes since we started the tank.
We're going to try fasting for a day and see if it lessens up. I've heard of the use of aquarium or epsom salts... But will that mess up our pH levels? And will that be okay with the pleco and ghostknife?
Any information would be GREATLY appreciated, as we're getting so many mixed messages from different sources online.
Our pH is 7.6 and the temp sits at approx 75-77 degrees Fahrenheit.
We'll be getting tests to read nitrate and ammonia soon.
We use stablility for adding new fish and water conditioner for water changes.
I cannot stress how much we're hoping for some good news. My boyfriend had 2 goldfish for a year and ever since they died a few months ago, he's been wanting more fish. We're broke college students who just wanted a little something to watch and enjoy around the house so we pooled together the money we had to spend on some awesome little companions. I've had animals since I was young and generally pride myself on them always being in the best of health, but have just not had the best of luck with fish at this point!