It's been one thing after another with my aquarium, and I was really hoping that I wouldn't have to post back here yet again, but here I am . . . :wall: I have 2 honey gourami and 3 small clown loaches in a 20g, and if everyone is still alive in January
, they will all go in a 55g. The clown loaches gave my tank ich. It began with 1 spot, and I treated for 6 days at half doses of Rid Ich+. There was a small rise in ammonia after treatment, to about 1 ppm, which I managed with water changes. A week later the ich returned. I treated at the full dose for 10 days (that involved daily 25% water changes before dosing). During treatment the power in my apartment went out for 6 or 7 hours. I think a combination of the meds and the power loss sent my tank into a mini cycle. The ich treatment stopped 4 days ago, and ever since I've had ammonia up to 2 ppm, which I have managed with both water changes and a product called Ammo Lock, which is supposed to make the ammonia non-toxic but still available to the good bacteria (and the fish show no signs of stress from ammonia). Today I have a bacterial bloom, which I am trying to tell myself is a good sign, because it means the bacteria colonies are reproducing. Is this in fact a good sign? I have until Monday the 17th for this tank to balance itself out, because after that I leave for almost a month and a house-sitter will be caring for the fish. Is there anything else I should be doing besides daily water changes of 20%, using Ammo Lock, and feeding lightly? Any estimates on how long this will take? (PS, my nitrites are 0, nitrates around 10, and pH around 6.4 to 6.8.)
Also, I have a 10g, with 6 rasboras in it, running with 2 filters on it, a 10-20 filter and a 70 filter that is running now in preparation for going on the the 55g tank. The 70 by now is probably at least partially colonized with bacteria. So I thought, since the 10g is plenty good with the filtration, I might switch the 10g's 10-20 filter media with the ailing filter media in the 20g. The 20g runs a 20-40 filter, but the media pads are the same size. I thought this might give the 20g a new healthy bacteria colony, and the ailing media pad would have a chance to revive in the 10g where the 70 filter can take over. However, I live in fear of the ich returning, or stlll being present, so I worry that switching the pads could cause cross-contamination. Does anyone have any opinions on switching the pads? Would that even be helpful? Thanks for reading yet another of my posts, which always get too long.
, they will all go in a 55g. The clown loaches gave my tank ich. It began with 1 spot, and I treated for 6 days at half doses of Rid Ich+. There was a small rise in ammonia after treatment, to about 1 ppm, which I managed with water changes. A week later the ich returned. I treated at the full dose for 10 days (that involved daily 25% water changes before dosing). During treatment the power in my apartment went out for 6 or 7 hours. I think a combination of the meds and the power loss sent my tank into a mini cycle. The ich treatment stopped 4 days ago, and ever since I've had ammonia up to 2 ppm, which I have managed with both water changes and a product called Ammo Lock, which is supposed to make the ammonia non-toxic but still available to the good bacteria (and the fish show no signs of stress from ammonia). Today I have a bacterial bloom, which I am trying to tell myself is a good sign, because it means the bacteria colonies are reproducing. Is this in fact a good sign? I have until Monday the 17th for this tank to balance itself out, because after that I leave for almost a month and a house-sitter will be caring for the fish. Is there anything else I should be doing besides daily water changes of 20%, using Ammo Lock, and feeding lightly? Any estimates on how long this will take? (PS, my nitrites are 0, nitrates around 10, and pH around 6.4 to 6.8.) Also, I have a 10g, with 6 rasboras in it, running with 2 filters on it, a 10-20 filter and a 70 filter that is running now in preparation for going on the the 55g tank. The 70 by now is probably at least partially colonized with bacteria. So I thought, since the 10g is plenty good with the filtration, I might switch the 10g's 10-20 filter media with the ailing filter media in the 20g. The 20g runs a 20-40 filter, but the media pads are the same size. I thought this might give the 20g a new healthy bacteria colony, and the ailing media pad would have a chance to revive in the 10g where the 70 filter can take over. However, I live in fear of the ich returning, or stlll being present, so I worry that switching the pads could cause cross-contamination. Does anyone have any opinions on switching the pads? Would that even be helpful? Thanks for reading yet another of my posts, which always get too long.
