bonita090909

I think I need lots of help, I set up my first freshwater tank a few weeks back. After about 4 days of having it setup I put fish in it. After about 2 days they started dying, so then I learned you had to cycle your tank, so I bought "cycle" hoping it would speed up the process and changed about 20 % of the water every few days hoping I could dilute the ammonia level. So here I am now, I have 2 gouramis (one has white spots on it ick??), 2 bala sharks, 3 congo tetras and a catfish. My ammonia level is at 1, 0 nitrate, pH 7.2. Plastic plants and Slate in the tank, a 40 gal Aquaclear fiter, one powerhead a bubblebar ..etc. The fish keep dying, I wish I could start all over but its alittle too late now, Im not sure how to regulate my tank. I now have a white powder substance all over only one side of the tank, on the glass, powerhead, tubing etc..on one fishes fin? Is this from adding too much cycle? I have no idea what action to take now? and just want to save the fish that are in the tank, do I do water changes, drain the tank please help

agabr123

hi and welcome to fishlore

there's a few different things that you can do to get your tank back in shape and your fish healthy

first to get you through the cycle
1. i wouldn't use the product cycle, it doesn't have self-sustaining bacteria so you will have to add it every single water change for the entire life of the tank. the only product that you can look into is tetra safe start, which is the only thing i know if that has self-sustaining bacteria that can actually quickly cycle your tank in 7-10 days.
2. if you don't want to use, cant find, or are waiting for your tetra safe start to arrive, you should do 50% daily water changes with either prime or stress coat + (the plus is important, regular stress coat doesnt do the same thing). that will keep the ammonia and nitrite levels down in your tank and keep your fish healthy. both of those products actually detoxify the ammonia in your tank for 24 hours (which is why you need to do the daily water changes) so that should see your fish through the rest of the cycle.
3. what kind of test kit do you have? if you have paper strips, i'd definitely suggest looking into the API freshwater master test kit. it's more expensive than the strips, but is MUCH more accurate and will last you a whole lot longer . it will also come with a nitrIte test kit and nitrites are just as toxic as ammonia so knowing those levels is very important.

now onto the ICH problem, if it looks like someone took a salt shaker to your fish, it's almost definitely ich
1. raise the temperature in your tank to about 84 degrees farenheit. that will speed up the life cycle of the ich
2. do thorough gravel vacuums (you should do this anyways since you'll be doing the daily water changes to get through the cycle, so it's a good way to kill two birds with one stone ) to get up all the spores that will fall off of the fish
3. you already have a bubble wand so the aeration isn't a problem, but if you didn't have one you would need to add one, since higher temperatures means less oxygen in the water
4. leave the temperature at 84F for two weeks, or at least three days after you can't see any more spots on your fish. most of the ich spores are actually inside their gills where you can't see them, so they may not be completely cured when you stop seeing spots on their bodies.

there are a couple of problems with your stocking list as well, so here's some more info on the specific fish that you have and their individual needs
1. the bala sharks, i wouldn't put two of them in the same tank without that tank being very, very large. they can be pretty territorial, and they can also get very large. IMO even just one would be too big for your tank
http://www.fishlore.com/Profiles-BalaShark.htm
2. do you know what kind of gourami you have? if not, if you can post a picture then we can definitely help you identify. same for the catfish.
3. for the congo tetras, you'll want to get at least 3 more (once your tank is finished cycling and you've sorted out the ich problem, etc). tetras generally need a school of at least six to feel comfortable and safe
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fres...CongoTetra.php

as for the white powder, i'm not sure what that could be aside from some kind of algae. could you post a picture of it?