brawlymcknuckles

2-part question...

So I have my own remaining Guppy in the tank, that appeared completely ICH free until yesterday. Two days ago he lost his only remaining tank mate to ich and I'll tell you it may sound silly but these 2 were glued together...lol he would swim circles around his pal, sleep beside him (pretty darn cute I must say). After the lose, he swam frantically around for a good 10 hours, eventually mirrors seems to have calmed him down. But now I notice 1 tiny ich spot on his fin.

I have been treating the water with salt and temp of 84 for 3 weeks now, and recently i have added fresh minced garlic to the daily menu. I really really don't want to go meds (I tired coppersafe briefly and immediately cycled it out) I really don't want to lose this guppy and I don't have a quarantine tank, Is there anything else I can do? (natural remedy not pharmacological)

Also wondering, without a nitrate/trite test kit (getting one next week as the pet store is out). With recent ammonia spikes my tank has finally dropped to 0ppm, can I assume that my cycle is finally complete?

docjr03

I've read on other posts that gravel vacuuming to get the spores out of the substrate is necessary.
0ppm of ammonia indicates you may have gotten through part 1 of the cycle, but without testing for nitrites/nitrates, you have no way of knowing if you have completed the cycle. Hope this helps, Good Luck!

brawlymcknuckles

Yeah, sorta figured I wouldn't really know until I test the water. I will take to LFS and have them test nitrates/nitrites today.

As for vacuuming substrate, I have been doing it every other day (lightly as I didn't want to kill my beneficial bacteria that might be hanging out at the bottom of the tank). I have also read many people say vacuum substrate and frequent water changes, and in the same breath tell you to keep out of the tank as you don't want to add additional stress. I tell ya breaking in a new tank and fighting ich has been most frustrating to say the least!

Lucy

I'm really sorry about losing your little guppy. Fish keeping is a wonderful hobby but really frustrating when things start to go wrong.
After having the temps raised for 2 weeks it's a good idea to thoroughly vacuum to the gravel. Ich spores hide in the gravel so you really have to get them out.
On the other hand if ich is so bad that fish are dying IMO meds are the way to go.

What size tank do you have? Any other fish? If so how many and what kind?

Good luck, I hope your guppy feels better

docjr03

I vacuumed my substrate pretty heavily every day while cycling my tank, and it appeared to have little to no illeffect at all ( i also just rinsed my filter media which also seemed to help a lot without producing any kind of ammonia spike). As I have gleaned from the more experienced than I, most of the bacteria end up in the filter anyway. It would seem to me that having an ultra-clean tank would be the way to go when fighting any kind of disease process. I think about it this way; if you have a bunch of decaying matter in your gravel, you are going to end up with too much "bad" ammonia-producing bacteria that will end up choking out the "good" ammonia-oxidizing ones. Anyway, listen to Lucy, she has helped me tremendously, and she has the experience to help you, too! Good Luck!

brawlymcknuckles

10 gallon tank (which may or may not be fully cycled...will find that out today)
1 guppy left with 1 tiny ich spot on his tail fin

My problem all started with misplaced trust in my LFS to give me the right info. They told me that my tank was cycled when it wasn't even close. (All my readings were 0, they said good to go, so in go the guppies)

One was sick in the beginning and unbeknownst to me, the stressful water conditions were just fueling the fire. I was really hoping the ich would have been resolved by now, I did a really deep vacuum yesterday morning (and have been vacuuming every other day throughout this nightmare). Now I am sort of inclined to see how this little guy does before medicating. I have read so many people saying you don't need meds, and that more meds offer just as much a chance of fatality as the ich itself.

shih-tzu mom

As Lucy, recommends lol and it will be fine bella

brawlymcknuckles

Thanks to all for the great advise. As always very helpful

I am holding back on the meds (5 days with no sign of ich) and my little guppy is pretty spry and seemingly happy.