Steppie Waldner

i need advice. I have 4 gouramis in my 10 gallon tank, and yesterday i noticed that they were full of these weird white spots and my 2 dwarfs' left fins weren't moving. is this because i wasn't adding conditioner to my tank as i added fresh water? i use reverse osmosis water. is that okay?

Lucy

Hi Steppie welcome to Fish Lore

If it looks like salt, it is probably ick. Raise your water temp (slowly) to 84F....about 29C. Keep it there for 2 weeks.
If it's fuzzy, it could be a fungus.


What are your reading for ammonia, nitriates and nitrates?

How often are you changing the water?

Steppie Waldner

Thanks so much, i turned up the heat and it does look like salt. what causes that problem ? How do test for ammonia nitriates and nitrates. I change water once a month not even that. what is better for fish tanks - reverse osmosis or distilled water?

joy613

Ick is a parasite. One thing you need to remember ick has a free swimming stage so you do need to really clean your gravel well. Poor water quality will actually weaken fish enough for the ick to attack. Don't use test strips to check for anything in your tank get the drops and follow the directions carefully. When you say you chance the water once a month is that partial or full water changes? If it is full water changes then your tank has to cycle again.

Lucy

Sorry, not sure about the reverse osmosis or distilled water.

The ick parasite will attack fish that are stressed, especially if the water conditions are not ideal.

I don't know that I agree with Joy about losing the cycle with a full water change, as most of the beneficial bacteria lives in the filter, filter media and gravel. As long as they stay wet and warm, you shouldn't lose that much bacteria.

However, You should be doing weekly water changes, not monthly.
When battling ick you should do a daily water change of about 20-25%...someone correct me on this if it is wrong.

The best test kit is the API master kit, it can be costly, but well worth the reliablity. I think a member found it least expensive at Walmart. Don't use the strips, they are not accurate.

Good luck, let us know how you are doing.

Steppie Waldner

Sorry for not writing so long. I had issues with the internet connection. I used a big flat pill. it worked but i lost all but 1 fish. Anyway i think it did the 4th survived. i replaced the others.
I have another question: do gouramis get along well with any fish?

Steppie Waldner

in other words can i put guppys in with my gouramis?

Alessa

depends on what kind of gouramis... most of them are agressive. what you really need to look out for is the Iridovirus that is killing most of the dwarf gouramis recently... I just lost two gouramis to the virus...

try to use water conditioner anyways, specially Prime, It can only help. also, you should do weekly changes not monthly, thats likely what triggered the ich.

For now get the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Master Test Kit to test your water quality.
also, read this link on the nitrogen cycle:
http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm


and Welcome to FishLore

Shawnie

sorry for the loss of your fish what do you have in there now? you said you replaced the others? 4 gourami's in a 10 gallon tank is asking for trouble..way too small of a tank for them..one maybe but deffinately not 4..they will get sick again