Multiple issues with 5.5gal tank

Hello all. Let me start by saying this is my first aquarium. I started it just over a week ago. It is a 5.5gal tank. The tank was started with distilled water and safe start 8 days ago. Currently it has 1 female betta, 3 glo-tetras, 2 glo danios, and 1 small Trinidad pleico.

2 days ago I noticed a white stringy almost fungus like substance starting to lay on the gravel and one of the decorations ( see pictures) I used a gravel vacuum to remove, however overnight it increased. The tank looks very cloudy and you can see pieces of the stringy stuff floating around. This morning I also noticed what looks to be the start of ick on 2 of the tetras and the betta (also a note: the betta is carrying eggs

I moved the fish temporarily while I removed and rinsed all decorations, gravel vacuumed again, replaced the filter (it was starting to look very brown) and did a 50% water change. I returned the fish to the tank (as the temp holding was only good for a couple of hours) and began treatment for ick, but I’m not sure if that’s what this really is.
I’ve also noticed that since replacing the filter I am no longer getting a waterfall effect to cause surface disruption to added fresh oxygen into the system.
Currently water conditions: cloudy/hazy
pH: 7.2
Ammonia: slightly elevated, below 1ppm tho.
Nitrites: 0ppm
Nitrates: 10ppm

i Was planning to move the pleico to a larger tank I was given yesterday (30 gal) already established with bacteria (it was used for 8 years for a pleico and a few other breeding species) however I’m hesitant now because of the possibility of ick.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

I don't see any indication of ick on the fish, and the fungus stuff looks like trapped detritus and excess food growing fungus, from what I can tell.

Welcome to Fishlore

 

Why did you use distilled water? The fish need the minerals in tap water. Otherwise you have to add it in. Do you have a test kit?

I agree the white stuff looks like decayed food.

No I wouldnt move anything until I knew if that was Ich or not.

Do NOT change the filter cartridge when it gets dirty. Swish it in some tank water and rinse it. It has most of the bacteria that eats the ammonia from fish poo in it.

 

Here is a better picture of the tetra I noticed it on.

 

I would say you probably have way to many fish in that tank. I would say just having the betta in there alone would be enough. Also, starting it a week ago, even though you had safe start, would make it so that you are doing a fish in cycle, and with how many fish you have, might not be super easy. That is probably some of the reason why you have all that white fungus stuff growing in your tank.

 

I started it just over a week ago. - The tank is not cycled. This is a process that can take many weeks. Lots of info available on nitrogen cycle, please read.

It is a 5.5gal tank. The tank was started with distilled water and safe start 8 days ago. - unless there is a serious issue with the safety of your tap water, please use tap.

Currently it has 1 female betta, 3 glo-tetras, 2 glo danios, and 1 small Trinidad pleico. - over stocked.

The tank looks very cloudy - most likely bacterial bloom. Your tank is not cycled.

(also a note: the betta is carrying eggs - how do you know this?

pH: 7.2
Ammonia: slightly elevated, below 1ppm tho.
Nitrites: 0ppm
Nitrates: 10ppm

i Was planning to move the pleico to a larger tank I was given yesterday (30 gal) already established with bacteria - based on what? you need to test. And it's the filter, not the tank that holds bb. (it was used for 8 years for a pleico and a few other breeding species) - can you confirm tank is disease free?

 

Why did you use distilled water? The fish need the minerals in tap water. Otherwise you have to add it in. Do you have a test kit?

I agree the white stuff looks like decayed food.

No I wouldnt move anything until I knew if that was Ich or not.

Do NOT change the filter cartridge when it gets dirty. Swish it in some tank water and rinse it. It has most of the bacteria that eats the ammonia from fish poo in it.

I was told to use distilled by my buddy who gave me his 30gal tank he’s been

I would say you probably have way to many fish in that tank. I would say just having the betta in there alone would be enough. Also, starting it a week ago, even though you had safe start, would make it so that you are doing a fish in cycle, and with how many fish you have, might not be super easy. That is probably some of the reason why you have all that white fungus stuff growing in your tank.

thats exactly what I thought, but my girlfriend insisted on having that many and that her previous tanks have had that many and never had issues, so I went with what she said.

 

Here is a better picture of the tetra I noticed it on.

Yeah that looks like Ich to me.

 

Here is a better picture of the tetra I noticed it on.

Looking at that issue it resembles ich, but I can't confirm as I haven't had experience with it before. Do the spots look grainy?

 

to sum up things,
1 betta and maybey some shrimp or snails fully stocks a 5 gallon/
2. distilled water lacks minerals and oxygen that fish need.
3. tetras need to be in a school of no less then 6
4. Danios need to be in a school of no leass then 6, but are likely to be fin nippy in schools of less then 8 You can add plain non glo fish danios, even leopard danios, and regular skirt tetra to build up the schools in the 30 gallon tank. "If you cant afford that many glofish"
5. if the filter in the 30 gallon dried out, it is not cycled. but a fish in cycle in a 30 gallon is better then a fish in cycle in a 5 gallon.
6. It does look like ich, I suggest turning up the temp to 86. Instead of adding medication, you will need a reliable heater, and a digital thermometer will be very usefull.

 

Everything these guys said your tank is overstocked by alot. even when i had a fish in my 5 gallon which i'm currently holding off putting fish in for now it was only ONE Betta Male. You can't put schooling fish like danios and tetras comfortably in a five gallon tank with enough room to hide themselves if they feel the need to. schooling fish and i'm talking one school of danios or similar require at least a ten gallon tank or more depending on the size of the fish when it is full grown. That's why i don't keep community tanks anymore i either wasn't keeping up with it properly or they just didn't have enough places to hide even though they are fish that normally would be fine together. Like my male guppies nipped at my betta's fins when i used to have a community tank. So the most i do is either one betta or one dwarf gourami but that will be down the line a bit. I could even choose to do plant only this time around.

Anyhow listen to the people above me, they know their stuff.

 

Definitely agree with others about your stocking issues. If you keep the 5 running, I’d just use it for the betta.

For ich, the temp needs raised to 86F and treatment applied for two weeks. It is important to finish treatment for the whole amount of time (don’t stop just because the ich is initially gone). I’ve used Paraguard successfully for this. Doing 50% water changes daily would be good to help with this, as well as decrease waste from the overstocking and cycling.

Basically, the ich eggs and larvae are in the substrate and water. The adult form is sealed off from the fish’s body inside the white bumps. Due to medication not being able to get inside cysts to attack adults, the lifecycle is sped up via heating the tank so that the eggs and larvae can be killed.

I would not put the fish in the new tank until you get the ich sorted out. Do not more anything from the old tank to the new (including water) until the ich is treated.

Also, with large amounts of food developing fungus, I’d say you need to cut back on how much you feed the fish at a time.

Do you have any pictures of the betta?

 

I don't think you are supposed to do the heat and meds both at the same time. They both deplete the oxygen in the water. One or the other. In a 5g I would just do the meds.

 

I don't think you are supposed to do the heat and meds both at the same time. They both deplete the oxygen in the water. One or the other. In a 5g I would just do the meds.

I’ve done both with no problems in a tank with danios. But, then again, I also have an air stone and a spray bar in that tank, so perhaps my experience was somehow skewed. I do believe, however, that the Paraguard is fairly mild.