Pictus Dying, Replacement Fish?

So as many of you may well know, I have had 4 Pictus QT'd in a 20 gallon tank. I had added some Rams (thanks to a friend who needed a home for them).

On Feb 26, I noticed the Pictus acting strange, hanging around the top of the water, opening their mouth rapidly. This was the day before I added the first Ram. I didnt think much of it, figured they were hungry.

Well the next day I added 1 Bolivian Ram. The day after that I ended up with 3 more (1 Bolivian, 2 German Gold). So at this time I had 8 fish in there, and I noticed the catfish started flashing.

Then the day after this (March 1) I found a dead Pictus. No signs of illness or anything. At this point I wanted to limit the damage so I removed the Rams and put them in the 50 gallon, leaving just the Pictus in the 20.

Yesterday morning I found a second dead Pictus, and this morning a 3rd. So that's 3 Pictus dead in 3 days. The last one is acting the same way, hanging around the top of the water. I assume he will be dead within the next day or so. I am seeing some white spot that I presume to be ich. None of the others had them when they died. The other tank is looking as healthy as never, all fish are active, eating, swimming, no spots, no gasping for air, nothing out of the usual.

Water conditions after the first death were:
pH: 8.0 (normal)
Ammonia: 1.0
Nitrite: 0.5
Nitrate: 5.0

Today's water conditions are:
pH: 8.0
Ammonia: 1.0
Nitrite: 1.0
Nitrate: 10.0

My tank is still cycling and I used TSS.

So now, assuming this remaining one doesn't survive, what do I need to do to the tank to make sure its safe for future fish? And I think I will stay away from Pictus now because of all the tanks I've had, I have never had one survive more than 3 months.

So, what other bottom dweller (catfish preferably) would be an option? I don't have sand (and don't want it), so Cory's are out. I don't have the room for 3-5 Syno's that get to be 6-8 inches. My tank is too new for Oto's. Too small for Raphael. Colombian Shark gets too big.

Do I even need them? With the rest of the fish I have, I am very close to being maxed out, if I'm not there already. My saving grace is that I have fish at every level of the tank so its evenly distributed. I have somewhere around 15-20 shrimp between both tanks (maybe more, hard to count them when they hide).

All input welcome, I'm kind of lost as to what to do at this point as far as replacing them. I love the fish but If I can't keep them alive then I shouldn't keep buying more.

 

When you do a fish in cycle with TSS , you just put a few fish depending on the fish size. For instance I did three 10 gal tanks that way. Tank one 6 neon tetras, Tank two with 5 young harlequin rasboras, Tank three with one male betta. I did nothing except feed and head counts every day. The tanks were cycled to the bioload of the fish in the tank in two weeks. Then I added one or 2 fish every week or two till all the tanks had the fish I wanted. It sounds like you have too many fish in a tank that is not fully cycled yet. You need to add fish very slowly. Alison

 

You see, that's where I get confused. I have heard so many different, often times conflicting, ways of cycling and stocking the tank. I have been told to put your entire stock in right away or you will end up cycling every time you add more fish. Then I've been told to do the way you said, a couple at a time (which is how I thought I was doing this until I was reminded about not doing water changes, which is another conflicting thing because some say do it, some say dont).

Its too hard trying to follow the advice of 100 people. Maybe I should just buy another book and do what it says. That way I'm following 1 persons guide to doing it and don't get things mixed up.


Anyway, as far as getting that tank safe for future fish, I was thinking to let it keep cycling, turn the heat up to about 86-88 with no fish, just keep feeding the tank (it has shrimp in it) a little bit each day. When its able to process the ammonia and nitrite in 24 hours, then I will do 2-3 90% water changes with really good gravel vacs in consecutive days. I think that should be sufficient in making it safe for future fish.

 

I don't know how to post links however there are several on using TSS to do fish in cycles. The only way you can add that many fish is in a fully cycled, very well established tank., not a new tank. Be careful of too big a water change because the change in the water can be too much for your fish to handle. The only water that I added to the tanks while they were cycling was dechlorinated water to make up for any evaporation in the tank. after everything is good to go then smaller water changes every week or two is enough. Why are you turning up the heat so high? Did you have ick in the tank? It does get very confusing because a lot of the advice is given for different reasons. Such as raising the temp that high which is to treat ick . Don't give up, you will get it. keep asking questions, that is how we all learned over time. Alison

 

Well the last Pictus died this evening. The other tank with the Rams that were in the tank is still looking good. No spots, no flashing, healthy active fish.

So that 20 gallon... I really don't know what to do with cleaning it and cycling it.

Option 1:
Do I finish the cycle then clean the gravel super good with a few 90-100% water changes? If I choose this method I would need to get a few fish because the 10 or so Ghost shrimp wouldnt produce enough ammonia to cycle it, correct?

Option 2:
Drain the tank, doing a really good gravel vac. Fill it up and give it a good salt bath for a week, and then drain it again, replace filter, and do fishless cycle.

Option 3:
A combination of the 2. The tank had a 100 mL dose of TSS about 1.5 weeks ago. It should be close to being cycled. Todays water params are in my initial post. Can I/should I just feed the tank with food and a couple drops ammonia daily to finish it up, then gravel vac with a couple 100% water changes back to back, followed by a salt bath (to kill anything on the plants and decorations)?

Option 4:
????????

I was going to use this tank as a QT/Hospital tank but I'm thinking about making a minI semi-aggressive tank with tiger barbs, red tail shark, and kuhlI loaches.

Also, as a replacement for the Pictus in the 50 gallon, I'm thinking BumbleBee cats, 2-3 of them.