So I recently got a 55 gallon tank, got it up and cycled and was ready for fish. I gave my old 20 gallon to my girlfriend and she put neons, a betta, a butterfly loach and 2 bristle nose plecos in it. So I didn't have a quarantine tank. I moved my 4 juvenile turquoise severums I bought from Jeff Rapps from the 20 gallon (they are only about 1.5-2" each) to the 55 then went out and bought 5 German blue rams on an impulse. I had store credit with a LFS I don't want to go to anymore because they don't guarantee their fish, it's too far away and they price gouge the crap out of their customers. However, they have always had pretty good quality fish. So with $30 of store credit burning a whole in my pocket, I bought 5 GBR for at $13 each. Yeah...store credit and then some.
Anyways, I got everyone situated after we got home and seemed fine. There are 3 new pieces of driftwood soaking in the 55. I know the tannins don't harm any fish and I don't have the space to soak the, anywhere else. So the water was dark when they were added to the tank. Well this evening (24 hours after bringing them home) I notice that a few of the rams are flashing pretty frequently. I monitored until I noticed white spots on 2 rams. So I have ich. Here is my dilemma. I have live plants in the tank and I hear that they don't do well in salt. Now I only have about $20 invested in plants. The 4 juvie severum I have cost me $100, so you can imagine that if given a choice, I will kill the plants before the fish. LOL
The current parameters are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and almost 0 nitrates (maybe 5ish). pH is around 7.0-7.5. Water is a little hard. The test I have goes up to 120ppm and it reads 120ppm. In my old 20 galln, I would dilute the tap water with distiller RO water from the grocery store and the hardness dropped to about 60-80ppm. Dilution was about 50%, so I am guessing the hardness is about 120-160ppm, give or take. The normal temp is about 80 degrees.
I am in the process of increasing the temp with the intent of reaching 85-87 degrees. Now what is the best way to kill off this ich in a planted tank with sensitive GBRs and my severums? I have Rid Ich + from an ich attack on the 20 gallon when I first set it up over 6 months ago due to bad neons (didn't end as well as I wanted). Should I use just heat, heat and salt, or the Rid Ich meds? And again, please keep in mind I will kill the plants if necessary to save the fish. Recommend whatever will be best for my very prized and expensive fish. LOL
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Anyways, I got everyone situated after we got home and seemed fine. There are 3 new pieces of driftwood soaking in the 55. I know the tannins don't harm any fish and I don't have the space to soak the, anywhere else. So the water was dark when they were added to the tank. Well this evening (24 hours after bringing them home) I notice that a few of the rams are flashing pretty frequently. I monitored until I noticed white spots on 2 rams. So I have ich. Here is my dilemma. I have live plants in the tank and I hear that they don't do well in salt. Now I only have about $20 invested in plants. The 4 juvie severum I have cost me $100, so you can imagine that if given a choice, I will kill the plants before the fish. LOL
The current parameters are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and almost 0 nitrates (maybe 5ish). pH is around 7.0-7.5. Water is a little hard. The test I have goes up to 120ppm and it reads 120ppm. In my old 20 galln, I would dilute the tap water with distiller RO water from the grocery store and the hardness dropped to about 60-80ppm. Dilution was about 50%, so I am guessing the hardness is about 120-160ppm, give or take. The normal temp is about 80 degrees.
I am in the process of increasing the temp with the intent of reaching 85-87 degrees. Now what is the best way to kill off this ich in a planted tank with sensitive GBRs and my severums? I have Rid Ich + from an ich attack on the 20 gallon when I first set it up over 6 months ago due to bad neons (didn't end as well as I wanted). Should I use just heat, heat and salt, or the Rid Ich meds? And again, please keep in mind I will kill the plants if necessary to save the fish. Recommend whatever will be best for my very prized and expensive fish. LOL
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They all look very good. No one is lethargic or weak looking, so I have high hopes that this will be finished without any losses. Looks like I lucked out with the GBRs. These ones are not as sensitive as many have reported the species to be.