Well, considering they are already suffering, what you need to do now, is check into some serious meds., and soon. The last two I suggested on my previous post are really the only two I would highly recommend.
A few steps you can take to get you headed in the right direction are:
Get your diet on a good scale. I know you said you keep it balanced, but here are some additional ideas. You may want to supplement with a multi-vit. This is easy to do with pellet/flake foods, as you can simply grind them into a powder, add them to a small amount of water with the food, and allow the food to absorb them before feeding. Also, expanding your current diet to a larger one never hurts. Be sure to stick within the guide lines of what your fish will tolerate. Some choices are; crickets, earthworms, beef heart, mealworms, shrimp, blood worms, and so on and so on. Using freeze-dried versions of any of those is acceptable too. Next you need to start doing water changes. Typically, you want to do around 20% or more, but do not exceed 50% every 3-4 days. And make sure you vaccum your substrate as well, to ensure removal of waste, and help keep the nitrite levels down.
Another thing you can try, which I have done in the past, and I think Guppy also has used this as an aid, is to add salt to the water. You should be safe adding about 1 tbs of salt per every 8-10 gallons of water. But do note, not all salt is the same. Do not use regular table salt, or certain types of marine salt, as these have been processed with chemicals, and are not acceptable. Using Kosher salts, aquarium salts, or other, non processed salts are all ok. An added benefit, of adding salts, is that is provides a natural stimulant for protection, by encouraging new, thicker slime coats to form, and helps reduce stress.
Raising the temperature in your tank is also something else you can do. This will increase the metabolic rate of your fish, and decrease healing time. Make sure you do not raise it too high, as this will be counter productive to what you are trying to achieve. Also, when raising the temps., make sure you use one or all of the above suggestions first, as simply raising the temp alone, with nothing else will only speed the advancement of HITH!!
Something else I STRONGLY suggest is to remove ALL carbon from your aquarium, as others will too I am sure. If all else fails, there are the meds I listed, but those have very specific guide lines, and must be followed exactly to ensure the best results.
on a last note, if you choose to add salt, remember this does not replace water changes, you still need to keep them regular (about 20-30%) every couple of days. Also, the salt will remain in your water until it is removed by you, so be careful to keep close calculations of how much salt you add, and how much water you change out when adding new salt, so that you do not over do it. Hope some of this info. Will help, there is more, but I am sure someone will comment on other regimens.
--EMI
