Hello Everyone,
I'm carolynn from the san francisco bay area. I just joined the forums a few minutes ago, and am very humbly (already) asking for advice.
I started two new aquariums late last year. The first i've had in 20 years. This hobby isn't like riding a bicycle. I've forgotten a lot, and i've had to refer to books and the internet quite often.
One of my aquariums is a ten gallon - not my choice, it was a gift. I decided to go ahead and use it to house a few tiger barbs, because i love the little monsters. I already had three small ones in my main tank, so i moved them over, + a platy, and they all lived very happily together, no arguments.
About thirteen days ago, i got two more barbs to complete the little family. Since then, my life has been a nightmare. In 3 days, Ich, and some other white, filmy illness appeared. They recommended Pimafix at the fish store, so i commenced using it. After about a week they appeared fine, so i did the routine water change, and replaced the charcoal in the filter.
Now the "illness" is back. I've been treating the tank for three days with Pimafix. With the illness has come an opaque, white algae-like "organism" which is growing on the walls of the aquarium (mainly near the filter area, but also near the heater, if this is of any consequence). This "organism" has feathery branches which are less than 1/8" long, and in close observation, i see they wave back and forth with the currents of the aquarium water, as if they are a plant?
I called the fish store, and they never heard of this before. They recommended i clean the inside of the tank walls, vacuum and then, of course add fresh water. They told me to use AmQuel and Stress Coat when replacing the water. So i did.
I also had to humanely put two fish to sleep today because there was no chance for them (i felt terrible!). The rest of the fish (only a few left) are either obviously harboring this white filmy illness, and/or acting ill.
My questions:
does anyone have an idea what this white algae-like organism is?
should i put the other fish down, since they are acting ill, rip the aquarium down and start all over again? It really doesn't look like there is a lot of hope for these fish, as it stands.
I certainly appreciate your help and the time you took to read this post. I have scoured the internet trying to figure out what this white stuff is, to no avail.
many many thanks! ~~carolynn
I'm carolynn from the san francisco bay area. I just joined the forums a few minutes ago, and am very humbly (already) asking for advice.
I started two new aquariums late last year. The first i've had in 20 years. This hobby isn't like riding a bicycle. I've forgotten a lot, and i've had to refer to books and the internet quite often.
One of my aquariums is a ten gallon - not my choice, it was a gift. I decided to go ahead and use it to house a few tiger barbs, because i love the little monsters. I already had three small ones in my main tank, so i moved them over, + a platy, and they all lived very happily together, no arguments.
About thirteen days ago, i got two more barbs to complete the little family. Since then, my life has been a nightmare. In 3 days, Ich, and some other white, filmy illness appeared. They recommended Pimafix at the fish store, so i commenced using it. After about a week they appeared fine, so i did the routine water change, and replaced the charcoal in the filter.
Now the "illness" is back. I've been treating the tank for three days with Pimafix. With the illness has come an opaque, white algae-like "organism" which is growing on the walls of the aquarium (mainly near the filter area, but also near the heater, if this is of any consequence). This "organism" has feathery branches which are less than 1/8" long, and in close observation, i see they wave back and forth with the currents of the aquarium water, as if they are a plant?
I called the fish store, and they never heard of this before. They recommended i clean the inside of the tank walls, vacuum and then, of course add fresh water. They told me to use AmQuel and Stress Coat when replacing the water. So i did.
I also had to humanely put two fish to sleep today because there was no chance for them (i felt terrible!). The rest of the fish (only a few left) are either obviously harboring this white filmy illness, and/or acting ill.
My questions:
does anyone have an idea what this white algae-like organism is?
should i put the other fish down, since they are acting ill, rip the aquarium down and start all over again? It really doesn't look like there is a lot of hope for these fish, as it stands.
I certainly appreciate your help and the time you took to read this post. I have scoured the internet trying to figure out what this white stuff is, to no avail.
many many thanks! ~~carolynn
