Twitching?

[geobalzaniibro]

It normally takes a tank 6-8 weeks to cycle.
Being fully cycled means it has a large enough population of ammonia consuming basteria to eat all the ammonia the fish put out.
This does not normally happen in 2 weeks.
During the cycle period, how were you feeding the bacterial population you were trying to cultivate?
Using straight bottles ammonia? pieces of shrimp? Sacrificial fish?

i just used the quick start stuff from Walmart

 

[duanes]

The only way to be sure your tank is really cycled is to test for ammonia and nitrite.
Ammonia or nitrite could be the cause of twitching, and to to rule those two toxins out, a test kit or strips should be used.
And then after you are sure your tank is cycled, you should regularly test for nitrate to determine what the water change schedule for your particular tank, and its fish.

 

[geobalzaniibro]

I have a test for ammonia it was at 2.0 which was near harmful I also see that the tapajos have ich which I have treated. I treated the whole tank with ich medicine that I had by the directions. I did a 25% water change and added stability bacteria. I had to remove my carbon from my filter. Raised temp to 86.

 

[geobalzaniibro]

I can’t find a ph test kit in my sml town

 

[duanes]

If you had an ammonia reading of 2 ppm, it means your tank is "not" cycled, and that what ever starter you used, did not do the job.
2 ppm ammonia will cause the fish to twtich due to toxicity, and possibly die, to save them daily 50% water changes may be in order to dilute it.
The pH test is not important at this point.
If and when, the ammonia finally goes down and stays down, you will need to test for Nitrite, and do the same amount of daily water changes until it disappears.
Once nitrite disappears on its own, your tank is near being cycled.

 

[geobalzaniibro]

I’ve been doing daily 25% water changes they have stopped twitching but the ich break out killed 3 of my tapajos which they were the first to get it. I am gravel having daily to get them out of the sand. Dosing with medication the ammonia is 1.5 now slowly going down. I need a nitrate test kit where can I order these

 

[geobalzaniibro]

So I just tested the ammonia and it’s actually at .5 or zero

 

[Deadeye]

Get the api freshwater test kit. It has all the params that need to be monitored.

 

[geobalzaniibro]

So I’m hoping that this all works because I’ve already lost 4 fish is there anything else I can do to stop the ich?

 

[Deadeye]

Salt and heat is a proven method of fighting ich.

One proven way to treat ich/ick

I am writing this because it is something that comes up so often. Ich is a protozoal infection that afflicts fish and can rapidly kill them, most often by damaging gill tissue. The organism goes through a life cycle of; a small white spot feeding on your fish, which drops off to the floor of...

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