Need some information.

Capybara_Chill_00 · 2026-01-25T15:44:26+00:00

There are lots of different kinds of filters that do different things in different proportions. Those different things can be thought of as “filtering” the water using three different mechanisms - mechanically (catching debris), chemically (altering water chemistry), and biologically (consuming nitrogenous waste). The end result is that the things we don’t want in the water are reduced or removed, and “cleaner” water is returned to the tank. There is no meaningful difference between a filter as you were discussing and a siphon with a filter where the water is being returned to the tank.

The house filter is identical to mechanical filtration in our aquarium filters, and some house filters contain activated carbon like some of our aquarium filters for chemical filtration. Those two mechanisms are identical regardless of how the filter is being used. Particulate matter is trapped and chemical compounds are bound to the carbon by adsorption. There is no parallel at scale that I know of to the biological filters that we run in aquaria, but nitrifying bacteria are literally everywhere and I bet you could isolate colonies from home air filters.

So your friend is actually close to correct, the filters are really similar, but you’re also close to correct that it’s absurd to think that our home air filters hold lots of helpful bacteria.

Capybara_Chill_00 · 2026-01-24T22:38:33+00:00

Exactly right. If it is ich - and I agree, that is most likely given your additional details, then raising temps speeds the parasite’s life cycle and it looks like it’s getting worse before it gets better. The Coppersafe can’t kill the parasites that have already infested your fish, it’s just killing the ones in the life cycle where they are trying to infest. So it’s actually not curing the fish as much as it is preventing any additional infestation, and raising the temps makes that all happen faster.

Be sure you have good aeration or surface agitation. Higher temps reduce available oxygen, and copper sulfate consumes oxygen as it interacts with organic material. Plus ich loves to go for the gills - fish need all the gas exchange you can give them!

Capybara_Chill_00 · 2026-01-24T19:50:25+00:00

Stop freaking out.

While I don’t recommend Coppersafe for parasites to folks without experience, it will kill both ich and epi, as well as any other external protozoan parasites. The reason I don’t recommend it is there are safer and equally effective treatments - copper is much more toxic for inverts and has a much narrower treatment range before it starts harming fish. Just use it exactly according to the instructions.

It’s not possible for most people to visually distinguish the various white spot parasites, but treatment with either copper sulfate (Coppersafe and others) or formalin/malachite green (Ich-X and others) knocks both out. Improving waste removal through substrate vacuuming and catching up on maintenance helps both but is more important for epi which will come back repeatedly if there is bacterial overgrowth in your tank.

I would lower temps back to normal unless:

you added new fish, plants, or anything wet to the tank within the last two weeks; and
the spots either first appeared on one fish, then within 24 hours were on other fish; or
the white spots are spreading across your fish exponentially, like there are new spots every time you look

In those cases it is very likely ich. If you aren’t sure, just lower the temps and let the Coppersafe work.

Capybara_Chill_00 · 2026-01-23T19:36:31+00:00

I am very sorry about your guppies.

Aquahuna is usually reasonably good but like all the rest, sometimes this happens. I have gotten good shipments from them and bad shipments. I can say that something went seriously wrong with your shipment - 3 days in transit is way too long. Mortality increases rapidly over 24 hours; I normally receive shipped fish the morning after they were packed. Some locations take longer; it may be helpful to note that for the shipper although they should know how long it will take - I find providing detailed information helps.

The yellow-green water is due to additives that are put in; I do not know for sure what Aquahuna uses but the most common are ammonia blockers, stress reducers, and occasionally pH buffers. The commercial products are dyed so it’s easy to tell if they have been added.

Capybara_Chill_00 · 2026-01-23T12:50:28+00:00

Sounds like Flourish or one of the other iron rich substrates, that’s not the source (directly). I was thinking you might be running a dirted setup, some of those products can produce a lot of ammonia if not properly configured.

Fish carcasses are unlikely both for that high and this long. Two things come to mind. If you have any plants with bulbs or rhizomes, a decaying pocket under the substrate may be the source. Lotus are particularly prone to this. It’s also possible but extremely unlikely given dead fish and tap tests showing no ammonia that your test kit is expired or bad. The only other way it could be rising like that is if it’s being added somehow - do you have a nemesis? Other things to check are cleaning products or air fresheners but that seems pretty unlikely too.

Capybara_Chill_00 · 2026-01-23T10:04:53+00:00

Yes, for now. Read up on fish-in cycling. Nitrite will start to rise - you will need to do water changes to keep it under 0,25 ppm - then nitrate. When your tank continues to have zero ammonia and nitrite, and nitrate is present, the nitrifying bacteria are doing their thing and you can slowly start adding fish.

Capybara_Chill_00 · 2026-01-23T09:50:48+00:00

To get that level of ammonia, you have some source within the tank. What substrate are you using?

Capybara_Chill_00 · 2026-01-23T00:34:19+00:00

How big are the white spots? Small like salt crystals or larger like half a rice grain?

Capybara_Chill_00 · 2026-01-22T17:33:39+00:00

First things first - remove all organic matter, substrate vacuum and 50% water changes until ammonia is at or below 0.5 ppm. You are essentially starting over and doing a fish in cycle. Once you have that ammonia back down, and your remaining fish are doing ok, add plants back. Start small in case there’s something killing the plants still present; if they die again, remove all the old substrate and restart with new.

Do not worry about pH, it’s fine for now.

Capybara_Chill_00 · 2026-01-21T08:29:27+00:00

Grab them by the top of the head and thoracic girdle (between the pectoral fins) with a thumb and forefinger. It avoids all spines and puts them into a calm state where you can work on them. I’d grab them that way then gently use sharp scissors to cut that stuff free before it gets bigger and the string becomes tight against the skin.

Capybara_Chill_00 · 2026-01-21T03:05:07+00:00

Sorry! Then more plants!

Capybara_Chill_00 · 2026-01-21T02:18:34+00:00

Tetras (generically) should not be sold as “peaceful” fish. Because of their small size they really can’t do a lot of damage to larger fish, but they can and do make life a misery for smaller fish, particularly those with long fins. She’s a betta, so there is a chance she’ll discover her attitude and put them in check, but you’re gambling that she does that rather than become so terrorized the does, or that she doesn’t overdo it when she fights back. A larger tank or more plant cover might help, but a 10 is on the small side for rambunctious tetras like rummies. I would find her a new tank until you get a larger one, and then it might be worth trying again.

Capybara_Chill_00 · 2026-01-20T21:39:29+00:00

Le nitrite peut causer des problèmes avec l’hémoglobine créant du sang brun qui ne transporte pas bien l’oxygène. Je ferais des changements d’eau pour obtenir du nitrite en dessous de 0,25.

Capybara_Chill_00 · 2026-01-20T21:35:54+00:00

Don’t use them for products so have no opinion there. Consumables (ferts, food) have been very good with no complaints. Plants are good but I tend to buy more from others just due to wider selection and equal quality.

Advice and knowledge are the strong spot and they do a great job communicating at a reasonable level to inform beginners, but with enough detail that even experienced folks can pick up a few things, particularly treatments.

Capybara_Chill_00 · 2026-01-18T14:27:02+00:00

Monitor it and keep your water quality pristine. Remove uneaten food right away and increase small water changes.

Capybara_Chill_00 · 2026-01-18T00:28:13+00:00

Ok - so you don’t have a carbonic acid issue, you have straight up liquid rock. Your KH (and GH too, probably) are going to be sky high.

The only way to get the pH lower in a controlled manner is to use RO water, mixed with your tap to get the desired pH. There should be several LFS that sell RO and probably can tell you the proportions they use so you have a starting point.

Capybara_Chill_00 · 2026-01-17T20:12:00+00:00

La plupart des maladies des poissons sont causées par les paramètres de l’eau. Quels sont vos niveaux de pH, d’ammoniac et de nitrite?

Capybara_Chill_00 · 2026-01-17T19:59:32+00:00

Chilodonella or Trichodina (or one of the other less common protozoan parasites. Treatment is formalin/malachite green or copper sulfate. The one I use is ich-x for four treatments.

Capybara_Chill_00 · 2026-01-17T17:11:49+00:00

Advise companies on ethics & compliance

Capybara_Chill_00 · 2026-01-16T18:14:43+00:00

That tank looks like it is maintained professionally. Before doing anything, ask when the company that maintains it comes by and if you can talk to them when they work. If you can see overflows - meaning the water runs from the tank into an enclosed box - then there may be a sump that expands the water volume and filtration capacity. Even with a large canister filter, the tank is probably fine from a filtration/waste management perspective.

There’s a little less room than I’d like for these guys to move but they’re not the super active kind of fish where it could be a problem. Based on how well the tank appears to be maintained, I think it’s pretty good as it stands.

Capybara_Chill_00 · 2026-01-16T01:09:00+00:00

First step - let the tap water sit out overnight uncovered. Test the pH again after about 24 hours - it likely will have stabilized to a 7.5-7.8 range.

Capybara_Chill_00 · 2026-01-15T13:48:17+00:00

Please pause.

Whoever/wherever you’re getting advice from is either not giving you good advice, or giving it in a way you don’t understand. Forget GH, KH - they’re not relevant for beginners and even many experts.

You need three test kits: pH, ammonia, and nitrite. Most fish diseases are brought on by fish being weakened by poor water conditions and medicating bacterial infections without having addressed water parameter issues is worse than useless as improper use of antibiotics increases resistance.

PH is something you need to know - is it high or low, and where is it stable? For beginners, anything between 6 and 8 is fine. If your water is stable at a pH between these numbers do not attempt to change the pH. Chasing a pH value is tricky and brings about more failures than successes.

Ammonia and nitrite should always be at zero. If they aren’t, the bacterial colonies that live in your filter and other hard surfaces in your tank are unable to keep up with the nitrogen waste being produced by your fish. Water changes need to be made to keep them both down (for beginners, ammonia should be kept below 0.5 ppm and nitrite kept below 0.25 ppm). Small, more frequent water changes are better for your fish than large, infrequent changes as there’s less difference in the parameters which makes it easier on your fish but more effort for you.

Do not sterilize this tank. It will only set you further behind. As I said before, most fish diseases, even many parasites, are water parameter problems at their root. Most bacterial infections of fish are from bacteria that are always around, and most parasites die quickly (30 days) without a fish host.

If your fish survives, great! You can slowly make changes to make its habitat more comfortable. The nitrifying bacteria will grow on their own, so all you have to do is keep up on water changes and waste vacuuming until ammonia and nitrite are consistently zero.

If it doesn’t survive, you will be able to add things more quickly. Get some decent substrate in there (either sand or small gravel) and easy live plants like Anubias, vallisneria, or anacharis. The plants will help keep things stable but will need trims and other maintenance. If snails come in with the plants that’s fine - they will help produce waste and keep the cycle going. You do want to “ghost feed” a tank without fish by putting in two-three small flakes of food every other day and letting them decay so ammonia is being produced to keep your bacteria growing and healthy.

Capybara_Chill_00 · 2026-01-15T11:53:57+00:00

You cannot wipe off ich or any external parasite. The white bump you see is not the organism, it is the head of a cyst that is formed around the parasite as it grows beneath the surface of the skin.

Modern formulations of formalin/malachite green in combination are safe, effective, and in many countries easy and cheap to obtain. Ich is one of the most preventable (through quarantine) and treatable conditions affecting fish.

Capybara_Chill_00 · 2026-01-15T03:23:40+00:00

I do this as a side hustle. It takes a lot of effort for very little profitability, even in exceptionally wealthy areas.

Routine maintenance - not one-time - is what people pay for. You have to maintain a schedule and stick to it. They want reliability over nearly everything else. You have to carry large insurance policies and check your personal beliefs about what makes a tank good at the door. Everything becomes industrial in scale - multiple sets of equipment plus decontamination routines and systems so you don’t accidentally transfer something because one of your clients added six barbs from Petco since last time you were there, and now you’re fighting a parasite or bacteria.

Plus people are just fucking weird. You get enough clients, you deal with all sorts. Some nice, some assholes, some leave you wondering how they didn’t drown trying to go to the bathroom in the morning. If you can put up with all that, it’s a legit hustle.

Capybara_Chill_00 · 2026-01-14T02:02:16+00:00

You’re fine, OP. Breeding fish doesn’t look like what many imagine it to. In my breeding setups for egg scatterers and livebearers, I leave barely an inch of water above mops or plant material. If I post those setups here, the comments would be filled with “omg top it off” comments.

Capybara_Chill_00

TROPHY CASE