So after numerous tests over a couple weeks, the usual stuff like ammonia/nitrite/nitrate seemed to be doing fine, something like a 0/0/almost 0. Even GH is at an acceptable level of 2-4, and yet my fish keep getting sick every few weeks, especially the neons. I've even run into the neon tetra disease at one point, but fortunately stopped it in time after a couple fish died. Now the current problem is Ich and I don't think just using meds will stop any future diseases coming in, so I figured there was something wrong with the water.
What I noticed is that the PH kept fluctuating from 6.5 to 7.4, and I later found out that my KH was around 0-2. However all the products I've seen so far(like SeaChem's Alkaline Buffer and Nutrafin's KH Booster) that increase KH also increase PH, and the fish in my tank (mostly tetras and otos) do not like the high PH. That's my first, more important problem. Should I go ahead and risk the higher PH for the sake of increasing the KH, or are there other products out there that only increase KH?
My other problem is about a product called Ick Clear by Jungle Laboratories. I've read a lot of reviews and they all contradict each other. Some say it's amazing and cured the fish almost immediately, while some say it didn't work and even helped wipe out the already sick fish. Anyone have any experience with it? There are shrimp in there too, but I haven't found any copper or other heavy metals in the tablets yet. If anyone can second that, it would be appreciated.
Sorry for the rather long post, but this whole disease cycle has existed almost immediately after I added my first fish into the tank and I want to resolve it once and for all. This is my first tank, but I don't think its normal for fish to get sick 3 times in 4 months, each one lasting days to 2 weeks.
Thanks in advance to those who would bother reading this wall of text and respond to it.
What I noticed is that the PH kept fluctuating from 6.5 to 7.4, and I later found out that my KH was around 0-2. However all the products I've seen so far(like SeaChem's Alkaline Buffer and Nutrafin's KH Booster) that increase KH also increase PH, and the fish in my tank (mostly tetras and otos) do not like the high PH. That's my first, more important problem. Should I go ahead and risk the higher PH for the sake of increasing the KH, or are there other products out there that only increase KH?
My other problem is about a product called Ick Clear by Jungle Laboratories. I've read a lot of reviews and they all contradict each other. Some say it's amazing and cured the fish almost immediately, while some say it didn't work and even helped wipe out the already sick fish. Anyone have any experience with it? There are shrimp in there too, but I haven't found any copper or other heavy metals in the tablets yet. If anyone can second that, it would be appreciated.
Sorry for the rather long post, but this whole disease cycle has existed almost immediately after I added my first fish into the tank and I want to resolve it once and for all. This is my first tank, but I don't think its normal for fish to get sick 3 times in 4 months, each one lasting days to 2 weeks.
Thanks in advance to those who would bother reading this wall of text and respond to it.
