My lovely sucker fish just started getting furry.
He's in a 25 gal tank with 2 small tetras.
I recently had an outbreak of Ick that killed my Clown Loach and Cardinal Tetra, but that was about 3 weeks ago.
Today, I took the carbon filter out once again and put the drops back in for Ick... just to do something so the poor pleco won't die.

Any advice would be helpful as i am a very new fish owner. Only had my tank since October and still really don't know what i'm doing... but i love my fish.

Hi,Can you give me a little more info on temps/filter size/ Water Params,etc? How often are you changing out water and how much?The more we know,the better we can help.

Hi there,

Sorry to hear you're having trouble. Starting out with fish can be very trying.
If your fish is 'furry' it usually means there is a fungus infection and ick meds may not help this, I'd reccomend you buy some fungus meds from your local store. Try googling fish fungus infection to see if that's what your fish looks like.

Good luck!
Chrissy

You are right,chances are it could be a fungus of sorts,but in order to figure out the why's and best solutions to the problems,it's always a good idea to get the complete scoop of facts.
If params are out of whack,often times meds won't work correctly.

for my 25 gal tank, i have an Aqua Clear model #30
temp is around 83 deg.
my ph level looks like it's kinda high... i have one of those test kits that show you a color chart. It's always the same color blue no matter how many drops of the ph down i put in... unless i'm supposed to empty the entire ###### bottle in the tank.
My Pleco was in this same tank with my goldfish right from the start and he had no problems. I've since moved my goldfish to a smaller tank, which is when i got the tetras and the 1 Clown Loach. All I have left in there now are 2 small tetras who seem to be doing fine.
I put in one of those bubble tubes just over a week ago... then a few days after that I started noticing the fur on the pleco. Don't know if that has anything to do with it or not.
As for testing the water... the ph thing is all i have. There's so many things to choose from when you're looking at fish chemicals, I wasn't sure what was really needed and what was just marketing.

Oh, last time i did the water change I took out ALMOST half the water... only cus I was medicating previously for the Ick infestation and the water got really gross.
It needs a water change again, a week later, even though there's only those 2 small tetras in there.

83 degrees is quite warm-even for a tropical tank.Having the tank that warm depletes some of the oxygen so it's a good idea that you've added the bubble bar.
You should look into a Master Drop Tets Kit,like Aquarium Pharmaceutical has.It covers all the main areas that need to be tested,and without it,you're continually at risk guessing if there's any Ammonia/Nitrites/Nitrates,etc.
As for playing with the ph,you really have to know what you're doing with that,or you could cause yourself problems down the road. Most fish if acclimated slowly to the ph,and the ph is consistent,will be able to handle it just fine.
As for the Pleco,you can try something like Jungle Fungus Eliminator..It covers both fungal and bacteria,and seems to be safe for all fish.