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Hello Everyone-
I want to be as specific as possible, so this will be a long post. Thanks in advance!
I am currently operating two planted aquariums, one 10 gal and one 20 gal. Columbian Tetras in the 10 gal, and Columbian Tetras and two small Clown Loaches in the 20 gal. I still consider myself a beginner, as I've only been keeping fish since I inherited the Tetras less than two years ago(had not been given good care by previous owner). The Clown Loaches have been with me since December.
So here come all of my questions and such:
I have been losing fish. About 15 of my Tetras are now 7 years old. I've lost four of them in six months, three more who are on their way out right now (all due to loss of buoyancy). LFS says this is normal. Let me know if you think otherwise. Thanks!
I introduced two Yo-Yo Loaches in February (to the 10 gal). One month later it was apparent that I had Ich in my tank. I treated with half doses of Malachite Green for 10 days (three days after spots were gone). The day after I did a water change and put the carbon filter back, one Yo-Yo was floating on the surface. It looked completely normal in size and color, and had been acting normally up until I discovered it dead. The next day I found the other Yo-Yo in exactly the same way. It has now been several weeks since, and the Ich has not returned. My only concern for the 10 gal is one Tetra who has some black patches, which I was told were wounds, and not black spot. I dose weekly with Cycle, and condition with Aqua Plus. Does anyone have insight into why I lost my Yo-Yo's?
Which brings me to my next question. I will be starting to put together my new 55 gal tomorrow, with hopes to begin adding the fish to it in about 4 weeks. I can single out at least 3 fish who are starting to lose their buoyancy. My current plan is to only add the healthy fish to the new aquarium, and to keep the others in the 10 gal, which I will keep running as a OT tank. Does this sound like a good plan?
Also, any other general advice that comes to mind is always appreciated. I am here to learn.
Thanks for reading!

Funny. I read through my post to make sure that I didn't leave anything out, and the moment I sent it off, I remembered one more question that I had. In both of my aquariums I have some white "stuff" on the inside of the glass. It has been there since I planted the tanks in February. It is a film of very tiny white dots and strings, and moves with the water current. It's in patches on the full length of the glass. It survived through the doses of meds in the 10 gal, so I'm assuming that it's not bacteria or a parasite, but of course, I may be wrong. What is it? Should I be concerned?
My biggest concern is getting my 55 gal set up right, and to avoid (if I can) bringing problems from the old tanks into the new one.
I'm airing out my dirty laundry, so to speak, and I feel like the worst fish-keeper ever right now . But I need to learn about these things.......
Thanks again everyone.

Hyphessobrycon columbianus (Colombian Tetra) has a life span of about five years so both you and the previous owner did very well with the fish. I would expect that old age is taking a toll on your schools.

Malachite green is effective against ich. Unfortunately the medication is also effective against loaches and other scaleless fish. A better treatment for loaches is to place them in a hospital tank and boost the temperature in the hospital tank to 85F. The higher temperature accelerates the ich trophophont life cycle and prevents the bug from reinfecting the host fish. By the way, many meds do not warn you that the treatment may be lethal to certain fish.

If you wipe the "white stuff" from the glass does it reappear in a few days or a week? It sounds like a fungus as it is white but may be algae.



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