Pika

My fish have some disease, and I can't figure out what it is. They sit on the bottom most of the day with clamped fins, and increased respiration. A couple fish have died from this so it's fatal, nothing that looks like fungal infection or anything on them. One of my platies has some verry small white dots on his tail fin, I'd estimate about a quarter mm in diameter. Is it ich? Why is it killing fish if there's barely any?

I have about a pound of chives sitting in the kitchen from this, what are some recipes that use a lot of chives and are vegetarian or that I can use fake meat in? Beef is about the only meat I can replace, unless I feel like getting creative.

My mom had gerbils in the 15 gallon I'm using as an aquarium last, and was wondering how to replace the little rim-thing that you put the lid on. The gerbils chewed it up pretty badly and it's hard to keep the lid and light up. I was using duct tape but I want something more permanent.

I already have 3 platies and a dwarf gourami. I want red or blue fish, but I don't really want neon tetras and cardinal tetras seem a bit touchy for me. My PH stays around 7.8, and I don't want to mess around with adjusting it.