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I would toss a bag of activated carbon in your filter for a week or two.
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Oct 3, 2020 14:08
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Stoca Zola posted:I've heard too many horror stories about excel to consider using it myself Ruined my first go at the 10gal betta tank with Excel. gently caress that stuff. Discovered last night that the 6 remaining QT tetras have neon tetra disease. Couldn't figure out why they weren't eating till I figured out that they couldn't close their dang mouths. Any time I'd go to look at them they'd hide behind the sponge filter. I had to literally catch some and hold them in a net to look at them That got me real concerned so I went and inspected the 9 I had in my 125, they all have it too. Lumpy, gills are all open/red, fuzzy mouths. Guess I didn't notice because they were all still shiny and eating, and I was focused on getting rid of the diatoms and establishing the plants? I don't know. Ugh. loving hell. Is any old clove oil sufficient? I feel so bad. So, so, so bad.
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Oct 3, 2020 17:25
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It should be. poo poo man, that sucks and I'm sorry.
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Oct 3, 2020 19:49
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Cowslips Warren posted:It should be. poo poo man, that sucks and I'm sorry. Thank you. Can't believe I missed it in the 9 I've had for some months now. I was just looking for the contorted back when I bought them. I can't decide if it's cruel to let them all live in the QT tank for their final days, or, to put them out of their misery. Some look better than others, but they for sure all have it. Fuckity gently caress gently caress gently caress gently caress.
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Oct 3, 2020 19:55
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I think clove oil is just clove oil; the way I do it is I have a designated plastic dish which the fish go in with tank water, a designated little jar that I use to pre-mix the clove oil with a bit of tank water, and I give it a good shake before adding it. Off the top of my head I don't remember the dosage of how many drops per volume is required, thankfully I haven't had to do it for a long time. I put the container somewhere dark so the fish aren't stressed and check back after 15 mins, then another 15 mins just to be sure no gill movement remains. There's no cure and it's not your fault  You really don't want them dying in your main tank but it might be easier to have them in quarantine and just select the ones that are visibly struggling as you see them. I think trying to do all of them at once would be too traumatic for both you and the fish.
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Oct 3, 2020 20:03
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Stoca Zola posted:I think clove oil is just clove oil; the way I do it is I have a designated plastic dish which the fish go in with tank water, a designated little jar that I use to pre-mix the clove oil with a bit of tank water, and I give it a good shake before adding it. Off the top of my head I don't remember the dosage of how many drops per volume is required, thankfully I haven't had to do it for a long time. I put the container somewhere dark so the fish aren't stressed and check back after 15 mins, then another 15 mins just to be sure no gill movement remains. There's no cure and it's not your fault Thank you, I really appreciate it. They're all in the QT tank now, I didn't want to put my two cories at risk. My poor husband helped me fish out the 9 from the 125 last night. I'll be making a trip to the health store today for the oil but luckily I've got some plastic dollar store containers on hand that can be used for this sad occasion.
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Oct 3, 2020 20:31
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Be careful, I think clove oil kills invertibrates, in case you got any. e - Googled it. Oh. Sorry. I thought it was a treatment.
N17R4M fucked around with this message at 20:34 on Oct 3, 2020 |
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Oct 3, 2020 20:32
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I think I'm ok. No losses. Water is a bit cloudy but fish are eating again so I think we're through the woods. gently caress I feel bad.
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Oct 4, 2020 09:23
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Resting Lich Face posted:I think I'm ok. No losses. Water is a bit cloudy but fish are eating again so I think we're through the woods. gently caress I feel bad. Excel is such a bitch. I am so sorry for your losses, very glad it seems to be looking up now. Don't beat yourself up too much, it happens to the best of us. As Homer Simpson said, "You can't keep blaming yourself. Just blame yourself once and move on."
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Oct 4, 2020 17:58
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Couple more losses. Did testing and I definitely damaged my biofilter. It's not dead, and ammonia isn't spiking, but I'm seeing nitrites come up so I have to keep up on water changes. I'm glad to have a diagnosis on what's likely caused the most recent losses because that means I can control it. Also tells me that I was right to do large water changes. Had never heard anything bad about excel and didn't come across anything when I did my research. It'd probably have been a-okay if I hadn't hosed it up, and I definitely need a weapon against algae because the tank gets a lot of natural light so it's gonna be a war... candystarlight posted:Don't beat yourself up too much, it happens to the best of us. As Homer Simpson said, "You can't keep blaming yourself. Just blame yourself once and move on." Hadn't heard that one. It's good. I needed that. Thanks.
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Oct 5, 2020 08:02
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Resting Lich Face posted:Couple more losses. Did testing and I definitely damaged my biofilter. It's not dead, and ammonia isn't spiking, but I'm seeing nitrites come up so I have to keep up on water changes. I'm glad to have a diagnosis on what's likely caused the most recent losses because that means I can control it. Also tells me that I was right to do large water changes. man, if it's just nitrates building up give your tank a rest. you may be doing to many water changes now, that can most definitely destroy your tank. you might be flushing the system to the point it can't keep up with the lack of beneficial bacteria. How many water changes have you done?
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Oct 5, 2020 12:49
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Nitrites, not nitrates. Nitrites are fairly toxic and it means one of the populations of bacteria took a hit. You 100% cannot nuke a tank with fish in by waterchanging too much, the fish/snails/livestock will keep excreting ammonia, there will always be food for the bacteria and the nitrites for the other bacteria will be generated in the filter right where it's needed. As long as you're not losing hardness, it's the best thing you can do for fish health. In nature the closest thing to a tank with lots of water changes is a running river, and that's about as natural and healthy as you can get for fish to live in. Even if it was nitrates building up, waterchanging that away won't hurt the filter at all. The "do not water change" advice really only applies to fishless cycling where you need the ammonia to stay in the tank so the bacteria can build up. As soon as you add fish, water changing is fine and necessary. Sorry Munkeylord I'm not trying to call you out or anything but I think that might be where you're remembering that bit of advice from. You can't waterchange away your BB, it lives in the filter, substrate and on surfaces and isn't free floating.
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Oct 5, 2020 14:32
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Stoca Zola posted:Nitrites, not nitrates. Nitrites are fairly toxic and it means one of the populations of bacteria took a hit. You 100% cannot nuke a tank with fish in by waterchanging too much, the fish/snails/livestock will keep excreting ammonia, there will always be food for the bacteria and the nitrites for the other bacteria will be generated in the filter right where it's needed. As long as you're not losing hardness, it's the best thing you can do for fish health. In nature the closest thing to a tank with lots of water changes is a running river, and that's about as natural and healthy as you can get for fish to live in. Even if it was nitrates building up, waterchanging that away won't hurt the filter at all. Yea you're most likely right, there is too much to know at times. My experience is mostly with fresh water shrimp which are well you know, finicky at best.
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Oct 6, 2020 01:13
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Extremely fair point, shrimp don't like things to change too fast at all. I've lost shrimp myself when I accidentally siphoned 80% of one of my shrimp tanks out and panicked and put fresh water back in instead of tipping what was still in my bucket back into the tank. Not much I could do about the water all over the carpet though. I think that might have been the first time I watered my carpet in fact.
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Oct 6, 2020 06:40
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Stoca Zola posted:Extremely fair point, shrimp don't like things to change too fast at all. I've lost shrimp myself when I accidentally siphoned 80% of one of my shrimp tanks out and panicked and put fresh water back in instead of tipping what was still in my bucket back into the tank. Not much I could do about the water all over the carpet though. I think that might have been the first time I watered my carpet in fact. A couple times now I've done very very extensive gravel vac-ing where I've removed all hardscape and most plants but actually left the amano shrimp in the tank while I was doing it. I drained probably 80% of the water each time and had tank-matched fresh water beside me to refill it back; probably did this 3 or 4 times to really get as much diatom algae as I could out of the substrate so essentially the water was completely replaced. The tiny nature of my 5g tank means I can't really get to much of the gravel when I do weekly 20% changes. I didn't remove the shrimp because I felt comfortable working around them and was confidant that the water I was putting back in was exactly the same temp, hardness, TDS as what was coming out. I felt there was more risk and stress involved with trying to net them than just carefully siphoning around them. I don't think this would be a good idea with CRS or other neocardinias but with Amanos they're tough and large enough that I wasn't concerned. Because so much of the BB is in the filter and on the hardscape (compared to the water column) I don't think it's particularly bad to do these kinds of deep cleans now and then in my amano heaven tank (no other species, no fish, heavily live planted).
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Oct 6, 2020 07:08
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I guess it really only matters on how well you know your strain of shrimp. I would never put them in one of my 5 gallons ( I named the murder tanks). Amano tend to be extremely resilient species. I'm unsure of their species as I've only ever had one of this type and it was a beast. The grass shrimp I've bought kinda die out after a while, only ever have been able to successfully breed them once. The return was 2 shrimp. Neo's are pretty simple. But they kinda suck at the whole chemistry change scene. I've owned sulawesi also. Man those things die so easy. Did a 10% water change on a 20 gallon with them. Was enough of a shock that the entire tank nuked itself in a complex collapse. This was after I had them for over a month thriving. I might as well have pissed into the tank. You triggered me with TDS. The only time that is useful is when you are remineralizing RO or RODI water. Anything else it really doesn't tell you a drat thing other than a number. The number doesn't actually mean anything either other than, there is stuff in your water. I've had shrimp tanks in the 200 to 400 range thriving just as much as their neighbor tank. I've also had a tank that had 999 TDS and was doing three times as much stock and it would continue to deliver several hundred shrimp a month Munkeylord fucked around with this message at 12:08 on Oct 6, 2020 |
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Oct 6, 2020 11:59
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Munkeylord posted:You triggered me with TDS. The only time that is useful is when you are remineralizing RO or RODI water. Anything else it really doesn't tell you a drat thing other than a number. The number doesn't actually mean anything either other than, there is stuff in your water. I've had shrimp tanks in the 200 to 400 range thriving just as much as their neighbor tank. I've also had a tank that had 999 TDS and was doing three times as much stock and it would continue to deliver several hundred shrimp a month I use TDS in a cool and good way - I use a SaltyShrimp remineralizer, so the first time I used it I added it to my tap water (which has a TDS of 0) at the proper amount per volume that is recommended and then found the TDS to be 150ppm. So that's just my shorthand now that when I do water changes I know I add that stuff to the new water until the TDS is 150. I know about what you're saying with the various things that can contribute to TDS but for me it's perfect in this usage.
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Oct 6, 2020 14:49
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Yea that's basically what I use it for also. Just to remineralize, beyond that its completely useless for any parameter info and it doesn't say what is in the water column. Chemical tests are best for this portion
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Oct 6, 2020 15:44
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VelociBacon posted:I use TDS in a cool and good way - I use a SaltyShrimp remineralizer, so the first time I used it I added it to my tap water (which has a TDS of 0) at the proper amount per volume that is recommended and then found the TDS to be 150ppm. So that's just my shorthand now that when I do water changes I know I add that stuff to the new water until the TDS is 150. I know about what you're saying with the various things that can contribute to TDS but for me it's perfect in this usage.
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Oct 6, 2020 18:41
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People's tap water is better than my RO/DI apparently. I got 0ppm for like a few hours after I change the resin but then it goes to 1ppm. 
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Oct 6, 2020 21:20
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absolutely cant keep shramps alive, my water conditions appear ideal with the exception of a half dozen ppm of nitrates. i was under the impression that you needed a bit of nitrate in the water for plant growth but i have seen many planted tanks with a shitload of shrimps. for the record i get a dozen or so and in about 3 months it goes down to one or two, there are no bodies from what i observe so i imagine the other shramp ate them.
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Oct 7, 2020 15:59
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big dong wanter posted:absolutely cant keep shramps alive, my water conditions appear ideal with the exception of a half dozen ppm of nitrates. i was under the impression that you needed a bit of nitrate in the water for plant growth but i have seen many planted tanks with a shitload of shrimps. for the record i get a dozen or so and in about 3 months it goes down to one or two, there are no bodies from what i observe so i imagine the other shramp ate them. Is this a shrimp only tank? Do you have a lid on it?
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Oct 7, 2020 16:01
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big dong wanter posted:absolutely cant keep shramps alive, my water conditions appear ideal with the exception of a half dozen ppm of nitrates. i was under the impression that you needed a bit of nitrate in the water for plant growth but i have seen many planted tanks with a shitload of shrimps. for the record i get a dozen or so and in about 3 months it goes down to one or two, there are no bodies from what i observe so i imagine the other shramp ate them. which kind of shrimp? I have this exact same problem with ghost shrimp in my 15 gal. my walstad 7 gal with cherry shrimp has been pretty stable and I have 12 new shrimplets that hatched in it last week.
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Oct 7, 2020 16:10
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big dong wanter posted:absolutely cant keep shramps alive, my water conditions appear ideal with the exception of a half dozen ppm of nitrates. i was under the impression that you needed a bit of nitrate in the water for plant growth but i have seen many planted tanks with a shitload of shrimps. for the record i get a dozen or so and in about 3 months it goes down to one or two, there are no bodies from what i observe so i imagine the other shramp ate them. From reading the Walstad book, have you checked your heavy metal levels? Do you have a planted tank? Plants really help to absorb beach metals from the water to protect creatures.
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Oct 7, 2020 16:25
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Dammit I've had to euth 2 rasboras from my until now uneventful kitchen counter tank. I've had the fish for 2 years. One of them had a lesion on his tail which didn't look like it would amount to much - I first noticed it a few months ago. Last week or maybe 2 weeks ago I noticed it was big enough that it protruded on both sides of the fish. From last week to this week it doubled in size and caused the caudal fin to split apart. All the other fish seemed fine until I'd determined that it was going downhill too quickly and it was time to get that one fish out. While netting, I noticed another of the fish swimming erratically with a sideways S shaped spine, much like a guppy stuck in a display dance. Considering that tank is in my kitchen and I'd been watching it pretty closely for progress on the lump I'm pretty disappointed that a second fish got that bad without me noticing. And that changed my theory on the lesion which initially I just thought of as a tumour - a second fish with those symptoms pretty much means fish TB. And I wonder if the lump was shedding mycobacterium into the water the whole time it was growing. I've since seen a third and fourth fish looking a little twitchy but not twisted full time into any particular shape. I'd hoped to move the fish into a larger community once I set the bigger tank up but I don't want to now that the kuhlies have also been exposed to TB. But on the other hand, there's the theory that mycobacterium of all kinds are present everywhere and it's down to the fish's immune systems and general health as to whether they get sick or not. I do think I had one fish that always swam apart from the others so maybe they've been carrying it for the whole two years and the lesions are only getting big enough to show now. I haven't seen any health problems with the kuhlies but I feel like I have to consider them carriers even if they aren't sick. I guess for now I don't have to change anything, the shrimp in that tank are breeding like crazy, the kuhlies come out and swim when they think no one is looking and the school size of rasboras is now 10 which is not too small for them to be shy. Maybe I can just let the fish age out and eventually let it become a shrimp only tank, since as far as I know shrimp don't give a poo poo about TB. Edit: I read somewhere when I was trying to get a pic of a TB tumor that fish can only catch TB by eating fish that died from TB. But at this point I don't trust anything I read, you can find people posting all kinds of opposing stuff and heresay if you look hard enough. I guess I can definitely say no rasboras died in the tank and no kuhlie snacked on them. Stoca Zola fucked around with this message at 17:27 on Oct 7, 2020 |
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Oct 7, 2020 17:23
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I have kind of a weird question: how do I get my fish to like me
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Oct 8, 2020 03:46
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Food.
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Oct 8, 2020 03:52
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Been 8 days since I replaced the water in my 29g containing a Fantail goldfish. I scraped off algae growing on the sides and tested the water, everything looks great. What's the best way to monitor to see how long I can go without a water change? Don't want to do any harm to my fish but if I'm able to push it to bi-weekly that would help given everything else I got going on.
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Oct 8, 2020 05:26
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Nitrate testing is your best bet, it's just not the nitrates exactly that you are changing out but also the organics and other stuff that is much harder to measure and they tend to climb as the nitrate level climbs. Perhaps for goldfish you'd measure it until it climbs to 30ppm then do a 50% water change bringing it back down to 15ppm. Or 40 down to 20, depends on what nitrate levels you're happy to keep your fish in. I think some people do run their tanks like that, I've seen it done on crowded cichlid tanks and 75% water changes or more - but for me it's just easier to regularly change the water than to test then change the water or test and test and test and then change the water. Test kits are expensive here so I change the water as fast as I can for the number of tanks I keep and let plants and algae over grow to take up the slack. But yeah that would be the approach to take, and you could expect the frequency of water changes to increase as the fish grow and produce more waste.
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Oct 8, 2020 05:40
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I love Kuhlis. Maybe one day I can get a few. It's more than 20 gallons to have them?
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Oct 8, 2020 07:14
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Wear the same shirt every day, the fish will come to recognize you. Change the shirt when you do maintenance.
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Oct 8, 2020 07:31
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Aerofallosov posted:I love Kuhlis. Maybe one day I can get a few. It's more than 20 gallons to have them? There are some that grow bigger than others - I have 6 in a 15 gallon and that seems okay for them but ideally I'd rather have 12 in a 20 or 30 in a 40 - I really want to see a big school of happy wigglers in action. OK went and checked and the striped kuhlis (pangio semicincta) grow to 4 inches but the brown java loaches (pangio oblonga) like I have only grow to around 3 inches. There are a couple of slender more eel-looking species which grow a bit longer but stay slimmer so the bioload wouldn't be that different I don't think. While I was looking I saw there's a tinier species pangio cuneovirgata, it's also striped so is sometimes seen as bycatch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbETjQNB8Nk - they're so cute!
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Oct 8, 2020 13:42
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No more deaths. I have it stabilized now that I've properly diagnosed the problem. 50% daily water change will see us through. Thank gently caress I have a water change system that just requires turning a couple valves. Thank goodness ammonia -> nitrite bacteria are more resistant to Excel overdose than Nitrite -> Nitrate or I'd have lost the whole tank. I still feel bad. Those few cories and rummy's didn't have to die 
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Oct 8, 2020 21:59
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If I'm putting hillstream loaches, Cory's and a beta in a tank together, is there a good order to add them in so they won't try to fight
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Oct 9, 2020 04:42
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Not sure bettas are compatible with hillstream loaches at all from the point of view of preferred flow rates. But I think the theory is add bettas last so they don't have time to feel like they own the territory. Also always have a back up plan in case your betta is a murderer.
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Oct 9, 2020 05:13
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Stoca Zola posted:Not sure bettas are compatible with hillstream loaches at all from the point of view of preferred flow rates. But I think the theory is add bettas last so they don't have time to feel like they own the territory. Also always have a back up plan in case your betta is a murderer. The knowledge seems to be you don't need high flow, just high oxygenation. I've seen a couple of the big YouTubers doing tanks with betas and hillstreams in the same tank and they all seem to say it's doable.
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Oct 9, 2020 07:30
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I've seen plenty of videos of short fin bettas having a great time swimming in current too, so it's definitely possible to have a fish that enjoys that environment - I was I guess just pointing out what might be a point of incompatibility depending on how you set things up. I'm not sure how to get good oxygenation without flow of some kind to get the appropriate amount of surface disturbance, and this could be problematic for a longfin/rosetail/halfmoon betta. But there's probably a way to do it so you still have a sheltered area for the betta to retreat to if they want to. As for your other fish, as far as I know hillstream loaches will fight with each other over river pebbles, pretty much just shoving each other off the "best" rocks. As long as you have enough smooth rocks for them to claim that shouldn't matter. I've never seen corys fight with anything. So maybe add the corys first, then the hillstreams, then the betta last. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGDmB9flBhk
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Oct 9, 2020 09:55
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I'll be taking advantage of a 3 day weekend here to do some tank shuffling. I've been trying over the past year to get my 125g rainbow/discus high tech planted tank to, if not thrive, at least stabilize. It's turning out I'm just not able to keep up with that tanks needs while maintaining my saltwater and other freshwater tanks without devoting nearly all of my free time to it. Also contributing to this is my pair of oscars in a 90g bowfront tank. They are big healthy fish, and while I wouldn't say they are cramped in the 90 I'd like to give them some more space. So basically my plan for the weekend is: -Go pick up 75g marineland tank/stand for $399@PetSmart and spray paint back either black or blue -Move 10 rainbows, 1 discus, 5 denison barbs, 5 bronze cories and 1 gold nugget pleco from 125g into 55g temp tank -Empty and clean 125g, redo filtration to remove co2 gear, rinse 90g oscar gravel in tank water and transfer to 125, move oscars into 125 -Clean 90g bow and drag down to garage, gonna throw it up on FB market and hopefully get it sold same day. I'd love to keep it but it's pretty old and will definitely need to be torn apart and resealed in the next year or two. Stand and canopy are in pretty rough shape too. -Put new 75g in spot where the 90 was, get it set up as a fish only tank, and move the rainbows, cories and pleco into it. Denisons will be going out into the stock tank with my frontosas. Discus will remain in the 55g by himself for now, still deciding if I want to grow him out more to sell or add 4-5 more discus now and keep a discus only bare tank. I think that should keep me fairly busy for the weekend, and then hopefully be easier to maintain going forward.
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Oct 9, 2020 13:35
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I'm occasionally hearing a creaking sound coming from the area where my fish tank is located. It could be the air pump, solid wooden stand, lid, light, HoB filter or tank itself but haven't been able to pinpoint. I'm concerned that maybe one of the times I was scraping with a razor blade I might have nicked the sealant on a corner compromising the integrity of the tank, is that possible? If so is there any way to tell or precautions I could take?
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Oct 9, 2020 18:18
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Step 1 complete, I usually go black but decided to give blue a shot this time. Setting up my 55g temp tank now.
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Oct 9, 2020 22:07
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