Any Aquarium guys? (1 Viewer)

[TLEF316]

well, Now i don't know what the hell to think. I think I may have just wasted $75 (freaking price gouging at petco) on two unnecessary heaters. I set up the new heaters and set them each for like 74 degrees. The "On" lights went on for each one.

So i go upstairs for like 15 minutes and then I come back down. As i walk by the tank, i see that the lights are off again. So i check the old thermometer. It still says around 69-70 degrees. then i check the new one i bought today (i got a glass one because i hate the metal one that i have.) And it is saying around 79 degrees. Obviously, one is wrong. I tried testing them in a glass of water (thinking that their positions in the tank may have altered the results.) Still a ten degree difference. But even so, there is no way that the tank is 79 degrees. both heaters are set for 74 and had been running less than half an hour. So what is the real temperature? Hell if i know.

i think i may have just wasted a PTO day and $80

WOW, I am quite honestly the dumbest person ever to walk the face of the earth. It isn't even really close. There is no temperature issue. I wasted my $$ and my vacation day. Please return to your regularly scheduled programing....-----------> The thermometer i had consists of 2 parts, a metal plate (where the temperature markings are displayed) and a glass tube (where the liquid is) My dumb ### managed to slide the tube up in relation to the plate, making the temperature appear 10 degrees lower than it actually was. I am a massive jackass.

 

[TLEF316]

on the very bright side, ammonia is down to 1 PPM

Unfortunately, my lights still have not even shipped, making a weekend trip for plants unlikely.

 

[TheFanatic]

Had my first casualty. One of the tiny Bristle nose plecos didn't make it. The other one is going to town but at barely over an inch he's not making much progress. I really have to cut my lights off a lot to keep it in check. The good news is the algae is pretty much confined to the back glass and not the front and sides...

BTW, TLEF, have you thought about buying a new $2 thermometer to see if the current $2 thermo you own isn't defective?

 

[TLEF316]

Had my first casualty. One of the tiny Bristle nose plecos didn't make it. The other one is going to town but at barely over an inch he's not making much progress. I really have to cut my lights off a lot to keep it in check. The good news is the algae is pretty much confined to the back glass and not the front and sides...BTW, TLEF, have you thought about buying a new $2 thermometer to see if the current $2 thermo you own isn't defective?

Read the white text above. I'm an idiot. Everything is fine now, save my pride.Black background looks great BTW. Thanks for the suggestion. just can't wait to re-stock and start planting. I'll try to take a picture tonight when it gets dark in the room. I'm really thinking hard about some rainbow fish. I think a shoal of 5 or 6 would be awesome in my soon to be planted tank. Just got to make sure they won't go tetra killing.I'm also searching and open to any plant suggestions.

 

[ttiger72]

Had my first casualty. One of the tiny Bristle nose plecos didn't make it. The other one is going to town but at barely over an inch he's not making much progress. I really have to cut my lights off a lot to keep it in check. The good news is the algae is pretty much confined to the back glass and not the front and sides...BTW, TLEF, have you thought about buying a new $2 thermometer to see if the current $2 thermo you own isn't defective?

Read the white text above. I'm an idiot. Everything is fine now, save my pride.Black background looks great BTW. Thanks for the suggestion. just can't wait to re-stock and start planting. I'll try to take a picture tonight when it gets dark in the room. I'm really thinking hard about some rainbow fish. I think a shoal of 5 or 6 would be awesome in my soon to be planted tank. Just got to make sure they won't go tetra killing.I'm also searching and open to any plant suggestions.

Which Rainbows are you thinking about? Some are a lot more aggressive than others. For plants it's going to depend on the look you want really. Personally I love the Ocelot Sword that I have as well as Ludwigia Repens, which I don't have in my tank anymore (killed it off when I was trying to get rid of black brush algae using an excel dip). I also like Anubias plants for foreground. I also have Rotala Indica as a background, with Madagascar Lace.

 

[TLEF316]

The bosemani rainbows look awesome. They are the ones I've really been looking at.

As for plants, I've been kicking around a few ideas....

Foreground- I'm thinking of splitting it between Glossostigma and chainsword, probably mostly Gloss though

Mid ground- I've already got a few crypts. I'm thinking about some stuff with some rounder leaves and then a couple of medium sized swords mixed in. Maybe a few ferns connected to the various pieces of wood and some sort of carpet plant on top of the rock cave on the right side.

background- One thing I would definitely like to to do is something like This but just on one side (to keep it asymmetrical) I'm certainly gonna try to throw in a few red plants like tiger lotus. I think they would look great in moderation.

Now, maybe this is a bit ambitious for my first planting. I don't know. I'm gonna start slowly and see how it goes.

I also need to find a big tree-like piece of wood that will reach the top. I've been searching for the past week or so and haven't found anything i like. My big, bird like piece of wood will also be added back in. (if there is room, which i think there will be once i move those 2 smaller pieces from the front right and pull all the fake plants. )

 

[ttiger72]

The bosemani rainbows look awesome. They are the ones I've really been looking at.

As for plants, I've been kicking around a few ideas....

Foreground- I'm thinking of splitting it between Glossostigma and chainsword, probably mostly Gloss though

Mid ground- I've already got a few crypts. I'm thinking about some stuff with some rounder leaves and then a couple of medium sized swords mixed in. Maybe a few ferns connected to the various pieces of wood and some sort of carpet plant on top of the rock cave on the right side.

background- One thing I would definitely like to to do is something like This but just on one side (to keep it asymmetrical) I'm certainly gonna try to throw in a few red plants like tiger lotus. I think they would look great in moderation.

Now, maybe this is a bit ambitious for my first planting. I don't know. I'm gonna start slowly and see how it goes.

I also need to find a big tree-like piece of wood that will reach the top. I've been searching for the past week or so and haven't found anything i like. My big, bird like piece of wood will also be added back in. (if there is room, which i think there will be once i move those 2 smaller pieces from the front right and pull all the fake plants. )

See if you can get a bigger Anubias barteri 'coffeefolia' this is what they look like. There are also a lot of different varieties out there with much rounder leafs. I really like them and will most likely be adding them back to my tank (another victim of my excel dip). If you use some fishing line and tie them to a piece of driftwood they will eventually grow into it, a really cool plant.

 

[TLEF316]

also have to keep in mind that all of my substrate nutrients will be coming from tabs, since my substrate is just play sand.

 

[ttiger72]

also have to keep in mind that all of my substrate nutrients will be coming from tabs, since my substrate is just play sand.

I don't do any substrate ferts, or anything really. The Anubias varietals take better to not being planted, in fact you should make sure the root ball is either on or above the substrate.

 

[TheFanatic]

I don't do tabs either. In the new 110 I had to since the sand was brand new. Nothing in the sand to feed on for the plants. But once they get established I will no longer use them.

 

[Skippy the one eyed Beagle]

well my fish seem to be doing fine. i lost a swordtail to go with the dalmation molly i lost earlier, but it seems to have stablized.

the water is still cloudy. yesterday i did a 25% change. should i do another change tonight or give them a few more days before i change again. i dont want to stress them out too much

 

[Skippy the one eyed Beagle]

well my fish seem to be doing fine. i lost a swordtail to go with the dalmation molly i lost earlier, but it seems to have stablized.the water is still cloudy. yesterday i did a 25% change. should i do another change tonight or give them a few more days before i change again. i dont want to stress them out too much

bump for the day-time aquarium crowd...

 

[TheFanatic]

Give it a day or two. I'm not a fan of daily water changes except with young Discus. I would definitely be doing them at least twice a week till that settles...

 

[TLEF316]

ammonia still not processing naturally. I was down to 1 ppm on thursday, and this morning, it's creeping back towards 2. I did another water change and cleaned out the filter (kept all the media in tank water so bacteria wouldn't die.) to make sure that there wasn't anything rotting in there. At this point, I have to believe that something is hindering growth of bacteria, but i just don't have any idea what it could be.

Freaking lights finally shipped (there was an issue with my debit card number) so i should have them by Tuesday. No deaths. Everyone looks fine.

 

[TLEF316]

another day, and no noticeable drop in ammonia. At this point, my only thought was that the two little plants in there are somehow leaching ammonia into the tank. They don't look that bad(other than holes in a few of the leaves and some very slight browning) but at this point, i don't see any other cause of the problem. I just ripped them out and tossed them. I'm gonna give it 2 days, and If the ammonia isn't gone, I'm gonna go get myself some bioshpera and try and use it to kick start some ammonia growth. I just don't get it. Everything I've read says that the bacteria colony should double every day. How in the heck could a tank as understocked as mine is at the moment still be producing enough bacteria that the colony can't handle it?

 

[TLEF316]

on a more positive note, my new lights came this morning. Quick question..... There are two plugs. One is for the actual lights, and the other one is for the fan. The fan makes a decent amount of noise, and runs even when the lights are off. What should i do about it? Can it be unplugged at night? I assume yes.

 

[TLEF316]

still no change today (around 1 ppm) did another water change. I also took the carbon out of my filter. (as i've read in a few places that it may leach into the tank after its "used up". Trying anything at this point) I'm planning on going and getting some plants tomorrow after work, so we'll see how that goes.

I know that using chemicals to raise the Ph is generally a bad idea, but i think i need to take some sort of action. The Ph in my tank always drops slightly below 7. I'm guessing the wood has something to do with it. Is there any legit way to raise it to around 7.2 or so. without doing this, i don't think i can even attempt to keep rainbow fish, as they need a ph over 7.

This ammonia needs to go away. I'm gonna try and get some biosphera tomorrow. As i said, I'll try anything at this point. The tank also looks like hell, as i just moved around a bunch of the fake plants to clean it. I also rearranged a bunch of the wood. I think I'm going to have to lose a few pieces if i want to put a big one in there that looks like a tree trunk. We'll see.

 

[phthalatemagic]

TLEF - just ditch the setup and go marine

 

[TLEF316]

TLEF - just ditch the setup and go marine

hahaha. It's so strange. Everyone said that the first few months are the hardest. Other than a few corys dying (likely came in already sick) I cruised for the first 6 months. This last month has just been 1 big headache.

 

[phthalatemagic]

TLEF - just ditch the setup and go marine

hahaha. It's so strange. Everyone said that the first few months are the hardest. Other than a few corys dying (likely came in already sick) I cruised for the first 6 months. This last month has just been 1 big headache.

Who knows?I do know this - marine is much cooler. (Shhhh don't tell the other fresh water people that)

 

[TLEF316]

TLEF - just ditch the setup and go marine

hahaha. It's so strange. Everyone said that the first few months are the hardest. Other than a few corys dying (likely came in already sick) I cruised for the first 6 months. This last month has just been 1 big headache.

Who knows?I do know this - marine is much cooler. (Shhhh don't tell the other fresh water people that)

i like freshwater tank. I might be interested in doing a marine someday, but not now. I think i like having schools of fish more than i would just having a few individuals. I don't think i would ever do a BIG reef tank. I could see myself doing a nano-reef a few years down the road.

 

[TLEF316]

just finished planting. The plant guy at the store has been out the last few days, so my selection was limited. I ended up picking up 2 amazon swords, some Mexican OakLeaf, some red ludwigia and a couple of small samples of Glossostigma.(which i dont think will survive my clown loaches, but i want to try it)

tank looks good right now, although a lot of plant waste was floating around. I got most of it (including some type of creature which i tossed)

I did not get any ferts(forgot) although i did get some flourish excel (Co2 supplement) I'm gonna give it a shot. Pics tomorrow. Hopefully the store will be better stocked on saturday.

 

[ttiger72]

just finished planting. The plant guy at the store has been out the last few days, so my selection was limited. I ended up picking up 2 amazon swords, some Mexican OakLeaf, some red ludwigia and a couple of small samples of Glossostigma.(which i dont think will survive my clown loaches, but i want to try it)tank looks good right now, although a lot of plant waste was floating around. I got most of it (including some type of creature which i tossed)I did not get any ferts(forgot) although i did get some flourish excel (Co2 supplement) I'm gonna give it a shot. Pics tomorrow. Hopefully the store will be better stocked on saturday.

Sounds good! I wouldn't necessarily worry about ferts see how the plants do with the lighting and the excel before getting crazy on the ferts.Also, I would try the light without the fan, but you may wind up needing it. Mine gets very warm. Do you have the moon lights?

 

[ttiger72]

TLEF - just ditch the setup and go marine

hahaha. It's so strange. Everyone said that the first few months are the hardest. Other than a few corys dying (likely came in already sick) I cruised for the first 6 months. This last month has just been 1 big headache.

Who knows?I do know this - marine is much cooler. (Shhhh don't tell the other fresh water people that)

Marine is way cooler but about 4-5x the cost if not more, plus you need a bigger tank to house similar numbers of fish. To do salt the way I would want it would cost me 3k for lighting alone, because I would want all sorts of corals. IMO marine isn't worth doing unless you are doing corals, it just opens up the numbers and types of fish you can get.

 

[ttiger72]

Hey Fanatic - know much about fish disease? I have one honey gourami that is about 2 years old and he has black patches/spots on his anal fin (think that's what is on the gourami) and now all along the bottom of his throat. Is eating and swimming fine, totally acting normal other than these spots. I am a bit worried about his tank mates since I just spent 1oo bucks on new fish to finish out my stock and don't want to lose them.

 

[TLEF316]

just finished planting. The plant guy at the store has been out the last few days, so my selection was limited. I ended up picking up 2 amazon swords, some Mexican OakLeaf, some red ludwigia and a couple of small samples of Glossostigma.(which i dont think will survive my clown loaches, but i want to try it)tank looks good right now, although a lot of plant waste was floating around. I got most of it (including some type of creature which i tossed)I did not get any ferts(forgot) although i did get some flourish excel (Co2 supplement) I'm gonna give it a shot. Pics tomorrow. Hopefully the store will be better stocked on saturday.

Sounds good! I wouldn't necessarily worry about ferts see how the plants do with the lighting and the excel before getting crazy on the ferts.Also, I would try the light without the fan, but you may wind up needing it. Mine gets very warm. Do you have the moon lights?

No moon light. Just a 10,000K day light and a pink plant growth light. Each is 54 Watts. I still have my old fixture, and may use it for moonlight if i think there is enough growth. I may give it a shot without the fan. We'll see.O yeah, I also game my tank a shot of biosphera. Figured it couldn't hurt.

 

[TLEF316]

still ammonia this morning. If anything, it's slightly higher. Nice waste of $25 that biosphera was.

I seriously don't have any idea what to do at this point. I can't put fish in the tank when there is an ammonia reading, but the stuff wont go away. I've done a dozen water changes, cleaned out every spec of anything that could possibly decay, churned up the substrate to make sure there wasn't any old food or anything rotting, tested with 2 seperate kits and waited patiently for a month now.

I'm going to take a water sample to the LFS today and have them test it. I just don't see how this is possible.

EDIT: my Ph doesnt even show up on the test kit(too low) Is it possible that a low Ph is killing off the bacteria? If so, what do i do? Tap is around 7, but I'm guessing the wood in the tank lowers it. I've heard that crushed coral in the filter can help. Any experience here?

ANOTHER EDIT: A quick Google search shows that this is indeed a possibility. The first thing I'm gonna do is switch water conditioners. (I think my old one worked better) But what should i do to raise the Ph? I know that i need to check the buffering capacity of the water. How the heck do i do that? Should i try some crushed coral in the filter?

 

[ttiger72]

still ammonia this morning. If anything, it's slightly higher. Nice waste of $25 that biosphera was. I seriously don't have any idea what to do at this point. I can't put fish in the tank when there is an ammonia reading, but the stuff wont go away. I've done a dozen water changes, cleaned out every spec of anything that could possibly decay, churned up the substrate to make sure there wasn't any old food or anything rotting, tested with 2 seperate kits and waited patiently for a month now. I'm going to take a water sample to the LFS today and have them test it. I just don't see how this is possible.EDIT: my Ph doesnt even show up on the test kit(too low) Is it possible that a low Ph is killing off the bacteria? If so, what do i do? Tap is around 7, but I'm guessing the wood in the tank lowers it. I've heard that crushed coral in the filter can help. Any experience here?

You have to give the biospira a few days to kick in esp in 55g(that's what you have right?) tank. I shy away from doing pH rising or lowering simply because you need to have the amount of water needed for changes already lowered or raised to where your tank is prior to putting into the tank otherwise you rick the pH crashing on you and then you lose everything.

 

[JerseyToughGuys]

Been meaning to this for awhile.

was way into salt water aquariums back in highschool. Killed many a fish back in the day.

 

[TLEF316]

still ammonia this morning. If anything, it's slightly higher. Nice waste of $25 that biosphera was. I seriously don't have any idea what to do at this point. I can't put fish in the tank when there is an ammonia reading, but the stuff wont go away. I've done a dozen water changes, cleaned out every spec of anything that could possibly decay, churned up the substrate to make sure there wasn't any old food or anything rotting, tested with 2 seperate kits and waited patiently for a month now. I'm going to take a water sample to the LFS today and have them test it. I just don't see how this is possible.EDIT: my Ph doesnt even show up on the test kit(too low) Is it possible that a low Ph is killing off the bacteria? If so, what do i do? Tap is around 7, but I'm guessing the wood in the tank lowers it. I've heard that crushed coral in the filter can help. Any experience here?

You have to give the biospira a few days to kick in esp in 55g(that's what you have right?) tank. I shy away from doing pH rising or lowering simply because you need to have the amount of water needed for changes already lowered or raised to where your tank is prior to putting into the tank otherwise you rick the pH crashing on you and then you lose everything.

Its a 75 gallon. everything I'm reading says the bacteria won't even grow in PH as low as my tank (i think my test kit goes down to like 6 and it doesnt even register. The water stays yellow) So you're saying i should wait? Should i do water changes in the mean time? if so, how much?

 

[ttiger72]

still ammonia this morning. If anything, it's slightly higher. Nice waste of $25 that biosphera was. I seriously don't have any idea what to do at this point. I can't put fish in the tank when there is an ammonia reading, but the stuff wont go away. I've done a dozen water changes, cleaned out every spec of anything that could possibly decay, churned up the substrate to make sure there wasn't any old food or anything rotting, tested with 2 seperate kits and waited patiently for a month now. I'm going to take a water sample to the LFS today and have them test it. I just don't see how this is possible.EDIT: my Ph doesnt even show up on the test kit(too low) Is it possible that a low Ph is killing off the bacteria? If so, what do i do? Tap is around 7, but I'm guessing the wood in the tank lowers it. I've heard that crushed coral in the filter can help. Any experience here?

You have to give the biospira a few days to kick in esp in 55g(that's what you have right?) tank. I shy away from doing pH rising or lowering simply because you need to have the amount of water needed for changes already lowered or raised to where your tank is prior to putting into the tank otherwise you rick the pH crashing on you and then you lose everything.

Its a 75 gallon. everything I'm reading says the bacteria won't even grow in PH as low as my tank (i think my test kit goes down to like 6 and it doesnt even register. The water stays yellow) So you're saying i should wait? Should i do water changes in the mean time? if so, how much?

I would do this as a test, I know it's a pain, but I would do about a 25% water change and then test the pH immediately after. If it registers then something is possibly lowering the pH in the tank. And yes the bacteria like a pH in the 7s-8s but a stable pH works as well. Also, what are your Nitrates and Nitrite readings? Those are important as well.

 

[TLEF316]

still ammonia this morning. If anything, it's slightly higher. Nice waste of $25 that biosphera was. I seriously don't have any idea what to do at this point. I can't put fish in the tank when there is an ammonia reading, but the stuff wont go away. I've done a dozen water changes, cleaned out every spec of anything that could possibly decay, churned up the substrate to make sure there wasn't any old food or anything rotting, tested with 2 seperate kits and waited patiently for a month now. I'm going to take a water sample to the LFS today and have them test it. I just don't see how this is possible.EDIT: my Ph doesnt even show up on the test kit(too low) Is it possible that a low Ph is killing off the bacteria? If so, what do i do? Tap is around 7, but I'm guessing the wood in the tank lowers it. I've heard that crushed coral in the filter can help. Any experience here?

You have to give the biospira a few days to kick in esp in 55g(that's what you have right?) tank. I shy away from doing pH rising or lowering simply because you need to have the amount of water needed for changes already lowered or raised to where your tank is prior to putting into the tank otherwise you rick the pH crashing on you and then you lose everything.

Its a 75 gallon. everything I'm reading says the bacteria won't even grow in PH as low as my tank (i think my test kit goes down to like 6 and it doesnt even register. The water stays yellow) So you're saying i should wait? Should i do water changes in the mean time? if so, how much?

I would do this as a test, I know it's a pain, but I would do about a 25% water change and then test the pH immediately after. If it registers then something is possibly lowering the pH in the tank. And yes the bacteria like a pH in the 7s-8s but a stable pH works as well. Also, what are your Nitrates and Nitrite readings? Those are important as well.

I will do the water change and test the Ph today. I dont have nitrate or nitrite readings, although I've never had a problem with them. I'll take those this afternoon as well. In the past, the nitrites never showed up and nitrates were always lower than 30. But the ammonia was always fine too. One thing I'm definetly doing is going back to my oriniginal water conditioner. Maybe the API one isnt as good.

 

[ttiger72]

still ammonia this morning. If anything, it's slightly higher. Nice waste of $25 that biosphera was. I seriously don't have any idea what to do at this point. I can't put fish in the tank when there is an ammonia reading, but the stuff wont go away. I've done a dozen water changes, cleaned out every spec of anything that could possibly decay, churned up the substrate to make sure there wasn't any old food or anything rotting, tested with 2 seperate kits and waited patiently for a month now. I'm going to take a water sample to the LFS today and have them test it. I just don't see how this is possible.EDIT: my Ph doesnt even show up on the test kit(too low) Is it possible that a low Ph is killing off the bacteria? If so, what do i do? Tap is around 7, but I'm guessing the wood in the tank lowers it. I've heard that crushed coral in the filter can help. Any experience here?

You have to give the biospira a few days to kick in esp in 55g(that's what you have right?) tank. I shy away from doing pH rising or lowering simply because you need to have the amount of water needed for changes already lowered or raised to where your tank is prior to putting into the tank otherwise you rick the pH crashing on you and then you lose everything.

Its a 75 gallon. everything I'm reading says the bacteria won't even grow in PH as low as my tank (i think my test kit goes down to like 6 and it doesnt even register. The water stays yellow) So you're saying i should wait? Should i do water changes in the mean time? if so, how much?

I would do this as a test, I know it's a pain, but I would do about a 25% water change and then test the pH immediately after. If it registers then something is possibly lowering the pH in the tank. And yes the bacteria like a pH in the 7s-8s but a stable pH works as well. Also, what are your Nitrates and Nitrite readings? Those are important as well.

I will do the water change and test the Ph today. I dont have nitrate or nitrite readings, although I've never had a problem with them. I'll take those this afternoon as well. In the past, the nitrites never showed up and nitrates were always lower than 30. But the ammonia was always fine too. One thing I'm definetly doing is going back to my oriniginal water conditioner. Maybe the API one isnt as good.

I use the API one if you have no nitrites and 20-30 nitrates you have bacteria then since it's my understanding the the nitrates only show up if you have the nitrifing bacteria.

 

[TLEF316]

still ammonia this morning. If anything, it's slightly higher. Nice waste of $25 that biosphera was. I seriously don't have any idea what to do at this point. I can't put fish in the tank when there is an ammonia reading, but the stuff wont go away. I've done a dozen water changes, cleaned out every spec of anything that could possibly decay, churned up the substrate to make sure there wasn't any old food or anything rotting, tested with 2 seperate kits and waited patiently for a month now. I'm going to take a water sample to the LFS today and have them test it. I just don't see how this is possible.EDIT: my Ph doesnt even show up on the test kit(too low) Is it possible that a low Ph is killing off the bacteria? If so, what do i do? Tap is around 7, but I'm guessing the wood in the tank lowers it. I've heard that crushed coral in the filter can help. Any experience here?

You have to give the biospira a few days to kick in esp in 55g(that's what you have right?) tank. I shy away from doing pH rising or lowering simply because you need to have the amount of water needed for changes already lowered or raised to where your tank is prior to putting into the tank otherwise you rick the pH crashing on you and then you lose everything.

Its a 75 gallon. everything I'm reading says the bacteria won't even grow in PH as low as my tank (i think my test kit goes down to like 6 and it doesnt even register. The water stays yellow) So you're saying i should wait? Should i do water changes in the mean time? if so, how much?

I would do this as a test, I know it's a pain, but I would do about a 25% water change and then test the pH immediately after. If it registers then something is possibly lowering the pH in the tank. And yes the bacteria like a pH in the 7s-8s but a stable pH works as well. Also, what are your Nitrates and Nitrite readings? Those are important as well.

I will do the water change and test the Ph today. I dont have nitrate or nitrite readings, although I've never had a problem with them. I'll take those this afternoon as well. In the past, the nitrites never showed up and nitrates were always lower than 30. But the ammonia was always fine too. One thing I'm definetly doing is going back to my oriniginal water conditioner. Maybe the API one isnt as good.

I use the API one if you have no nitrites and 20-30 nitrates you have bacteria then since it's my understanding the the nitrates only show up if you have the nitrifing bacteria.

Thats what i always had in the past (when my tank was ammonia free) I havent tested the Nitrates or nitrites in a while. I will tonight.If the other levels are fine, then why would there be an ammonia reading?

 

[TLEF316]

got some advice at Fish forums from one of the more distinguished posters....

1) Dont mess with PH, bacteria can grow in anything. (plus the low Ph is what is keeping my ammonia levels from not being toxic.)

2) remove the white granulated stuff that came in my smaller filter. It turns out it isnt ceramic, but some lousy granulated substance that is suppsoed to absorb ammonia but doesnt do anything after it is saturated. I'll replace it with some ceramic rings.

3) Do a big water change (at least 50%) and hold off feeding for a few days.

 

[TheFanatic]

Hey Fanatic - know much about fish disease? I have one honey gourami that is about 2 years old and he has black patches/spots on his anal fin (think that's what is on the gourami) and now all along the bottom of his throat. Is eating and swimming fine, totally acting normal other than these spots. I am a bit worried about his tank mates since I just spent 1oo bucks on new fish to finish out my stock and don't want to lose them.

If you dropped $100 on tank mates I would go pick up a 10 gallon tank from a petstore and fill it entirely with water from your main tank and drop the gourami in there. Just put a heater and sponge filter in the tank. No light or gravel or anything. Now, take a few pics and post them on Aquaria Central or Monster Fish Keepers. Then I or one of the other posters can give you an idea as to what to do to treat the fish...

 

[TheFanatic]

got some advice at Fish forums from one of the more distinguished posters....1) Dont mess with PH, bacteria can grow in anything. (plus the low Ph is what is keeping my ammonia levels from not being toxic.)2) remove the white granulated stuff that came in my smaller filter. It turns out it isnt ceramic, but some lousy granulated substance that is suppsoed to absorb ammonia but doesnt do anything after it is saturated. I'll replace it with some ceramic rings.3) Do a big water change (at least 50%) and hold off feeding for a few days.

This is good advice. What can be dropping your Ph though. What is the ph of your tap water? High? Low? Test that and get back to us. If it's ridiculously low then you will definitely need to up the Ph as not much is going to live in ph of 5.

 

[TLEF316]

ok, just got home.

The Stuff in the small filter was NOT ammogon. It was just small ceramic pieces for biological filtration. so there goes that theory.

Tap PH= 6.6

tank PH- off the charts low, so less than 6(obviously not good)

Ammonia- somewhere between 1 and 2 ppm

nitrite- 0

nitrate- 5 ppm(been doing LOTS of water changes lately in an understocked tank)

So what does this mean? Hell if i know. Should i keep doing water changes? Do i have to figure out a way to buffer the water and raise the Ph?

Pictures coming in a bit.

 

[TLEF316]

Some pictures of my new, lightly planted tank with new T5 lighting system.......

full tank shot

right side

close up

left side

clowns

More clowns

I know a few of the Mexican oak leaves have holes in them, but I'll watch them closely.

 

[Tick]

Our Christmas 30 gallon freshwater tank now stands at:

5 zebra danios (one looked weak from the beginning and died yesterday)

6 headlight/taillight tetras

5 mollies

2 otocinclas (little catfish that ate all our brown algae)

1 clown pleco (who hides all the time)

The mollies and otocinclas did a great job of cleaning up the tank, but now I don't know if the otocinclas are getting enough food. Is there enough bottomfeeder goo created by the other fish to keep two otocinclas and the pleco fed on the bottom? Am I supposed to feed a bit more knowing that some will fall to the bottom to provide food for the bottom feeders?

 

[ttiger72]

Hey Fanatic - know much about fish disease? I have one honey gourami that is about 2 years old and he has black patches/spots on his anal fin (think that's what is on the gourami) and now all along the bottom of his throat. Is eating and swimming fine, totally acting normal other than these spots. I am a bit worried about his tank mates since I just spent 1oo bucks on new fish to finish out my stock and don't want to lose them.

If you dropped $100 on tank mates I would go pick up a 10 gallon tank from a petstore and fill it entirely with water from your main tank and drop the gourami in there. Just put a heater and sponge filter in the tank. No light or gravel or anything. Now, take a few pics and post them on Aquaria Central or Monster Fish Keepers. Then I or one of the other posters can give you an idea as to what to do to treat the fish...

Thread on it here. Let me know your thoughts...thanks.

 

[ttiger72]

Our Christmas 30 gallon freshwater tank now stands at:5 zebra danios (one looked weak from the beginning and died yesterday)6 headlight/taillight tetras5 mollies2 otocinclas (little catfish that ate all our brown algae)1 clown pleco (who hides all the time)The mollies and otocinclas did a great job of cleaning up the tank, but now I don't know if the otocinclas are getting enough food. Is there enough bottomfeeder goo created by the other fish to keep two otocinclas and the pleco fed on the bottom? Am I supposed to feed a bit more knowing that some will fall to the bottom to provide food for the bottom feeders?

To my knowledge the ottos pretty much eat only algae and fresh alage at that. I would pick up some algae wafers and see if the ottos will eat those, I know the pleco will. I would not overfeed as the ottos and pleco don't eat fish poop, or decayed food.

 

[ttiger72]

ok, just got home.The Stuff in the small filter was NOT ammogon. It was just small ceramic pieces for biological filtration. so there goes that theory.Tap PH= 6.6tank PH- off the charts low, so less than 6(obviously not good)Ammonia- somewhere between 1 and 2 ppmnitrite- 0nitrate- 5 ppm(been doing LOTS of water changes lately in an understocked tank)So what does this mean? Hell if i know. Should i keep doing water changes? Do i have to figure out a way to buffer the water and raise the Ph? Pictures coming in a bit.

Very nice looking tank, but I am at loss as to what to do next. Sorry I can't help much more. I know if you are seeing Nitrates that's an indication that you have the nitrifying bacteria present.

 

[Tick]

Our Christmas 30 gallon freshwater tank now stands at:5 zebra danios (one looked weak from the beginning and died yesterday)6 headlight/taillight tetras5 mollies2 otocinclas (little catfish that ate all our brown algae)1 clown pleco (who hides all the time)

We woke up today to 20 tiny fish swimming around our tank. They're tiny and black. We caught all of them and put them in a bowl filled with our tank water. What next? ETA: Our black mollie is skinny today, so I'm guessing it's a female and that's what we've got. Reading about it a bit, mollies sound kind of freaky - it almost sounds like we'll have a big batch of fry once per month forever. Uh... that's not what we thought we signed up for.So we're supposed to get something that clips into our tank and gives them a separate area to live. What then? We don't have tank space for 20 more mollies, not to mention the upcoming batches.

 

[ttiger72]

Our Christmas 30 gallon freshwater tank now stands at:5 zebra danios (one looked weak from the beginning and died yesterday)6 headlight/taillight tetras5 mollies2 otocinclas (little catfish that ate all our brown algae)1 clown pleco (who hides all the time)

We woke up today to 20 tiny fish swimming around our tank. They're tiny and black. We caught all of them and put them in a bowl filled with our tank water. What next? ETA: Our black mollie is skinny today, so I'm guessing it's a female and that's what we've got. Reading about it a bit, mollies sound kind of freaky - it almost sounds like we'll have a big batch of fry once per month forever. Uh... that's not what we thought we signed up for.So we're supposed to get something that clips into our tank and gives them a separate area to live. What then? We don't have tank space for 20 more mollies, not to mention the upcoming batches.

Find a place that will take them, get another tank or get rid of either the female or male mollie or you will have this problem very often

 

[Tick]

Hmm - we have five mollies, and we know of one that is female for sure. I think we'll end up swapping her for a male (or maybe trading up for a powder blue gourami my daughter wants).

One weird thing is that nobody at the fish store believes us about the size of the mollies. They're 1/4", and the store insists that they must have been in the tank for awhile without us noticing. However, I'm sure they weren't there, since we paid special attention to the tank over the two prior days - first when one of our initial zebra danios died and we were watching all the fish for weird behavior, then to pay extra attention to our pleco, who seems to be a hider. There's no way we could have missed 20 black mollies during that time.

It looks like we're going to raise them up to 1/2", then give them to the fish store. Maybe I can get them to trade me the female plus all the little ones for two gouramis or something.

 

[ttiger72]

Hmm - we have five mollies, and we know of one that is female for sure. I think we'll end up swapping her for a male (or maybe trading up for a powder blue gourami my daughter wants).One weird thing is that nobody at the fish store believes us about the size of the mollies. They're 1/4", and the store insists that they must have been in the tank for awhile without us noticing. However, I'm sure they weren't there, since we paid special attention to the tank over the two prior days - first when one of our initial zebra danios died and we were watching all the fish for weird behavior, then to pay extra attention to our pleco, who seems to be a hider. There's no way we could have missed 20 black mollies during that time.It looks like we're going to raise them up to 1/2", then give them to the fish store. Maybe I can get them to trade me the female plus all the little ones for two gouramis or something.

Just a FYI on powder blues, they can be aggressive. I had one that killed a lot of other fish in my tank.

 

[Tick]

Thanks for the warning - I think we'll look for something else instead.

Picked up some algae wafers for the bottom feeders, plus a testing kit - dang, a test kit is expensive.

 

[Tick]

Man, things were quiet until three days ago, now all hell is breaking loose in our tank.

We have three fish (2 tetras, 1 danio) with little shiny white bits on them - almost like bubbles are sticking to them. One of those tetras has chunks out of his tail fin.

Is this ich? We don't have an isolation tank we can put them in. Will leaving them in the tank overnight harm the rest of the fish? Should we just flush them to save the rest of the tank? Should we wait until morning, get an isolation tank and some antibiotic, and see if we can treat them in there?

Heading out to get stuff tonight isn't going to happen.

 

[ttiger72]

Man, things were quiet until three days ago, now all hell is breaking loose in our tank.We have three fish (2 tetras, 1 danio) with little shiny white bits on them - almost like bubbles are sticking to them. One of those tetras has chunks out of his tail fin.Is this ich? We don't have an isolation tank we can put them in. Will leaving them in the tank overnight harm the rest of the fish? Should we just flush them to save the rest of the tank? Should we wait until morning, get an isolation tank and some antibiotic, and see if we can treat them in there?Heading out to get stuff tonight isn't going to happen.

I honestly don't know. From all that I have read it's best to have a quarantine tank to treat diseases esp if you will be using meds other than aquarium salt. This sounds like Ich but I really don't know.