New Tank - Advice welcome

[Karen561]

Sorry I haven't been updating much today. My grandson was very thirsty and drank from my straw the other day, and I didn't find out until after I'd drank from it too. So now I have a lousy cold!

Just did my numbers, and it looks like the bacteria are starting to work again.

PH : 6.6 or so
Amm : .25 ppm
Nitrites : trace
Nitrates : 10 ppm
My seeded filter should be in tomorrow, too.

Unfortunately the little dude is floating again. It has to be the pellets. Even though they are soaked and squished so they will sink. I fed them all a bunch of peas.
Still working on finding a home for the comet. Once I do it will be easier to feed them without over feeding. He's such a pig it is hard to make sure they all get enough to eat without over feeding one or two. Maybe I need a divider for meal time, or something. What do you think?

 

[Karen561]

He stopped floating about 0400 and I just finished giving them breakfast : peas, carrots, and a little red pepper, steamed, mashed and cut into bits. Also added a couple of baby worms from the garden. They hate carrots Spit them out as fast as they ate them. I found them all stuck to the filter basket so I turned off the big filter and scattered them around again
Water stats are:

PH : 6.6
Amm: .25
Nitrite : 0
Nitrate : 5ppm

Have to go to Pensacola today so I'm going to go to the fish place I heard about to get some crushed coral, and maybe a few plants. I have to get my grandson from school so hopefully it will work out. Hmmmm....pick up child from school on time or go to fish emporium.........

 

[jlk]

The veggies are something new so it may take a bit of trial & error to figure out what they like & what they are going to eat. Have fun on your trip & let us know how you make out!

 

[Karen561]

Picked up the aragonite, some java moss, and a couple of zebra snails for the plant tank.

I tested PH and Ammonia at 1630 and they were 6.6 and .25ppm respectively. I'll test nitrites and nitrates in a bit. The filter from Angels Plus came today and I put it in the tank. It was awful warm out of the box, hope it didn't get too hot being shipped. We'll know soon.

Back later with the other numbers. I'm hoping not to have to change a lot of water tonight, but we'll see.

 

[Karen561]

Water #'s have not changed yet. Hope the bacteria in the Angels plus filter came through shipping okay. They had to have set the darn thing in the sun, it was VERY warm when I unpacked it. Temps here have been in the mid to high 80's.

Numbers at 1000 this morning :

PH : 6.6
Amm .25 ppm
Nitrites : 0
Nitrates : 10 ppm

I put in about 2 cups of the aragonite sand last night and PH hasn't moved up, but it isn't crashing either. I put the same into the 10 gallon and it raised the PH to 7.8 so I know it works. Took some out of the small tank and put a bit more into the big tank after I did the water change. Noticed while I was doing the change that I had forgot to plug their filter back in yesterday. I had unplugged it to clean all the carrots off of the little filter basket.
This morning they had peas, spinach, and a broccoli stalk. Also put in a couple soaked flakes. So for they are doing well.
One of the snails I got yesterday is not moving or even sucking on anything. I wonder if he is just not going to make it. One of the snails is not moving much but is sucking on a rock, and the other one is all over the tank glass. It was a very nice store and all of their stock looked great. They offered to take the comet if I can't find a nice pond for him. I guess as a last resort it's a possibility.
I'm just not as comfortable with the possibility of him going back into a bad situation.

 

[jlk]

Adding a buffer is a bit of trial & error to figure out the right amount to keep your ph stable. Just keep adding a bit every 24hrs until its stable in your taps range but without drastically altering it. If it does, just remove a bit. Give the angelsplus filter a little bit- the bacteria has to adjust to your water. Good luck with your snails!

 

[Karen561]

Thanks. Snails seem to be doing okay. The one not moving is attached to the glass now, so we'll see.

This morning fed them peas, squash , and spinach, along with some baby brine shrimp. Only had freeze dried, so I soaked them in hot water to soften. Also gave them some mosquito larvae from the rain barrel.

The comet, which was silvery white is now turning orange. At the moment he looks like he has a bad spray tan.

The PH hadn't changed from 6.6 last night so I added a little more and tonight it's 7.2. You think I should keep it at that or let it go higher?
Ammonia a little over .25 ppm
Nitrites are at .25 ppm
Nitrates at 20 ppm

Looks like its starting to cook a bit. Doing a 50% PWC right now. Looking forward to the day I won't have to do daily and twice daily water changes!

I really appreciate your help. I think it would have gone much harder on the little guys without your input.

 

[jlk]

I can't read back pgs easily on my cell but I believe your tap is in the 6.8-7 range? If so, your tank is doing fine & the buffer is working. No need to increase the ph any further because you don't want big swings in ph because of water changes. Just continue to monitor your numbers & do wcs as needed. Looks like the filter is finally starting to kick into gear, too! Keep up the good work!

 

[Karen561]

Thanks!

 

[Karen561]

Comet problems

Numbers in the big tank are looking good:
PH : 7.2
Amm : Trace
Nitrites : Trace
Nitrates : 10ppm

The comet this morning is acting fine but has red at the base of his tail near a white ( size of this o ) spot. The white spot is actually raised, like a cyst or something. Also can now see veins on either side of tail going down to the tips. Should I put him in the 10 gallon quarantine tank for treatment? Opinions welcome.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Can you get some clear pictures of the red and the 'cyst'? Is there anything protruding from the bump? My very first thoughts where anchor worm and/or infection.

 

[Karen561]

Fish bump

Sorry it took so long to get back to you, Internet was down.
He won't stay still enough for a pic. The red is the veins showing, and the bump is just a white raised bump. Ordered some Medigold and it hasn't arrived yet, but he's still acting normally. Set up the old 10 gallon as a quarentine tank, just trying to get the parameters closer to big tank. Figure I'll move him when the meds come.

Everyone else seems to be doing alright, and water #'s are okay:

PH : 7.2
Amm : .25 ppm (steady but irritating)
Nitrites : 0 - trace ppm
Nitrates : 20 ppm

Been doing water changes every 1 - 2 days expending on #'s. feeding them mostly veggies, rehydrated baby shrimp, some mosquito larvae and some flake food. Pellets make the calico float.

Thanks for letting me pick your brain.

 

[Barakis]

Everyone else seems to be doing alright, and water #'s are okay:

PH : 7.2
Amm : .25 ppm (steady but irritating)
Nitrites : 0 - trace ppm
Nitrates : 20 ppm

Been doing water changes every 1 - 2 days expending on #'s. feeding them mostly veggies, rehydrated baby shrimp, some mosquito larvae and some flake food. Pellets make the calico float.

Thanks for letting me pick your brain.

ok just repeating some advice i was given, to ease your mind about ammonia.


firstly, go out and get a bottle of drinking water (to prevent possible errors in this, find the one with the lowest chlorides, not a massive deal but may help). what you need to do is firstly soak your testing tubes in this water (not all of it) for about 10 minutes then dry them off.

you need 3 test samples, the bottled water, source water, and tank water. do an ammonia test on all 3, do what you need to do then let them sit for 5 minutes. now compare all 3. hopefully your bottled water and tank water will look the same.

the reason for this is simple, what you see as a green reading of 0.25 might be actally a 0 reading. you are basically calibrating your test to see a true 0 color.






if that fails, a reading of 0.25 at your ph and temp is not harmful. i can't find it right now but their where tests published by someone. basically ammonia has two parts, amonium and free ammonia, it's the free ammonia that is harmful to the fish. a level of 0.025 is the toxic level of free ammonia. i'll post it when i can find it, but off the top of my head at your perameters, your "harmful" free ammonia levels are aprox 0.014



hope this helps and hope it was clear enough

 

[Barakis]

a reading of 0.25 at your ph and temp is not harmful. i can't find it right now but their where tests published by someone. basically ammonia has two parts, amonium and free ammonia, it's the free ammonia that is harmful to the fish. a level of 0.025 is the toxic level of free ammonia. i'll post it when i can find it, but off the top of my head at your perameters, your "harmful" free ammonia levels are aprox 0.014



hope this helps and hope it was clear enough

found it... take a look at this

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/your-guide-to-ammonia-toxicity-159994.html

 

[jlk]

found it... take a look at this

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/your-guide-to-ammonia-toxicity-159994.html

This is a great article but, bare in mind, while ammonium is no where as toxic to fish as ammonia, it still is not healthy for them. When you have a fish with health issues happening (as is the case here), you want to keep all toxin levels as low as possible to ensure the fish has the best possiblity at a full recovery.

 

[Barakis]

This is a great article but, bare in mind, while ammonium is no where as toxic to fish as ammonia, it still is not healthy for them. When you have a fish with health issues happening (as is the case here), you want to keep all toxin levels as low as possible to ensure the fish has the best possiblity at a full recovery.

ofcourse you have to take it with a pinch of salt (no pun intended ) but my point is not to panic as much as people generally do with the slightest trace of ammonia. the real key is to address the problem to start with, it just gives you a bit more breathing space if your not running round like an idiot trying to fix it.

 

[Karen561]

Good info. Received the Medigold today but will probably hold off, as the red veining has receded and is not nearly as noticable. The white bump is much flatter as well. Will continue to keep the water numbers as low as possible and continue monitoring. If something seems hinkey I have the Medigold to fall back on.

Is it possible to stress out the fish by too many water changes? So far, so good.
Did a 50% water change last night. Took out my sand fountain, it had a hollow section that was trapping debris. Will put it back after I seal it with silicone and fill with sand or gravel.

Will keep you posted on any changes. Hopefully we are over the worst of the cycle, fingers crossed.

 

[jlk]

That's great news!! Keep up the good work! In respect to water changes stressing fish, obviously, any change in environment can be stressful. On the flip side, most serious fancy breeders follow hefty water change schedules (50-100% daily) to ensure happy, healthy fish- quite a few do not bother with cycling and just do 100% wcs daily. Just something to keep in mind.

 

[Karen561]

The Amm and nitrites have been 0 for the last day and a half.

I went ahead and started them on the Medigold last night. I had put him in the colander briefly and he spazzed, totally freaked out and the bump had a tiny bloody looking spot. Was going to put him in the plant tank to quarentine him but it's too warm, in the mid 80's. The big tank keeps steady in the high 70's to 80 or so at it's warmest, but it's at least 5 degrees cooler than the small one. It's already in the low 90's here most days, so I'm leaving him in the big tank and feeding them all the Medigold. I have also noticed his 2 pelvic fins have very small holes in them, but no discoloration or fuzziness. I can't even be sure they haven't been like that all along. He is still acting totally normal, swimming, eating, etc...
I'm saving for a better filter right now. I know they are under filtered, but hope the HOB plus the large sponge filter and skimming for detritus by hand coupled with frequent water changes will do the trick until I can manage it.

By the way, what is the nitrate # we're shooting for, and what can I do to reduce them, other than the water changes?

 

[jlk]

Thats great theres zero amm & nitrite!! Ideally, you want to keep your nitrates at 20ppm or lower. This will depend on what the nitrate level is for your tap water. If you have 20ppm nitrate in your tap, this is as low as you will be able to get them with water changes. Plants can help reduce nitrates because they use them as food. Beyond water changes & plants, there isnt a whole lot of options to reduce nitrates. There are nitrate filters/reducers but theres some debate on whether they actually work or not. Keep up the good work!!