Constipated or Dropsy?

[T-Rexx]

Thats good! Yea I did a 50% water change yesterday and bought a scrub brush to wipe them off. it worked, except for the really dark (black) didnt come off.

As for lighting I just use the light it came with. It varies everyday with how long I keep the light on. Sometimes I just feed them leave it on for an hour or 2 then turn it off. But most days I turn it on around 11 and turn it off around 10/11 So i guess about 12 hours a day, wow! never really realized that.

--As for black skirts bothering the angels I haven't seen them doing it thank goodness!
--YES I know what you mean about the killies. I used to have a female killi that would eat EVERYTHING! She ate most of my ghost shrimp (ONE SURVIVED! YAY!) SO i stopped buying them. Then she would eat my rummys and my neons (which is why I dont have any neons) but she died a few months back and my other killies havent found any interest in the rummys I buy. even though I have only been able to keep only these specific 2 alive. ):
--as for the gobi that was a uhmm what do you call it? I FORGET! where you dont do research before you buy basically. the person at the pet store said they were community so I bought them! I put the in the tank and they have done REALLY well so far. to my knowledge anyway. Did my research later and then found out they were brackish >.< Ive had them for id say atleast 4-5 months?
--One of my favorite fish are the rummy nose tetra. I have loved them since I saw them! So i found some and I have gone through so many its ridiculous. I had the killi insident and she killed off 8. (took e a while to figure out she was eating them) then she died and I thought YEA! now I can buy them again so I bought 2 for starters (thats all the petstore had), then I bought 4 2 died.then I bought 9 more and all but the original 2 died. ): I dont want to keep buying the if they're all just going to die in my tank. im suprised the 2 left are still a live with no school.
-- eventually I going to get another tank specifically for the angels to live in. were saving right now and they're small and not bother some for the time being.
-- which brings me back to tank rommies! As soon as I move the angels I will probably put some more black skirts loaches and rainbows! maaaaaaaaaybe try out some more rummys
--when I have the two different gouramis in the tank they never bickered which was nice. but we decided to put the honey sunset gourami down. ): ): ): we did a lot to rescue the first one we had that seemed to have the same symptoms and after MONTHS of nothing working and the poor thing suffering it died anyway. ): I never put a fish down before and i did a lot of research before putting it down and I thought putting it in ice cold water would kill it fast (no pain)because thats what I read but NO! it suffered and went into convulsions it was absolutely HORRIFYING! my poor baby. but anyway theres no worry of bickering going on inbetween the 2. do gouramis of different species not get a long?

As for filtration I have a marineland penguin biowheel 350 no Im not doing filter changes much although Im not really sure how often I should be changing and cleaning them out..

Kay I will start doing 50% water changes weekly instead of 20! Good stuff to know! lol

& WOW! I used to just shake the bottle around for a little bit and then the test tube but I banged it on the table for 30 seconds and WHOLY MOLY! did I get results! I just did a water change yesterday and my nitrates are at 40!!! AHH!!!! why would it be so high after a 50% water change? oh my goodness I may have found an answer to whats going with my tank! D:

and thank you for all the help! You post has been very useful! ^_^

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

--as for the gobi that was a uhmm what do you call it? I FORGET! where you dont do research before you buy basically. the person at the pet store said they were community so I bought them! I put the in the tank and they have done REALLY well so far. to my knowledge anyway. Did my research later and then found out they were brackish >.< Ive had them for id say atleast 4-5 months?
--One of my favorite fish are the rummy nose tetra. I have loved them since I saw them! So i found some and I have gone through so many its ridiculous. I had the killi insident and she killed off 8. (took e a while to figure out she was eating them) then she died and I thought YEA! now I can buy them again so I bought 2 for starters (thats all the petstore had), then I bought 4 2 died.then I bought 9 more and all but the original 2 died. ): I dont want to keep buying the if they're all just going to die in my tank. im suprised the 2 left are still a live with no school.

FYI....There are two very similar looking Bumblebee Gobies (BBG) found in the aquarium trade. One is straight up brackish where the other one can be either BW or FW. It's sort of hard to distiguish the two but Hypogymnogobius xanthozona is a less commonly seen BBG that can live in FW or BW. Brachygobius doriae has black bands that do not join on the belly giving a gold line along the belly, this BBG is BW. Whereas H. xanthozona has full black stripes that meet at the belly. I have the H. xanthozona type and he's been living for a year now in FW. The tricky part is feeding him because he'll only eat bloodworms.

As for the Rummies...those guys (along with Neons and Cardinals) are one of the most sensitive fish to water parameters. They'll be the first to die off if your water is not pristine. Also if you don't acclimate them properly when you add them to your tank their survival rate plummets as well . IME, you not only need to temp acclimate them but you need to drip acclimate them too.

& WOW! I used to just shake the bottle around for a little bit and then the test tube but I banged it on the table for 30 seconds and WHOLY MOLY! did I get results! I just did a water change yesterday and my nitrates are at 40!!! AHH!!!! why would it be so high after a 50% water change? oh my goodness I may have found an answer to whats going with my tank! D:

I had a feeling something was up when you reported that your nitrates were at 0. 40ppm is way up there, ouch! Hearing that numerous fish were dying off and some were coming up with some nasty ailments made me feel that it was something else going on effecting your tank on a larger scale. I have a slightly overstocked 12G and I actually skipped a week in doing a PWC (which I rarely miss) and my Nitrates were only at 5ppm, everything else at 0.

Well here's a side note, and this is just me... If that were my tank, I think I would replace the non-spinning BioWheel filter and just get another new HOB all together. Preferably an AC70 or Fluval C4. Dump the activated carbon and replace that with some extra biomax (or any other ceramic bio media) or filter floss. However, if you're on a budget and want to keep the BioWheel... check out this article.. this guy goes over a way to fix the non-spinning BioWheel and ways to augment the effectiveness of it Do Bio Wheels really work? Bio-Wheel Review.

Well glad to see that LibraryGirl is here to save the day. She has some good knowledge and can guide you in the right direction.

 

[T-Rexx]

Thanks!

Next time I see my bumbleebee I will have to look to see which it may be! sometimes it clings to the glass so that would be helpful if i can get a glance at his belly! I also noticed that ive only seen my bummbles eating worms and not much else.

Yea I never used to drip acclimate up until recently and I see a huge difference from when I didnt to when I do! Im sad as for now I wont be able to keep a good school if I wanted! But hopefully in time I will be able to get my 2 rummys some friends!

& wow! thanks! that article is very interesting to read. I dont really have a money budget. I was thinking about purchasing a new filter because both bio wheels didnt spin. but honestly if theres better out there and it will make my tank healthier i think its worth the money! have you had good experiences with those filters? or just heard good things about them?

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

I love my BB Goby! He's so entertaining to watch. He'll seriously only eat bloodworms though. I use a turkey baster to suck up some defrosted frozen bloodworms from a cup and shoot them in front of him... Otherwise the other faster eating fish will hog them all up. He's such a special case but worth it!

Here's some pics:

Bumblebee Goby on the glass:

As for the AquaClear 70 and the Fluval C4. They are both phenomenal and have great reviews. I have their smaller siblings the AC20 and the C2 (same thing just smaller). The AC20 came with my Edge and the C2 I just bought for my new HalfMoon tank. They're both made by Hagen and share many similarities. However, the Fluval C series offers more IMO and is priced comparable to the AC filters.

You can find either one on Amazon for a great price. Also read the customer reviews, you'll see what I mean in terms of great reviews.

AC 70 - LINK

FLUVAL C4 - LINK

If you go with either one, I recommend buying some extra BioMax media so that you can increase the bio filtration capabilities. You can add in place of the activated carbon.

 

[T-Rexx]

Thanks! I checked them both out and they both look like great filters! I will see what my LFS has and see what I have the option of getting

Thats what my bumblebees look like! ^__^ I should really get something to feed them with I dont see them out a lot since i made tons more hiding places for the to be in though. but it would be good for when i do see them just so i make sure theyre eating!