DarrenMarisa
Aquarium Advice Newbie
We have a 80 litre medium planted tank that was set up in August 2012.
Our filter has the following:
- Filter Sponge
- Bioballs
- Ceramic Rings
- Peat to lower hardness
We initially started with the following:
1 x Bronze Cory
1 x Peppered Cory
5 x Xray tetras
1 x Red Fin Shark
2 x Blue Gouramies
6 x Mollies (they bred and we are 3 babies richer!)
3 x Apples Snails
We quickly learned about the Nitrogen cycle and thankfully did not lose any fish! The guys at our fish store gave us Tetra safe start which overcame the much discussed cycling problem relatively quickly. Everything went very well from here but unfortunately 1 snail died Mid September.
We went on a 2 week break at the end of September and after giving the caretaker a full training session as to the care of the tank and the fish we only lost the other 2 snails. The one snail was removed as soon as it was found and the other disappeared. When we returned we found the empty shell in the filter with no sign of the body.
The day we left I did a 25% water change and added Tetra easy balance to ensure the freshest water for our fishies while we were away.
He followed the following procedure while we were away:
- Feeding every 2nd day
- Tested Nitrites once a week which was at acceptable levels all the time
- Added Tetra easy balance once a week to enable the skip of the water change
When we returened there was a lot of brown algae but all tests were normal. I also did a 25% water change as soon as we came back.
We returned with some more fish:
2 x Red Robin Gouramies
2 x Thick Lipped Gouramies
2 x Albino Corydoras
1 x Peppered Corydora
1 x Bronze Corydora
1 x Albino Bristle nosed Catfish
When I introduced the new fish I first adjusted the PH of the bag water with the tank water over a period of about 60 min until it reached the same PH. (Store PH 7.5, Tank PH 8.2). I then floated the bag for about 30 min and gently added the fish to the tank.
We also added (on reccomendation from the fish store) the following:
- Phosphate pad (This was supposed to reduce the phosphates in the tank)
- Don't know what it is called but it's small white balls in a bag that are supposed to stabilize your tank. These balls goes brown when spent.
- Waterlife 7.2 PH Buffer to try and get the PH down a bit (I have used this before without success but in half the dose I used on Monday)
- They also recommended that I add Bloodworms to their diet. I have only been feeding the brine shrimps the day before their water change.
I also added Toxivec because as my PH is high almost any ammonia is harmful.
Day 3 of adding the new fish and filter media we lost a thick lipped gourami. He looked a little lethargic in the morning and was found dead on his side at the bottom of the tank about 30min later. We assumed that this was possibly PH shock.
Day 4 of adding the new fish we lost a red robin gourami. She was found floating belly up in the top of the tank after not showing any stress.
I started to examine each fish and found that both Blue Gouramies and 7 of the 8 Mollies have Ick. We removed the carbon, peat, phosphate pad and stabiliser and started treatment with Protozin. We have been adding 2ml over a period of an hour for 2 days now.
This evening (Day 5) I noticed that the Bristle nosed catfish was lying on her side. I nudged her straight but she did not seem to respond much. The red finned shark also nibbled on her but she did not respond. Once she quickly got up and cleaned the gravel for about 5 second and then just assumed her position again. Sadly 30 min later she was dead in the same position.
I am worried about the remaining Thick lipped gourami as she tends to stay at the bottom of the tank and is not accepting food. I rubbed a pellet underneath her close to her mouth and no attempt was made to eat any of the particles in the water. I have also tried to feed her bloodworms and brine shrimps with no success. She does however come to the top for a bit but then just goes back down and sits on the gravel. The red robin gourami also concerns us at he goes through periods of lethargy and then seems fine again. He does however eat when food is offerred.
I have so far done 3 x 15 litre water changes (since we returned) with filtered water (filtered through carbon and a sediment remover) to assist in the removal of the Brown Algae and to lower the phosphates.
We've had black algae on the leaves of the plants about a month ago but as soon as we reduced the amount of light in the tank it hasn't increased any more. I have also found Thread Algae and we remove this as soon as it appears.
We run the light during the day for 10 hours and the airstone at night for 10 hours. Since we started the treatment we are running the airstone 24hours. We have also increased the temperature by about 2 deg Celcius.
I must add that we are very strict about water changes and except for the 1 skipped while we were away we change water at least once a week or as soon as we see a colour change or debris at the bottom. We ALWAYS use a gravel vacuum and ALWAYS add Sera Aquatan when replacing water. I have also added Tetra PlantaMin for the plants. We feed Sera Vipan Flakes for the general fish and Tetra TabiMin Tablets for the Cories. In the last week I have also fed them Brine shrimps once and Bloodworms twice.
Our current conditions are as follows (using Sera liquid test kits):
PH: 8 (According to liquid test & PH Pen 8.2)
KH: 14 dKH
GH: 17 dGH
PO4: 5mg/l (although this was tested with the addition of filtered water as we don't have distilled water)
NH4: 0 - 0.5mg/l (predominantly yellow with a green tinge)
NH3: 0.03 mg/l
NO2: 0 - 0.5 mg/l (predominantly yellow with an orange tinge)
NO3: 20 mg/l
I know from the results above that the tank is going through a mini cycle due to the addition of new fish. With the initial fish we had a major spike of 5mg/l for 3 days and no fish died so I can't think that this is the cause.
NO3, PH - This has always been on the higher side and have not been able to reduce it effectively
PO4 - I know this is high but have not yet been able to reduce this effectively.
Last night I did a 20l water change including a thorough gravel vaccum. I add Aquatan and Toxivec just in case and added Tetra safe start to give the bacteria a boost. I also restarted the treatment for Ick as I would have removed some of the medicine with the water change. While I did the water change I found one of the albino cory's dead.
This morning my remaining red robin gourami was floating vertically in the water. It was responsive when I tried to move it and actually tried to swim away. He did manage to get himself from the bottom to the top of the tank. I seperated it into a breeding net to keep the current off him.
I thought that it might have been swim bladder disease. Sadly he died about 4 hours later.
Please help if you have any valuable input. I am absolutely mortified that these fishies are dying off and that somewhere I'm doing something wrong. We have these fish for our pleasure and relaxation and right now we are feeling quite miserable about the whole thing! We do love our fishies and don't want any more to die!
Our filter has the following:
- Filter Sponge
- Bioballs
- Ceramic Rings
- Peat to lower hardness
We initially started with the following:
1 x Bronze Cory
1 x Peppered Cory
5 x Xray tetras
1 x Red Fin Shark
2 x Blue Gouramies
6 x Mollies (they bred and we are 3 babies richer!)
3 x Apples Snails
We quickly learned about the Nitrogen cycle and thankfully did not lose any fish! The guys at our fish store gave us Tetra safe start which overcame the much discussed cycling problem relatively quickly. Everything went very well from here but unfortunately 1 snail died Mid September.
We went on a 2 week break at the end of September and after giving the caretaker a full training session as to the care of the tank and the fish we only lost the other 2 snails. The one snail was removed as soon as it was found and the other disappeared. When we returned we found the empty shell in the filter with no sign of the body.
The day we left I did a 25% water change and added Tetra easy balance to ensure the freshest water for our fishies while we were away.
He followed the following procedure while we were away:
- Feeding every 2nd day
- Tested Nitrites once a week which was at acceptable levels all the time
- Added Tetra easy balance once a week to enable the skip of the water change
When we returened there was a lot of brown algae but all tests were normal. I also did a 25% water change as soon as we came back.
We returned with some more fish:
2 x Red Robin Gouramies
2 x Thick Lipped Gouramies
2 x Albino Corydoras
1 x Peppered Corydora
1 x Bronze Corydora
1 x Albino Bristle nosed Catfish
When I introduced the new fish I first adjusted the PH of the bag water with the tank water over a period of about 60 min until it reached the same PH. (Store PH 7.5, Tank PH 8.2). I then floated the bag for about 30 min and gently added the fish to the tank.
We also added (on reccomendation from the fish store) the following:
- Phosphate pad (This was supposed to reduce the phosphates in the tank)
- Don't know what it is called but it's small white balls in a bag that are supposed to stabilize your tank. These balls goes brown when spent.
- Waterlife 7.2 PH Buffer to try and get the PH down a bit (I have used this before without success but in half the dose I used on Monday)
- They also recommended that I add Bloodworms to their diet. I have only been feeding the brine shrimps the day before their water change.
I also added Toxivec because as my PH is high almost any ammonia is harmful.
Day 3 of adding the new fish and filter media we lost a thick lipped gourami. He looked a little lethargic in the morning and was found dead on his side at the bottom of the tank about 30min later. We assumed that this was possibly PH shock.
Day 4 of adding the new fish we lost a red robin gourami. She was found floating belly up in the top of the tank after not showing any stress.
I started to examine each fish and found that both Blue Gouramies and 7 of the 8 Mollies have Ick. We removed the carbon, peat, phosphate pad and stabiliser and started treatment with Protozin. We have been adding 2ml over a period of an hour for 2 days now.
This evening (Day 5) I noticed that the Bristle nosed catfish was lying on her side. I nudged her straight but she did not seem to respond much. The red finned shark also nibbled on her but she did not respond. Once she quickly got up and cleaned the gravel for about 5 second and then just assumed her position again. Sadly 30 min later she was dead in the same position.
I am worried about the remaining Thick lipped gourami as she tends to stay at the bottom of the tank and is not accepting food. I rubbed a pellet underneath her close to her mouth and no attempt was made to eat any of the particles in the water. I have also tried to feed her bloodworms and brine shrimps with no success. She does however come to the top for a bit but then just goes back down and sits on the gravel. The red robin gourami also concerns us at he goes through periods of lethargy and then seems fine again. He does however eat when food is offerred.
I have so far done 3 x 15 litre water changes (since we returned) with filtered water (filtered through carbon and a sediment remover) to assist in the removal of the Brown Algae and to lower the phosphates.
We've had black algae on the leaves of the plants about a month ago but as soon as we reduced the amount of light in the tank it hasn't increased any more. I have also found Thread Algae and we remove this as soon as it appears.
We run the light during the day for 10 hours and the airstone at night for 10 hours. Since we started the treatment we are running the airstone 24hours. We have also increased the temperature by about 2 deg Celcius.
I must add that we are very strict about water changes and except for the 1 skipped while we were away we change water at least once a week or as soon as we see a colour change or debris at the bottom. We ALWAYS use a gravel vacuum and ALWAYS add Sera Aquatan when replacing water. I have also added Tetra PlantaMin for the plants. We feed Sera Vipan Flakes for the general fish and Tetra TabiMin Tablets for the Cories. In the last week I have also fed them Brine shrimps once and Bloodworms twice.
Our current conditions are as follows (using Sera liquid test kits):
PH: 8 (According to liquid test & PH Pen 8.2)
KH: 14 dKH
GH: 17 dGH
PO4: 5mg/l (although this was tested with the addition of filtered water as we don't have distilled water)
NH4: 0 - 0.5mg/l (predominantly yellow with a green tinge)
NH3: 0.03 mg/l
NO2: 0 - 0.5 mg/l (predominantly yellow with an orange tinge)
NO3: 20 mg/l
I know from the results above that the tank is going through a mini cycle due to the addition of new fish. With the initial fish we had a major spike of 5mg/l for 3 days and no fish died so I can't think that this is the cause.
NO3, PH - This has always been on the higher side and have not been able to reduce it effectively
PO4 - I know this is high but have not yet been able to reduce this effectively.
Last night I did a 20l water change including a thorough gravel vaccum. I add Aquatan and Toxivec just in case and added Tetra safe start to give the bacteria a boost. I also restarted the treatment for Ick as I would have removed some of the medicine with the water change. While I did the water change I found one of the albino cory's dead.
This morning my remaining red robin gourami was floating vertically in the water. It was responsive when I tried to move it and actually tried to swim away. He did manage to get himself from the bottom to the top of the tank. I seperated it into a breeding net to keep the current off him.
I thought that it might have been swim bladder disease. Sadly he died about 4 hours later.
Please help if you have any valuable input. I am absolutely mortified that these fishies are dying off and that somewhere I'm doing something wrong. We have these fish for our pleasure and relaxation and right now we are feeling quite miserable about the whole thing! We do love our fishies and don't want any more to die!
