Help needed...entire stock decimated.

[McQuirk]

She was dead this morning.

 

[spiketooth]

Whats is your KH?

 

[jlk]

I am very sorry to hear this Do you have a decent lfs near you? How is everyone else doing today?

 

[McQuirk]

@Spiketooth: I've never tested for that. I didn't even know there was a test...I'm sure its high, though. Indy water is disgusting.

ETA: That being said...if this tank was stable for quite some time, and I haven't really changed the water apart from a few gallons of R/O here and there, why would that play a role?

@jlk: The LFS that I've been through all of this with is the most reputable in central Indiana...part of the reason why I'm a little upset that I'm not receiving more consistent advice/help. Everyone else seems to be okay- gourami is acting a little erratic, but he's been a little funky since I dropped the water level and added the aerator. He's fine middle-level and bottom-level, but gets a little squirrel-y near the top. I saw the kuhli loach this morning, and my blenny peeked her little face out from behind the driftwood this afternoon.

...I just checked again, and the gourami's stomach looks a little swollen, but I think he may have just eaten more than usual. I've been experimenting the last couple of days with feeding twice a day...the very minimal info I've been able to find of Vietnamese blennies said that they have high metabolisms and do better with multiple meals.

 

[spiketooth]

@Spiketooth: I've never tested for that. I didn't even know there was a test...I'm sure its high, though. Indy water is disgusting.

ETA: That being said...if this tank was stable for quite some time, and I haven't really changed the water apart from a few gallons of R/O here and there, why would that play a role?

KH is your buffer capacity, helps keeps your PH stable. sense you have plants, if there is not enough co2 in the water your plants can be taking from from the KH causing it to drop. once the KH hits zero your PH is free to do what it wants.

 

[jlk]

I do not have blenny experience to be able to tell you what is normal or not. The best I can advise at the moment is to keep a close eye on everyone. Keep us posted!

 

[McQuirk]

I know we don't sell kH kits at my store, but I may swing by PetSmart this weekend and see if I can pick up a kit there. If I dose Flourish Excel and regular Flourish, would that help keep the plants from pulling from it?

 

[spiketooth]

If you are able to test your kh, here is a chart you can use to see how much co2 is in your water. Just messure ph amd kh

 

[McQuirk]

It's been about two weeks, and I haven't had any more losses. My heat is still up, the water level is still dropped, and there's still the air stone in place. Questions, though:

1. The blenny seems to really like the warm water. It's probably around 86 right now. I have a kuhli loach and a gourami in there, too- will the warm water affect them long-term?

2. If I raise the water level back up, but keep the air stone in the water, will that be enough aeration to off-set the heat?

3. Do Malaysian trumpet snails die in heat like that? I've found a ton of empty shells, and I pulled all my assassin snails out a couple of weeks ago.

 

[McQuirk]

Anyone?

 

[spiketooth]

I would not keep the heat up, should have the temp at the average range of all your fish, gourami do eat snails, just going to throw that out there

 

[dragonfisher33]

It's been about two weeks, and I haven't had any more losses. My heat is still up, the water level is still dropped, and there's still the air stone in place. Questions, though:

1. The blenny seems to really like the warm water. It's probably around 86 right now. I have a kuhli loach and a gourami in there, too- will the warm water affect them long-term?

2. If I raise the water level back up, but keep the air stone in the water, will that be enough aeration to off-set the heat?

3. Do Malaysian trumpet snails die in heat like that? I've found a ton of empty shells, and I pulled all my assassin snails out a couple of weeks ago.

1. 86 seems a tad high for the gourami since they temperature where they come from usually doesn't exceed 85 or so. i would suggest lower the temp to 80-82.

2. not much will be done. air bubble is more of "for the show". the oxygen level in the water is normally fine even at high temperature. i've kept fish around 82-85 without the airstone for extended period of time.

3. MTS don't die from high heat. Like i said, i keep my temp around 82-85, which isn't much difference between yours and mine. something's been eating it, most likely the leftover of the doings of the assassin snails.

 

[GuppyAquatail109]

Freshwater salt will really help here.Add one level tablespoon every five gallons of water.You shouldn't raise the temperature too much.80 is already high enough for ich cure.Hope I helped.

Your water temp may be too high for the other fish.

 

[pankelephant]

... The LFS that I've been through all of this with is the most reputable in central Indiana...part of the reason why I'm a little upset that I'm not receiving more consistent advice/help.

No offense, but anyone who tells you to to take two fish who are infected with ICH and put them back in your tank are not in any way reputable, especially since they sold you the infected fish in the first place.

Otherwise, how are your fish? Were you able to find the API KH/GH test kit? You can get them on Amazon if you can't find them locally. Are you still using the strips? If you've found the API test kit, you absolutely MUST shake nitrate vigorously bottle #2 in order to get accurate results. If you're still on the strips I don't know what the color key looks like, but on the API kit, they're in columns. I find that covering everything up except the column you're testing with white paper or something and then holding the bottle slightly off-set, so you don't see the color reflection is very helpful. Also, you can try standing the tube up with the lid off and looking down. The color is very clear that way.

I hope your fish are settled and healthy.