1st attempt at a planned 55gal. - natural look

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Water parameters continue to be excellent and stable (thanks you House of Tropics in Glen Burnie, MD for the fabulous active filter) - except for the GH. It's weird. While the tank is holding steady at 10 the tap WAS 12, but is now 7. Why in the world would it change so much in the TAP?

I'm glad it's stable in the tank so far.

Looking to get on a twice a week PWC schedule - Sundays and Wednesdays. Also feed frozen food (pre-thawed in a Dixie cup of a little tank water) on those days BEFORE changing the water. I'd like to do liquid amendments AFTER the water changes.

As recommended somewhere, the single Oto I got yesterday gets a tiny glass bowl with a few broken pieces of algae wafer, and veggie sticks that contain calcium (Ken's), placed carefully in a quiet and private area of the tank to make sure he has enough to eat as I don't have any visible algae and my algae jars have just begun. (See later post for a pictorial on how I did this.) I named him Frank.

Pro Tip:
To keep Frank's food in his dish while putting it down inside a full tank of water, I am careful to hold fingers over the food. I made a mess the first time I fed him without holding down the food.




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Can't help with the dropping GH but I see some dialog about it on another thread and it seem like you've got a good plan to deal with it.
Nice tip. I was thinking about doing something similar but using a rigid plastic tube. Lees makes them for under gravel filters but smaller in diameter (5/8"?). Place the end of the tube over/in the dish and drop the food in from above. A very long turkey baster might work as well.


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Never mind. Frank, the Oto, didn't make it. He was awfully skinny when I got him and although he seemed active and happy through this morning, he may not have touched the algae wafers, and he may not have found enough algae on the tank. :(


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His gut bacteria may have been gone, and even if he was able to eat the natural algae and algae wafer he may not have been able to process it.

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His gut bacteria may have been gone, and even if he was able to eat the natural algae and algae wafer he may not have been able to process it.

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That's so sad. Anything we can do in the future about that when getting new Otos?


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Same thing happened here. 3 Otos doing fine in QT for 2 weeks. First day in the DT and one dies overnight. Not sure what can be done to prevent this. However, due to this, I am hesitant to treat with antibiotics if Otos are in the QT.


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That's so sad. Anything we can do in the future about that when getting new Otos?


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Avoiding skinny or emaciated specimens might help. Not a guarantee though.


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Good idea. I read somewhere to get them at least four days after they arrive at the store.


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Also lost a Longfin Gold Danio. He got sucked up in the water changer. I'm going to start setting my net up at the end of the tube.


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Sorry about your danio. How did he gey sucked up? I know that when I do water changes I use a piece of tube and buckets. Always have to watch it so nothing overflows and so no fish or shrimp get sucked into the roller coaster/waterslide.
I lost 1 oto a few weeks after getting 5, and may have lost another one. I can only find 3 now, but these little guys are masters of Hide-n-Seek lol

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Fishy - You could put an unused brand new pot scrubber at the mouth of the suction tube to prevent fish from getting sucked in. Or rubber band an old fishnet to it.


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Fishy - ......rubber band an old fishnet to it.


Yeah, I'll just do that. Thought they were strong enough not to get sucked up, I have seen the Danios swim back in the suction tube like they were having a fun time. :(


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Sorry about your danio. How did he get sucked up?


I use a faucet water changer like the Python, although mine is the Aqueon. One of my kids saw it happen and saved it as it hit the sink. I got it and was running back to the tank but it flipped itself out of my hand onto the kitchen floor...and that was all she wrote...

Definitely going to do the net over the end now. Should have thought of it.


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poor little fella! I'm thinking of a prefilter for this very reason. I had a nightmare that I was trying so hard to save Endlers by turning off the filter before they went through a propeller.

I don't even think there is a propeller. I'm only admitting to you guys that I had a dream about the fish tank.
 
I may have to get this prefilter sponge for my shrimp tank. Cleaned the filter and found a dozen RCS babies in there. I currently have a prefilter sponge but it is coarse (designed for a 500 GPH pond pump).


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Set up my large wood pieces slightly differently. This new way has more darting space for the danios.

On a different note, the egg-laden females must have laid their eggs somewhere...I'll have to look up how they do it. They aren't ginormous anymore.


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Yikes! Yep, that would be an awful find...unless they were still alive?





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12 live 1 dead. I rinsed the media in a 5g bucket and let the cloudy water settle. Had to carefully remove most of the water before catching them. Their probably back in there as I type.
Danios typically breed at dawn's light. They will breed in patches of moss though their eggs will be scattered anywhere. I used to find eggs between the gravel grains. They are voracious hunters and will turn around and graze on the eggs. I've seen them dive into patches of moss in such that only the tail is visible.


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Interesting. Not seeing darting down at the moment. Just darting around and chasing.


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