bluerose
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I am not sure at all what is happening to my tank.
It was very healthy since setup in September... moved it (95% WC) in December, again 3 weeks later in January. All inhabitants fine.
Sometime in mid-Jan, I lost a neon that had been looking poorly. Water was fine, other fish were fine, I thought it was a one-off thing.
A couple of weeks later I lost my female betta-- found her stuck on top of the internal filter. Don't know if she jumped and got stuck up there or if she floated up there-- it was at water level so I don't know.
Just after the betta died I started getting major algae issues on the plants and walls and some anacharis die-off. Pulled the obviously dead/dying anacharis, cut the photoperiod, started dosing Flourish 2x/wk instead of 1x (supposed to be 2x, but with shrimp I was being careful with the copper content) and very carefully started spot-dosing Excel where the algae was worst every few days. My MTS population also EXPLODED and they remain out 24/7 now... scuttling along the substrate or climbing on the plants or walls or filter.
A week later the anacharis is still dying (not melting as it does with Excel treatment, though) but some of the algae is better. I pull all the stuff that is even slightly tinged brown (about 1/3rd of it) and increase the photoperiod by an hour.
I've been feeding very sparingly-- every couple of days.
Last night I lost a cory cat... Mazda (so named because s/he ZOOMED around the tank from time to time) was stuck between the filter and the wall. Again, not sure if she got there and died or if she floated there...
I have been doing PWCs every 7-10 days.
I am down to 1 peppered cory, 2 neons, 1 glowlight tetra, and 3 amanos.
The tetras don't look wonderful. 1 neon is properly proportioned but fairly pale. 1 is in a semi-constant state of bloat. The glowlight doesn't come out much. I'm a little concerned about NTD as the neon that died in January seemed to have signs of it (not that I knew at the time).
The peppered cory is acting normally, looks healthy, and the amanos are enjoying their little shrimp lives.
I'm working on tests right now, but I am just not sure what is up with my little 8gal. Makes me very sad as it was glorious late last year-- lots of plant growth, very little algae, healthy fish.
It was very healthy since setup in September... moved it (95% WC) in December, again 3 weeks later in January. All inhabitants fine.
Sometime in mid-Jan, I lost a neon that had been looking poorly. Water was fine, other fish were fine, I thought it was a one-off thing.
A couple of weeks later I lost my female betta-- found her stuck on top of the internal filter. Don't know if she jumped and got stuck up there or if she floated up there-- it was at water level so I don't know.
Just after the betta died I started getting major algae issues on the plants and walls and some anacharis die-off. Pulled the obviously dead/dying anacharis, cut the photoperiod, started dosing Flourish 2x/wk instead of 1x (supposed to be 2x, but with shrimp I was being careful with the copper content) and very carefully started spot-dosing Excel where the algae was worst every few days. My MTS population also EXPLODED and they remain out 24/7 now... scuttling along the substrate or climbing on the plants or walls or filter.
A week later the anacharis is still dying (not melting as it does with Excel treatment, though) but some of the algae is better. I pull all the stuff that is even slightly tinged brown (about 1/3rd of it) and increase the photoperiod by an hour.
I've been feeding very sparingly-- every couple of days.
Last night I lost a cory cat... Mazda (so named because s/he ZOOMED around the tank from time to time) was stuck between the filter and the wall. Again, not sure if she got there and died or if she floated there...
I have been doing PWCs every 7-10 days.
I am down to 1 peppered cory, 2 neons, 1 glowlight tetra, and 3 amanos.
The tetras don't look wonderful. 1 neon is properly proportioned but fairly pale. 1 is in a semi-constant state of bloat. The glowlight doesn't come out much. I'm a little concerned about NTD as the neon that died in January seemed to have signs of it (not that I knew at the time).
The peppered cory is acting normally, looks healthy, and the amanos are enjoying their little shrimp lives.
I'm working on tests right now, but I am just not sure what is up with my little 8gal. Makes me very sad as it was glorious late last year-- lots of plant growth, very little algae, healthy fish.
