James91
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Hey all, first post, so here goes!
Ive been fishkeeping (waterkeeping) for 18 months now and would love some suggestions having just lost 1 of 2 Bolivian Rams (2 males I think) and 1 of 2 Red devil angelfish (M/F)
I purchased a used Roma 200L tank with a cycled internal U4 filter, and I added my cycled U3 filter from the 60L tank I was shutting down, the tank is lightly planted with 18kg of Seiryu rock and a large piece of bogwood. This is its 7th week running
Tank mates were, prior to losing a ram and angel
1 BN Pleco
2 Angelfish
2 Bolivian Ram
1 Dwarf Gourami
10 Cardinal Tetra
7 Albino Cory
12ish Assassin snails
They are all reasonably young and have been added in this schedule
24th June bought tank, set up within a few days and added my existing BN Pleco, then each Saturday I added newly purchased juvenile fish from my preferred fish store
Week 1: Added 10 Cardinal Tetras
Week 2: Added 8 Albino Corys
At some point during this week I lost 1x Tetra and 1x Cory but I didn’t think much of it
Week 3: Added 2 Bolivian Rams (I think 2 males)
Week 4: Added 1 Dwarf Gourami and 1 Cardinal Tetra
Week 5: Added 2 Red Devil Angelfish (male and female) on the 30th of July
Yesterday on the 11th I lost a Bolivian Ram, he was getting darker 2 days prior, and I had seen each of flare up and lip lock, and attempts at potential fin nipping, although no damage was caused
Today I lost the female angelfish, who was always quite shy but showed no signs of deteriorating and did sometimes swim around with the male. No signs whats so ever
I do 50pc water changes Wednesday or Thursday every week. I fill with a hose and add a capful of Prime (as per dosing instructions) just before I start filling. All 4 of the first foam layers in the fluval U filters get cleaned to prevent algae buildup
Water levels today are (API liquid test kit for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrates, API teststrip for ph, kh and gh)
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrates 20, this normally rises to 40ish
pH 7.0
kH 7/120
gH 10/180
The only 3 products I have minus foods are Seachem Prime, Flourish and Flourish Excel, although I do plan to buy Seachem potassium and iron for my poor plant health but thats another story
Tank is setup for 25 degrees but has been rising to 29degrees maximum due to weather (currently 28degrees)
What did I do differently recently, well mostly related to algae issues but as below:
Started double dosing Seachem Excel from 5ml to 10ml
Started feeding once a day instead of twice
I purchased a Pozzani no10 nitrate remover which has been used for I think 3 water changes so far, prior to this I had 40ppm nitrates from my tap water
I done around a 70% waterchange Tuesday when I noticed the ram had darkened
Reading back on this I can see a few things that may have gone wrong, but I will wait for suggestions from more experienced people rather than list my guesses. Finally, am I OK to keep the single Angel and single Ram?
Many thanks in advance,
James
Ive been fishkeeping (waterkeeping) for 18 months now and would love some suggestions having just lost 1 of 2 Bolivian Rams (2 males I think) and 1 of 2 Red devil angelfish (M/F)
I purchased a used Roma 200L tank with a cycled internal U4 filter, and I added my cycled U3 filter from the 60L tank I was shutting down, the tank is lightly planted with 18kg of Seiryu rock and a large piece of bogwood. This is its 7th week running
Tank mates were, prior to losing a ram and angel
1 BN Pleco
2 Angelfish
2 Bolivian Ram
1 Dwarf Gourami
10 Cardinal Tetra
7 Albino Cory
12ish Assassin snails
They are all reasonably young and have been added in this schedule
24th June bought tank, set up within a few days and added my existing BN Pleco, then each Saturday I added newly purchased juvenile fish from my preferred fish store
Week 1: Added 10 Cardinal Tetras
Week 2: Added 8 Albino Corys
At some point during this week I lost 1x Tetra and 1x Cory but I didn’t think much of it
Week 3: Added 2 Bolivian Rams (I think 2 males)
Week 4: Added 1 Dwarf Gourami and 1 Cardinal Tetra
Week 5: Added 2 Red Devil Angelfish (male and female) on the 30th of July
Yesterday on the 11th I lost a Bolivian Ram, he was getting darker 2 days prior, and I had seen each of flare up and lip lock, and attempts at potential fin nipping, although no damage was caused
Today I lost the female angelfish, who was always quite shy but showed no signs of deteriorating and did sometimes swim around with the male. No signs whats so ever
I do 50pc water changes Wednesday or Thursday every week. I fill with a hose and add a capful of Prime (as per dosing instructions) just before I start filling. All 4 of the first foam layers in the fluval U filters get cleaned to prevent algae buildup
Water levels today are (API liquid test kit for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrates, API teststrip for ph, kh and gh)
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrates 20, this normally rises to 40ish
pH 7.0
kH 7/120
gH 10/180
The only 3 products I have minus foods are Seachem Prime, Flourish and Flourish Excel, although I do plan to buy Seachem potassium and iron for my poor plant health but thats another story
Tank is setup for 25 degrees but has been rising to 29degrees maximum due to weather (currently 28degrees)
What did I do differently recently, well mostly related to algae issues but as below:
Started double dosing Seachem Excel from 5ml to 10ml
Started feeding once a day instead of twice
I purchased a Pozzani no10 nitrate remover which has been used for I think 3 water changes so far, prior to this I had 40ppm nitrates from my tap water
I done around a 70% waterchange Tuesday when I noticed the ram had darkened
Reading back on this I can see a few things that may have gone wrong, but I will wait for suggestions from more experienced people rather than list my guesses. Finally, am I OK to keep the single Angel and single Ram?
Many thanks in advance,
James
