TheManichaean
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
After approximately one month of aquarium ownership, my fish are happy, and my tank might even be cycled. However I don't think I'm acclimated yet.
Each morning, before the light is on in the tank, I feed the fish and find horrible stuff wrong with the tank: an ich outbreak, flatworms, wounds, bad algae, and more.
I sweat it out all day at work and think about what questions to post in the sick fish forum. I return home to find that in the light of day (and the fluorescent bulb) my fish are as happy and carefree as the day before. All the diseases they had in the morning were imaginary.
Then I realize my problem is not enough equipment in the tank. Maybe the six plants I have need a CO2 cansiter. The 11 pH/NO2/NO3/NH4 tests I've performed in the last month for aren't enough--I need a Hagen Master Test kit to immediately check for more stuff. And what if my fish which read as "Never been bred in captivity" suddenly breed?! I'll be high and dry (pun intended) without a spawning tank!
Maybe I should've dimmed the apartment lights for fifteen minutes before I brought my empty tank in. I should've acclimated myself better.
There is one definite problem I've diagnosed in the tank, though: fat danios. Oh yes, my fear of starving the six little guys has led me to make them a little chubby. Hmmm...time to buy low-carb flake food...
Tony
Each morning, before the light is on in the tank, I feed the fish and find horrible stuff wrong with the tank: an ich outbreak, flatworms, wounds, bad algae, and more.
I sweat it out all day at work and think about what questions to post in the sick fish forum. I return home to find that in the light of day (and the fluorescent bulb) my fish are as happy and carefree as the day before. All the diseases they had in the morning were imaginary.
Then I realize my problem is not enough equipment in the tank. Maybe the six plants I have need a CO2 cansiter. The 11 pH/NO2/NO3/NH4 tests I've performed in the last month for aren't enough--I need a Hagen Master Test kit to immediately check for more stuff. And what if my fish which read as "Never been bred in captivity" suddenly breed?! I'll be high and dry (pun intended) without a spawning tank!
Maybe I should've dimmed the apartment lights for fifteen minutes before I brought my empty tank in. I should've acclimated myself better.
There is one definite problem I've diagnosed in the tank, though: fat danios. Oh yes, my fear of starving the six little guys has led me to make them a little chubby. Hmmm...time to buy low-carb flake food...
Tony