majolo
Aquarium Advice Freak
1~What type of fish is afflicted? In addition, please describe what is wrong with the fish to the best of your ability (i.e. cotton like growth, bloated, etc.).
2 black neon tetras have died in 24 hours, out of 6 that were added on August 30. The first one I saw nothing visibly wrong with it, just found it lying on its side dead (yesterday, 2:30pm) in a plastic plant. This morning I saw another black neon lying on its side in the gravel, but it got up after a few minutes. However, it was listless, never swam level, and I could see a couple white spots on its fins (ich?). A couple hours later it was on its side in the gravel, stayed there for an hour, not breathing. When I got the second one out, I saw it's tail fin was gone. Both fish were removed after death. The rest of the fish appear active and healthy.
2~What are your tank parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temp, pH)? Please give exact values.
This morning: ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate all 0ppm (there must be some nitrates, but I guess far below 5ppm, which is the first nonzero value on the AP liquid test kit card), temp 78F. I raised the thermostat 3 degrees since seeing white spots on the second fish. I haven't measured pH since adding the black neons, but it's been 8.0 every time I've checked.
3~ How large is the tank? How long has the tank been set up?
55 gal, had fish in it since Aug. 11.
4~What type of filtration are you using? Please give the name and number (i.e. Fluval 304) and amount of gph if known.
Aquaclear 300(70), 300gph according to them.
5~How many fish are in the tank? What kinds of fish are they and what are their current sizes?
6 glowlight tetras, 4 remaining black neon tetras. All about an inch or a bit more. 1 ghost shrimp, about an inch.
6~When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel? How often do you do this? How much water do you remove at a time?
Last night, after finding the first dead fish, tested and found 0.25ppm ammonia (nitrites and nitrates read 0), so did a 13.5gal PWC. I had done my weekly PWC (same size) on Sunday the 27th. I haven't been vacuuming gravel much since I've been cycling.
7~How long have you had the fish? If the fish is new, how did you acclimate it/them?
The 6 glowlights since August 11 (cycling with them plus donated gravel from a friend's established UGF), ghost shrimp added 8/26, 6 black neons added 8/30. Drip acclimated them in a 1gal container, dripping about 2 gals of tank water in (runoff into a bucket) for a little over an hour, with an airstone in the 1gal.
8~Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlorinator, new substrate, etc.?
Just the fish -- I should mention I've switched to double doses of Prime (2 capfuls) at PWC since my glowlights have gotten really stressed after every PWC and a local friend told me our water is heavily chlorinated (off-topic rant: out of all the chemicals we can test for, why isn't there a test for the one chemical everyone has in their water that's guaranteed to kill fish?!)
9~What kind of food have you been feeding your fish, have you changed their diet recently?
Rotation of TetraCrisps, TetraColor flakes, and Hikari micropellets, with occasional freeze-dried bloodworm cut small. I've been feeding twice a day but quite sparingly since I've been cycling.
2 black neon tetras have died in 24 hours, out of 6 that were added on August 30. The first one I saw nothing visibly wrong with it, just found it lying on its side dead (yesterday, 2:30pm) in a plastic plant. This morning I saw another black neon lying on its side in the gravel, but it got up after a few minutes. However, it was listless, never swam level, and I could see a couple white spots on its fins (ich?). A couple hours later it was on its side in the gravel, stayed there for an hour, not breathing. When I got the second one out, I saw it's tail fin was gone. Both fish were removed after death. The rest of the fish appear active and healthy.
2~What are your tank parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temp, pH)? Please give exact values.
This morning: ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate all 0ppm (there must be some nitrates, but I guess far below 5ppm, which is the first nonzero value on the AP liquid test kit card), temp 78F. I raised the thermostat 3 degrees since seeing white spots on the second fish. I haven't measured pH since adding the black neons, but it's been 8.0 every time I've checked.
3~ How large is the tank? How long has the tank been set up?
55 gal, had fish in it since Aug. 11.
4~What type of filtration are you using? Please give the name and number (i.e. Fluval 304) and amount of gph if known.
Aquaclear 300(70), 300gph according to them.
5~How many fish are in the tank? What kinds of fish are they and what are their current sizes?
6 glowlight tetras, 4 remaining black neon tetras. All about an inch or a bit more. 1 ghost shrimp, about an inch.
6~When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel? How often do you do this? How much water do you remove at a time?
Last night, after finding the first dead fish, tested and found 0.25ppm ammonia (nitrites and nitrates read 0), so did a 13.5gal PWC. I had done my weekly PWC (same size) on Sunday the 27th. I haven't been vacuuming gravel much since I've been cycling.
7~How long have you had the fish? If the fish is new, how did you acclimate it/them?
The 6 glowlights since August 11 (cycling with them plus donated gravel from a friend's established UGF), ghost shrimp added 8/26, 6 black neons added 8/30. Drip acclimated them in a 1gal container, dripping about 2 gals of tank water in (runoff into a bucket) for a little over an hour, with an airstone in the 1gal.
8~Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlorinator, new substrate, etc.?
Just the fish -- I should mention I've switched to double doses of Prime (2 capfuls) at PWC since my glowlights have gotten really stressed after every PWC and a local friend told me our water is heavily chlorinated (off-topic rant: out of all the chemicals we can test for, why isn't there a test for the one chemical everyone has in their water that's guaranteed to kill fish?!)
9~What kind of food have you been feeding your fish, have you changed their diet recently?
Rotation of TetraCrisps, TetraColor flakes, and Hikari micropellets, with occasional freeze-dried bloodworm cut small. I've been feeding twice a day but quite sparingly since I've been cycling.
