pat8you
Aquarium Advice Addict
Here is the deal. Some of you may have seen me around over on the saltwater side but when it comes to freshwater i don't know a whole lot. My girlfriend has a freshwater tank that she rescued from someone who was going to flush all the fish. Here is a shot of the tank. Think it just has some siamese algae eaters, white tip tetras, a white cloud or two and i think a single neon tetra. Keep in mind it has been a long time since i have tried to ID freshwater so some of those may be off.
One or two of her fish are not looking too good. Emaciated, red gills, rapid breathing, and it almost looks like their spine is a little curved. Here are a couple pictures.
Here are some of the water parameters.
Ammoina: 0-.25
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 0-5
PH: 6.2
Temp: 76-78
She has been having someone else take care of the tank and i believe the ammonia came from the tank getting over fed. There was a large pile of blood worms that was just sitting there. The tank has been running for a couple years now.
Here is the plan for getting things back to straight. We have a PH buffer that i plan on adding in small doses to slowly get the PH back to 7 over probably a day or two. Also going to do a water change or two.
So here are some questions for you experts. First, any ideas on what kind of illness the fish have? She has had several fish get the same illness and apparently some just get better.
Next, just out of curiosity, is there a freshwater equivalent to saltwater people growing macro algae in order to export nitrates and phosphates?
Last, i remembered that in the store i used to work at they carried fish called ottocinclas. Probably spelled wrong. They were real small (.75-1) algae eaters that people used because they were gentile on plant leaves. I was thinking some of these might help keep her fake plants clean. Any opinions on these guys as tank cleaners?
One or two of her fish are not looking too good. Emaciated, red gills, rapid breathing, and it almost looks like their spine is a little curved. Here are a couple pictures.
Here are some of the water parameters.
Ammoina: 0-.25
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 0-5
PH: 6.2
Temp: 76-78
She has been having someone else take care of the tank and i believe the ammonia came from the tank getting over fed. There was a large pile of blood worms that was just sitting there. The tank has been running for a couple years now.
Here is the plan for getting things back to straight. We have a PH buffer that i plan on adding in small doses to slowly get the PH back to 7 over probably a day or two. Also going to do a water change or two.
So here are some questions for you experts. First, any ideas on what kind of illness the fish have? She has had several fish get the same illness and apparently some just get better.
Next, just out of curiosity, is there a freshwater equivalent to saltwater people growing macro algae in order to export nitrates and phosphates?
Last, i remembered that in the store i used to work at they carried fish called ottocinclas. Probably spelled wrong. They were real small (.75-1) algae eaters that people used because they were gentile on plant leaves. I was thinking some of these might help keep her fake plants clean. Any opinions on these guys as tank cleaners?