OK this is just crazy, frustrating, and troubling.
The cardinal tetra I mentioned a couple months ago, whose fins were all chewed up and whose spine was kind of curved? Well, I put him in quarantine with Melafix and Pimafix, and he buffed up nicely, so I put him back in the community tank, and the other tetras evidently chewed his fins up again. So I pulled him out, buffed him up in QT again, and this time I put him in my 10 gallon with Rex the betta and a few otos.
This looked like it was going great for the last month or so.
Then tonight, I find the tetra nose down in the crypts. So I'm thinking he died. I got the net, and scooped at him to dislodge him from the nets, and he swam out, but something was clearly wrong - he wasn't staying upright. So I set up the QT again quickly, and moved him over again with Melafix and Pimafix. But I'm pretty sure this time he's not going to make it, as he is clearly very sick.
My water quality is always good. Ammonia 0 every time I test. Nitrites 0. Nitrates around 10 in all my tanks. pH is about 7 to 7.2. I have been doing 30-50% water changes weekly to get algae under control.
But in the 2.5 years I've been keeping fish, I've had six bettas (four have died), a paradise fish (dead) a dwarf gourami (dead), 13 otos (7 are alive), a dozen tetras (I'm about to be down to 8 ), four cories (all alive), a nerite snail that has actually lived for about 5 years - long story, and 10 amano shrimp (I'm thinking I still have somewhere between 5 and 8, but you never see them all out at once).
It seems to me I'm having a lot of losses. Any guesses what I might be doing wrong?
My larger tanks are densely planted, with about 2.5 inches of gravel. My filters are for the most part biowheels. Using floss media, no carbon, since the plants provide chemical filtration. I don't take them apart that often, but I check to make sure they run OK every week when I clean my tanks and I rinse the media at the same time. The lights are on timers, 10 hours per day, and I'm adding DIY CO2 to both the larger tanks, with an airstone on a timer in the largest at night to disperse any overabundance. Temp is at 78-80 in all the tanks. I soak my nets and gravel vacs whenever I think someone has gotten sick, usually with a strong solution of Melafix, which is antibacterial, then rinse in HOT water. And I wash my hands thoroughly in plain water (no soap) to remove all traces of lotion and other stuff before I put my hands in the tanks. The only visible problem is a lot of algae and pesky plant snails.
Any thoughts?
L
The cardinal tetra I mentioned a couple months ago, whose fins were all chewed up and whose spine was kind of curved? Well, I put him in quarantine with Melafix and Pimafix, and he buffed up nicely, so I put him back in the community tank, and the other tetras evidently chewed his fins up again. So I pulled him out, buffed him up in QT again, and this time I put him in my 10 gallon with Rex the betta and a few otos.
This looked like it was going great for the last month or so.
Then tonight, I find the tetra nose down in the crypts. So I'm thinking he died. I got the net, and scooped at him to dislodge him from the nets, and he swam out, but something was clearly wrong - he wasn't staying upright. So I set up the QT again quickly, and moved him over again with Melafix and Pimafix. But I'm pretty sure this time he's not going to make it, as he is clearly very sick.
My water quality is always good. Ammonia 0 every time I test. Nitrites 0. Nitrates around 10 in all my tanks. pH is about 7 to 7.2. I have been doing 30-50% water changes weekly to get algae under control.
But in the 2.5 years I've been keeping fish, I've had six bettas (four have died), a paradise fish (dead) a dwarf gourami (dead), 13 otos (7 are alive), a dozen tetras (I'm about to be down to 8 ), four cories (all alive), a nerite snail that has actually lived for about 5 years - long story, and 10 amano shrimp (I'm thinking I still have somewhere between 5 and 8, but you never see them all out at once).
It seems to me I'm having a lot of losses. Any guesses what I might be doing wrong?
My larger tanks are densely planted, with about 2.5 inches of gravel. My filters are for the most part biowheels. Using floss media, no carbon, since the plants provide chemical filtration. I don't take them apart that often, but I check to make sure they run OK every week when I clean my tanks and I rinse the media at the same time. The lights are on timers, 10 hours per day, and I'm adding DIY CO2 to both the larger tanks, with an airstone on a timer in the largest at night to disperse any overabundance. Temp is at 78-80 in all the tanks. I soak my nets and gravel vacs whenever I think someone has gotten sick, usually with a strong solution of Melafix, which is antibacterial, then rinse in HOT water. And I wash my hands thoroughly in plain water (no soap) to remove all traces of lotion and other stuff before I put my hands in the tanks. The only visible problem is a lot of algae and pesky plant snails.
Any thoughts?
L