lynxfishy
-
Posts
19 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Feedback
0%
Content Type
Forums
Downloads
Store
Events
Blogs
Gallery
Profiles
Posts posted by lynxfishy
-
-
adding to this has anyone had any luck with freeze dried foods, like the cubes aquarium co op offers?
-
Hey Everyone!
I recently bought a 10 gallon tank on sale and wanted to stock it with 6 rocket/clown killifish, a scarlet badis, and maybe some other nano fish like green neon tetras, pygmy Cories, or khuli loaches (not quite decided there). I was wondering if it would be ok to get just 1 scarlet badis? The internet seems pretty divided on if you should keep them alone (super territorial, feisty) or if they should be in groups of 2 or 3? I am also unsure of what to feed them? I see everyone mention they don't usually take to process/flake foods, would a diet of just frozen foods (bloodworms, brine shrimp, beefheart) work or should I be hatching live baby brine shrimp and alternating with frozen food?
-
Hello everyone! I've had this neon tetra with this strange white blob on its side for roughly a year now, and I am unsure of what it is? The neon is the biggest one in it's school, is very active, eats well, and overall has very normal behavior. When I first saw this white clump I instantly quarantined the fish and gave him the med trio. Nothing happened. After a while the fish became very nervous without his/her school and starting to display signs of stress, so after 2 weeks of nothing happening I simply returned him/her to the main tank. None of the other neons have this, nor does my dwarf gourami. I am wondering if I should be worried about this?
My parameters are as follows:
- pH 7.6
- Nitrates 0ppm/low range this is a very heavily planted tank but I do dose aquarium coop easy green once a week
- Hardness I believe I have hard water, around 150GH
- Nitrite 0ppm
- Ammonia 0ppm
- KH/Buffer low 40KH
- Water Temperature 76F
-
On 2/16/2023 at 4:27 PM, Monkeypoint said:
Cory posted an excellent video about when to do water changes. I'll try to find it, but it finally all started making sense for me. Basically, you keep a close eye on your water parameters. Your tank has to be cycled because you consistently get 0 for both ammonia and nitrites. So, test for nitrates. As others have mentioned: add 10 drops from bottle 1, cap and invert it a few times. Shake bottle 2 hard for 30 seconds, add 10 drops and then shake the tube vigorously for a full minute. Let it develop for 5 minutes. As long as your nitrates stay somewhere below 40, you should be good because the levels aren't high enough to be harmful to fish, although shrimp are more sensitive so you probably want to keep them lower than 40. When your nitrate levels go up to 40 (or 20-30 if you have shrimp), do a 30% water change. If your ratio of plants to livestock remains constant and you're not changing the amount of food you're feeding, you'll figure out how often you need to do water changes. Every tank is different. You may find that you only have to do water changes once a month and that way, you wouldn't be doing more than necessary and depleting the water of minerals.
ahh this is so helpful!! Thank you so much for this! I'll also do some digging on YouTube and look for that video!
-
1
-
-
On 2/16/2023 at 3:58 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:
Agreed with the others that not following the nitrate instructions EXACTLY as they’re written is most likely the problem. I made the same mistake when I first started. Shake bottle 2 HARD for 30 seconds before putting in the 10 drops. Shake the test tube HARD for 1 minute, then let sit for 5 minutes.
Hopefully you’ve done just a test or 2 out of that new kit. If you have to replace the kit (again) I would replace just the nitrate test as that can be bought separately.
On 2/16/2023 at 1:04 PM, Katherine said:At this point you'll need a new bottle. The one you have will give you readings that are way too high if you've been doing it this way for more than just a few tests.
Thankfully this was my first test from this bottle, so hopefully it will still be ok! I just opened this kit this morning. One question: why do you have to replace the nitrate bottle? Does the important stuff just get stuck to the bottom of the bottle or..? haha sorry if this is a dumb question, I am honestly just curious
-
On 2/16/2023 at 1:22 PM, Sharon M said:
And then you show us two gorgeous, healthy tanks! 😄
You're doing great.
My goodness those are lovely.Aw thank you so much! I really love this hobby and have tried my best to research as much as I could. I am very tempted to get a 20 gallon long tank and try out hillstream loaches, they look so cute!
-
1
-
-
On 2/16/2023 at 11:22 AM, knee said:
You have more plants than livestock, it's normal to not get any reading. My shrimp tank doesn't have a filter but it's heavily planted and I get 0 ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Plants consume ammonia before nitrate, so I'm assuming that the ammonia doesn't even have a chance to go through the cycle because of how much plants and how little the bioload is.
This makes a lot of sense, thank you for sharing! I was really worried I was missing something here, but it seems the plants are just doing their job extra well haha
-
1
-
-
On 2/16/2023 at 8:51 AM, MattyM said:
I'm not sure what to say, everything looks good! Do you dose any ferts? I wonder if the plants are just sucking everything up. I also wonder what a regular test strip would show.
If you tanks weren't cycled your fish would prob not be doing so well.
I do dose with ferts! I use easy green 🙂
On 2/16/2023 at 8:52 AM, Tommy Vercetti said:Ammonia and nitrites should read zero in a cycled tank. The Nitrate could be very close to zero depending on how many plants and how much you feed the aquarium.
Also regarding the api test kit: I like them and use them but find often times that the Nitrate test is not very repeatable. The bottles require (at least) 1 minute of vigorous shaking before adding to the test tube.
You could try to skip a water change and then test right before the next scheduled water change. I would still not be surprised to see 0 nitrates in a highly planted tank.
Those floating plants are probably doing their job and eating the Nitrate.
Ah! That could very well be my problem with the API test kit, I only shake mine a little bit before using it, I'll for sure try out the shaking method. I was curious if I could just stop doing water changes and just check out the perimeters every week? Do you think the tank can sustain itself at this point?
On 2/16/2023 at 9:49 AM, Guppysnail said:I’m going to say you are cycled. With such low stock/ bioload levels and decent plants the plants are most likely consuming the nitrate as quickly as it appears. Unless you see ammonia or nitrite I would stop worry completely.
The whole of cycling means never seeing the ammonia or nitrite. If there is none you are fine.This does make me feel a lot better haha, I was sure I was doing something wrong, thank you for explaining!
On 2/16/2023 at 11:05 AM, Cory said:Thank you so much for this video Cory!! It explains so much and I really appreciate it!
On 2/16/2023 at 11:05 AM, DebSills said:I think you are cycled, as long as your fish are healthy and you see 0 ammonia and 0 nitirite, your tanks are cycled - I would say one thing for the liquid API test, for nitrate, if you don't shake bottle 2 for at least 30 seconds and then the test tube for at least a minute, you won't get a good reading...make sure you are following the directions exactly...I was doing it wrong in the beginning and never got a reading for nitrate even with dosing easy green
even so, I think you are doing fine, the tanks look great and the fish look very healthy - great job!!
I really think this was my problem--I wasn't really shaking the nitrate bottle that hard for that long. I'm going to try testing again doing this method. I am curious if I'll be able to hold off on water changes for a while since everything seems balanced
-
1
-
-
Hello Everyone,
I am fairly new to the freshwater aquarium hobby and I had a question about my aquariums not cycling (I wasn't sure where to put this question so apologies if this is the wrong spot).
I have two aquariums:
-the first is a 5 gallon has been up and running for 2 years now. It houses 1 male betta, a nerite snail, and a good amount of aquarium plants (frog bit, Anubis nana petite, bacopa, java fern, and rotala trimmings from my larger tank.
- the second is a 10 gallon community tank that has been up and running for 9 months with 1 dwarf powder blue gourami, 5 neon tetras, 2 amano shrimp, and a good amount of aquarium plants as well (frog bit, java fern, Anubis, bacopa, rotala, and some moss balls.
neither tank has cycled. Every time I test both aquariums with my API test kit it reads as zero in ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. I've tried adding beneficial bacteria to both tanks via fritz turbo start but nothing happened, and my tanks still read as zero. I still do weekly water changes on both tanks, changing 1 gallon of water from my 5 gallon, and 3 from my 10 gallon (my house plants love this water). I thought maybe my API test kit was expired/faulty so I bought a new API test kit and it reads the same thing as of this morning. For both tanks I have the following reading:
PH: 7.8
Ammonia: 0PPM
Nitrite: 0PPM
Nitrate: 0PPM
Am I doing something wrong? I read that sometimes a densely planted aquarium will not cycle, and I wonder if that is my case? Is it bad if my aquarium isn't cycled? Having a cycled tank seems like a fundamental thing to do, but mine just won't seem to cycle. I tried doing a fishless cycle for my 10 gallon tank when I was first setting it up, and it did cycle that way. but when I added my dwarf gourami, the cycle broke and it never cycled again, even after I added other fish in small quantities. I would love to hear any thoughts on this topic, and have attached pictures of my tanks below (my 5 gallon's frog bit needs a trim so please excuse the jungle look haha)
-
Hello everyone, I am fairly new to the fish keeping hobby and earlier in the year I set up a 10 gallon planted tank. I let it cycle for a month and begin adding fish in different waves--adding some fish, then waiting a couple weeks before adding more fish. After a couple months of slowly adding fish and testing the water to make sure there was no ammonia spikes I finally have all of my stocking. I currently have a dwarf powder blue gourami, 7 neon tetras (got an extra one from the store thinking they wouldn't all make it back/through quarantine, I was wrong lol), and 5 pygmy corydoras. I recently lost a pymgy cory, and I am really unsure as of why. The water tested fine, no ammonia or nitrite, I have a sponge filter along with a regular HOB filter so the water should have enough oxygen, and I didn't see anything particularly weird about the dead pygmy. All of my other fish are healthy/acting normal. There was some red on the dead pygmy's underside though? But by the time I found him my dwarf gourami could have nipped at the corpse? He has never been aggressive to the other fish, but he does love eating. Any help on the topic would be greatly appreciated. I've attached a current picture of my tank incase it would be helpful.
-
On 6/6/2022 at 7:10 PM, nabokovfan87 said:
No matter where you buy them from QT is recommended. Part of that, for me, is to protect the rest of your fish by using the med trio as that QT methodology as well. I would let the fish acclimate for a week, up to two weeks before meds if you can. This basically helps you from wasting meds and gives the fish a chance to survive, given the high risk of issues you're experiencing.
That's what I was worried about too, I bought some adorable pygmy corries online and they are all happy and healthy in my main tank. I didn't realize I should have a quarantine tank and I just medicated them with the quarantine trio in that tank. I'd hate it if a Petco neon tetra brought in something bad and they died from it. I will for sure wait a week or two to give them the meds and keep checking on my water parameters in the QT tank. I didn't realize I should wait a week and I think between the stress of traveling home, the med trio, and me not checking the water they all died off one by one. I really appreciate you guys helping me out on this! Lol wish me luck on the next batch.
-
1
-
-
On 6/6/2022 at 6:58 PM, Colu said:
If you get a new batch I would just monitor them and keep close eye on your water parameters and feed them good quality foods such as Hikari micro pellets bug bites frozen or live brine shrimp Cyclops for 4 weeks the majority of diseases fish develope in Aquarium are caused by poor nutrition and poor water quality weaken their immune system if you get these to things right your fish should thrive
Will do. Thank you so much for the help, it is greatly appreciated!
-
1
-
-
On 6/6/2022 at 6:31 PM, nabokovfan87 said:
I don't think there was anything wrong with your method. The tank just wasn't cycled. I think you treated the fish with meds correctly, but needed more time for the tank. Here's a vid on QT tank setup if it helps you.
On 6/6/2022 at 6:33 PM, Colu said:As the med trio is a preventive treatment and it's the ammonia and nitirte that has more than likely killed the @lynxfishy other fish I would deal with the water quality issues Frist
Thank you both for all of the information. I figured these fish would have something considering I bought them from Petco, and all of their tanks are connected through the filters, that's why I medicated them. If I get another batch should I wait to medicate them and just feed them and watch them (and the water parameters) in quarantine for 4 weeks? Then if they seem healthy/fine introduce them into the main tank? Or should I just buy from a reputable breeder online like Aquahuna and just not medicate/quarantine them at all and just put them in the main tank?
-
On 6/6/2022 at 6:18 PM, Colu said:
What I would do is daily testing and daily 50% water changes and add a double dose of prime to help detoxify any ammonia and nitirte to try and save your last fish
Ok, I will do that. Does anyone have any tips on how I can quarantine and medicate fish better? I feel really terrible that the water got so bad on them, and I want to do better next time.
-
On 6/6/2022 at 6:07 PM, nabokovfan87 said:
Welcome to the forum!
How did you introduce them to the tank? Can you please let us know your water parameters? Typically something like this happens when the fish aren't happy in the store and then the stress of acclimation usually just ends poorly. It happens to a lot of people far too often, unfortunately.
I have done the med trio a few times and didn't have any issues like that. ACO has done it a few thousand times and I think their experience speaks for itself.
Hopefully this makes sense.... you can wait for petco to get a new batch or check out something like aquahuna.what are the water test result values? what are the status of med treatment? what does your tank have for filtration?
I have .50ppm Ammonia, 1.0 ppm Nitrite and 40ppm Nitrate 😧 Really bad water parameters, I should have been checking them more often, but I didn't realize they were so bad. I am on day 4 of med trio treatment, and have a hang on the back filter with a sponge filter that came from a fully cycled 10 gallon tank.
On 6/6/2022 at 6:07 PM, nabokovfan87 said:Welcome to the forum!
How did you introduce them to the tank? Can you please let us know your water parameters? Typically something like this happens when the fish aren't happy in the store and then the stress of acclimation usually just ends poorly. It happens to a lot of people far too often, unfortunately.
I have done the med trio a few times and didn't have any issues like that. ACO has done it a few thousand times and I think their experience speaks for itself.
Hopefully this makes sense.... you can wait for petco to get a new batch or check out something like aquahuna.what are the water test result values? what are the status of med treatment?
Did the filter dry out in the time you placed it into your water? How long was it in the tank before adding fish?
I put the sponge filter immediately in HOB filter and ran it through with water. This filter had been in an establish tank for a month. I put it in there specifically for a quarantine sponge filter as I read that would cycle a quarantine tank quickly.
-
On 6/6/2022 at 5:47 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:
I'm so sorry you lost your fish. That stinks and has happened to all of us at one point or another.
Have you tried running any tests on the water (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH)? Was the tank cycled? What temp was the water? Did you use a dechlorinator?
I noticed you are using a 5 gallon tank. The med trio has a 10-gallon dosage. Did you halve the medication level?
Upon looking at my tank I see I have one little neon left! I tested my water and Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate are very high. I should have been checking the water more often and sooner, as I am starting to wonder if the tank wasn't cycled and that's what killed everything. I put a sponge filter in the quarantine tank that had come from a cycled 10 gallon aquarium, I thought that would immediately cycle this tank?
I am not sure what to do with the one neon now, I feel really bad, should I just put him in the 10 gallon tank where the water is cycled and is much better? I did half the medication, I even went a little under half just to be safe.
-
Hello everyone!
I recently bought 6 neon tetras from Petco to stock my 10 gallon black water tank. Unfortunately they all passed away and I was wondering if it was because of the med trio and the stress? I put them in a 5 gallon quarantine tank and dosed the correct amount for the med trio, but I was wondering if dosing all three meds at the same time was too much for them and caused the death? If I get more neons would it be better to dose the med trio one per week? Thanks for any advice/tips, I'm still pretty new to the hobby and need all the advice I can get lol.
-
Hey everyone! I recently got a 10 gallon tank (my first!) and wanted to make a planted blackwater set up. I am fairly new to the hobby and did a lot of research on stocking choices and beginner friendly set ups, along with how to cycle the tank and the basic care requirements. After a month of cycling I recently got a dwarf powder blue gourami, and I really enjoyed him. Then a week went by and I purchased 6 pygmy corries, and used the med trio on all of them in my display tank (realized I forgot to quarantine them). I find that my dwarf powder blue tries to eat the pymgy Cory's food and kind of chases them away from their food, so I was going to try to hide their food in a place where he cannot reach it. I reached out on another aquarium forum and mentioned I also eventually wanted to get neon tetras for this tank (5) but I was told this was over stocking. I used AQadvisor's peaceful 10g community set up as a base for this stocking and had also referenced the 10 gallon cookie cutter set up from aquarium coop's blog, so honestly I'm a bit confused lol. If it is overstocking is there a different type of fish I could add to the tank instead of neons?
I've attached a picture of the tank for reference
TL;DR Is a dwarf powder blue gourami, 6 pygmy cories, and 5 neon tetras overstocking in a 10 gallon blackwater set up with driftwood, plants, and rocks?
-
1
-
Scarlet Badis Care?
in General Discussion
Posted
Whoa this is so helpful! Thank you so much for taking the time to write all of this out! I have yet to work with live food and will do some research on seeding tanks--I'll also look into frozen daphnia and spawn and grow rapashy. Right now I have the community repashy gel food some of my other aquarium fish like--maybe I'll see if they are interested in that? I was planning on doing a very heavily planted tank, similar to this aquascape below but with a 10 gallon so I was planning on waiting a while to get fish anyways.
Dang, that is kind of a bummer with the coloring though, do you guys think it is possible to keep 2 males if my tank is going to be densely planted like the image below?
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/7ru2tyfu0nowz7nnr0had/Screenshot-2023-07-24-at-6.33.22-PM.png?rlkey=9td7jd1i684cun3tnp68ag1l9&dl=0 ah image isn't loading, sorry it's this aquascape
oh wow that's such interesting behavior! Hopefully none of the others were hurt!