MommaOlenik
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Posts posted by MommaOlenik
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On 9/23/2022 at 10:19 AM, GisheryGoodness said:
It is very hard to tell mine has definitely lost half of his beautiful tail but I think it has finally stopped, still not seeing regrowth though. Id just keep up what you're doing, keeping the water clean as you can. I'd say if he's eating at least that's a good sign. I'm not super experienced though.
I ended up feeding him the kanaplex Mix for two and a half weeks skipping about three feedings total here and there to not overload but wasn’t seeing much progress fin-wise. I stopped after that and just waited to see what happened and his energy level was about back to normal. Anyway… we have fin growth and bubble blowing!!! It worked! He’s even starting to get some blue back on his face ☺️How is your little guy doing?
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On 9/17/2022 at 12:09 PM, GisheryGoodness said:
Seems to be doing alright, fairly active at least, no further loss, still haven't seen any regrowth but I'm just keeping a close eye on him and keeping the water clean. Glad yours seems to be doing alright as well
I don’t know that mine is. I’ve been giving it to him for a little over a week now and I think he is still losing fun. Maybe not as fast but it’s so hard to tell. He’s still eating and everything just lost over half his tail. 😢
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On 9/10/2022 at 8:43 PM, GisheryGoodness said:
Mine has also lost half his fin, it's very disconcerting to see isnt it. I'm just feeding once a day. That seems to work for all of mine, except the gluttonous platy tank, thinking about going to every other day or something with them, lol.
It is? I think mine is doing well. At least doesn’t seem to be getting worse 🫣 How is yours?
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On 9/9/2022 at 8:00 PM, GisheryGoodness said:
He's definitely feeling better, I haven't noticed new growth yet but it hasn't gotten worse either. He literally took food out of my hand the other day, scared me half to death, lol. But I think this route is a very trusted way of doing things. Many here have had luck with treating internally better than just in the water column. Sometimes pet store employees mean well but aren't always the most educated.
Oh good I’m so glad he is feeling better. I started giving mine that mixture yesterday so no improvement yet. But he is still eating well. He just has lost about half of his fins since what I thought was fin growth was actually the fin turning white before falling off 😢 How many times a day are you feeding?
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How is he doing? I just went to the fish store to get the stuff y’all suggested because my fish is having similar symptoms after some recent issues with my nitrogen filter. Anyway, I ended up having a 15 minute badgering session where the employees argued with me for wanting to feed my betta the kanaplex. They said fin rot is an external/cosmetic issue and needs to be treated externally by treating the tank. When I told them I didn’t want to do that after the recent nightmare I had when I crashed my good bacteria they laughed at me and said kanaplex won’t kill my bacteria. They also said that Focus was only for some other kind of meds and wouldn’t work with the kanaplex. So I’m just curious if this method is working for you. I hope your little guy is feeling better. He is beautiful!
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On 8/4/2022 at 10:30 PM, nabokovfan87 said:
I assume she's full grown. I moved her back in the tank with her panda bros. They grew up in a 75G tank and she's basically has always been the one the tank in centered around and made for. She knows it too! LOL.
That’s awesome. She probably enjoys having the company. That’s why I try to interact with Moby so he doesn’t get bored. Haha
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On 8/4/2022 at 12:04 AM, nabokovfan87 said:
She's a night owl. The corys were going bananas and then she wanted to play or make sure they were ok. One of those two. 😂
Oh wow Grace is beautiful. Love the setup and everything. Is she an adult or baby?
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That’s so cool. I’ve read about them having very loving personalities.
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On 8/3/2022 at 9:34 PM, nabokovfan87 said:
It'll be very interesting one day when you get a bolivian ram! That's my betta type single tank fish of choice right now. I really need to find a green and black or all black betta from a decent source. I have been tempted a few times, but just always worry about filtration and so many other variables. One day 🙂 .
My "betta" right now is Grace the shark. She gets her own tank for her and it's made and setup JUST for her 🙂 . She gets to hang out with 30 of her panda bros, but that's entirely her choice. She is a Red-Tailed Black Shark and just the most unique personality, exactly like a betta or ram. So fun when you do get a chance to connect with a fish one on one so often.
Oh she sounds awesome. Do you have any pictures of her??
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On 8/3/2022 at 8:20 PM, nabokovfan87 said:
One day I will get a betta. Honestly, I'm so worried because I've seen so many issues trying to keep them!
I am so relieved to see you and the little one relaxing and recovering. Happy days.The crazy thing is I don’t remember a time where I haven’t had a betta and I’ve never had issues like this. And I even had them in those crazy small bowls believing the pet stores that they were happy in a small space like that. I never even had a filter or a heater. Definitely never tested my water until I started with cichlids and dabbled with saltwater. I think breeding has a lot to do with it. I’ve rescued a few in bad shape from the chain pet stores and have had mixed luck. I just lost the last one that had a terrible case of fin rot. He started getting better then it just came back with a vengeance. I absolutely recommend them. They have fun personalities. When I was doing all of this stuff to his tank he would literally follow me until I would stop moving so he could curl up in my hand. So cool. Thank you so much, very happy days!!!
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He’s hard to get a good picture of but you can kind of see the little white spots of fin regrowth. And happy hugs for his home no longer being a toxic place ♥️
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On 7/31/2022 at 11:52 PM, nabokovfan87 said:
Super weird! All I can think is a certain food or something that causes it.
Difficult to say.
Very cool! I hope both of you are recovering from all the stress 🙂
Ammonia looks about .1-.15 ppm.
I don't remember, but potentially this is from the tap?Super cute little fin bump from Moby today!
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On 7/31/2022 at 11:52 PM, nabokovfan87 said:
Super weird! All I can think is a certain food or something that causes it.
Difficult to say.
Very cool! I hope both of you are recovering from all the stress 🙂
Ammonia looks about .1-.15 ppm.
I don't remember, but potentially this is from the tap?I definitely am happy to be hopefully at the end of this. I can’t believe what a roller coaster this has been. Definitely was a lot more tolerable with all your support. Thank you!
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On 7/31/2022 at 11:52 PM, nabokovfan87 said:
Super weird! All I can think is a certain food or something that causes it.
Difficult to say.
Very cool! I hope both of you are recovering from all the stress 🙂
Ammonia looks about .1-.15 ppm.
I don't remember, but potentially this is from the tap?No, I’m finishing what’s left of the spring water still. So it’s definitely not from the tap. I think maybe I just got a sample of where he just peed or something lol. It was weird. Or maybe I put in too many drops. Who knows. But I tested two more times after that and both had just a tiny amount. The passed few days have been pretty good with no ammonia or just trace amounts. I’ve also noticed some brown algae starting to grow. And a bit of fin regrowth on Moby from the touch of fin rot he got from all of this. Today is a good day!! 🥹
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On 7/27/2022 at 6:49 PM, nabokovfan87 said:
I got the gang valve from amazon, aquaneat or something is likely the brand. Aquarium co-op sells all of the stuff now. Ziss airstones, metal gang valve, and they all are what I run.
LOL one of these days I promise I won't try to move the bottles out of the way so I can see the color chart. My dyslexia has me doing comical things trying to get the color chart order in line with the bottle order in line with the vial order.
I saw the one above and just had to giggle. "nah, I can't tell".
I think the values are "within range", but just keep an eye out. You're definitely making progress!
Haha I never even thought about you guys seeing the chart. That’s my bad lol. Thank you all so much for the information. Im going to try to get the air stone this week using your suggestions. The water has been holding pretty steady the past few days. Except yesterday the first test showed super high levels of ammonia but the subsequent tests showed the same as above. So not sure what happened there, but it seems to be leveling out. I’ve only done one water change in the past four days. I appreciate everyone sticking with me through this and I know Moby does too. He has been swimming all around and enjoying his log more only rarely looking out the back of the tank♥️
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On 7/25/2022 at 11:40 PM, nabokovfan87 said:
I have both so it's all good either way. The weirdest thing for me is how different flow can be even with the same stone. Being able to adjust the pump, to adjust the flow is something I'll always try to have for situations like what you're going through. Let me get that for you, I'll try record both and show you the adjustment stuff. 🙂
Youtube is still processing, but here's the links.
Normal airstone:
29G Tank - 40G rated airpump, I can run 2x airstones/filters very easily, not quite 3.
Ziss Airstone:
29G Tank - 150G rated "deep" air pump (tetra AP150). I can run 3-4 items on one pump pretty easily.Keep in mind on the ziss you can still controll pressure / bubble size by using the felt discs. The normal airstones will eventually need to be replaced, but the ziss ones or other plastic ones shouldn't. (ziss = plastic with felt disks)
Oh wow yeah the one I got was too much. I need something like those that I can control. Where do you get yours from if you don’t mind sharing? Thank you so much!
Anyone interested in an update… I spoke too soon 😩
It’s not terrible but still there 🤬
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On 7/25/2022 at 8:49 PM, nabokovfan87 said:
That is really awesome to hear the progress. Definitely weird that the cartridge was doing that in some capacity. On your airstone is it one of the adjustable ones? I was reading something about fish and how noise can stress them. Maybe that is what Moby was reacting to? I saw it once in the ACO videos, the ziss airstone, you add on an extra felt piece and then you can adjust it to be pretty calm / silent as a result. I can take a video of mine if you want to see it. The water "moves", but I would think it's pretty gentle flow and noise.
I don’t know if it was the cartridge. It could just be a coincidence. At this point who knows. I’ll just be happy when it stays this way and I can go back to testing once a week or so. I’ve gone through so many of the test kits since this all started lol. I should have just listened to you on the airstone. I did the opposite and bought a cheap one so it is not adjustable and probably more suited for a 50 gallon not a 5. I would love to see yours if you wouldn’t mind. That would be great thank you!!
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Alright so after having an existential crisis over whether I should even have a fish in an aquarium in my house after this whole debacle. I decided to go ahead and get rid of the filter cartridge. It was making the water smell funky and I have been wanting rid of it for weeks now. So I just pulled off the bandaid and removed it. Everyday since the water levels have been steadily going down and for the passed 2 days 🤞🏼 it has been staying at zero. I’m not going to get too excited but that’s where we are. On another note… the air stone is NOT for Moby. He took off running as soon as I put it in and would not come out. So I’ll just remove any film by hand. Thanks again everyone. Hopefully we are getting there.
On 7/24/2022 at 4:09 AM, nabokovfan87 said:This video explains really well the interaction between dechlorinator, ammonia spikes, and water changes.
I watched this video a few weeks ago. Super helpful. I just watched it again as a refresher. Thanks for posting it for others to see if they haven’t seen it.
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On 7/22/2022 at 5:51 PM, nabokovfan87 said:
Looks great. Hopefully it's easier to maintain. Just remember to clean the media and stuff with dechlorinated or tank water from now on.
Keep an eye on test results, but you should see things settle down a bit easier now.
Thank you all so much for your help. I really appreciate it. Either way we are still better than we were when I first came here. So I am nothing but thankful. I just ordered an air stone. It should be here Sunday so hopefully that will help too.
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On 7/22/2022 at 5:48 PM, nabokovfan87 said:
Charcoal/carbon is fine as long as you're not actively running meds. It is not required for day to day filtration.
The AC50 sponge should work well for your use. I believe the other one shown is the same sponge but a different thickness.
The ziss ones from ACO are really nice airstones because you can adjust the flow. There's a few of them that have this feature. I would recommend not getting the very cheap lee's or others because I've broken the stems off about a dozen times and been stuck without an airstone.
This is a pretty good point and this is one of the main reasons I don't like to treat ammonia by using prime daily.
Sachems website states that prime works for the time specified. It also says DO NOT dose prime more than once every 24 hours.
One of the safest ways to manage ammonia, nitrites is with water changes. Given the issues with cycle and tap, hopefully this gets easier!
The only thing with this is that I’m not seeing ammonia. Or do you mean it could be converting it to ammonium and that’s why I’m showing no ammonia with a ton of nitrite? Or am I missing what you’re saying? I am doing water changes every other day but still using spring water that I’ve tested prior to treating with anything to ensure there’s no ammonia or anything in it. I want to keep with that until I see it has fully cycled to ensure there’s enough bacteria to handle the ammonia in my tap water which can sometimes be at 1 ppm or higher. What do you guys think?
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Ok, so I used the two pieces of sponge I already had in there. Putting the coarsest one on the bottom and then layered a piece of each of the other ones I got on top. I rinsed them all thoroughly. There was just enough room for the little bio max ceramic things on top. Lastly, I put the filter cartridge next to the filter. Just in case. What do you think? And of course Moby… cause he’s cute but a little too wiggly for a glamor shot but that’s just one of the things we love about him ❤️
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On 7/22/2022 at 1:47 PM, nabokovfan87 said:
I'd add an airstone to try to break this up. It's likely from the food or that slime stuff that shows up on equipment (white film) in lower flow tanks.
Understood, so you're saying it was in the tank itself? or inside the intake where the grill is? I appreciate it!
Based on just the shape of the foams I think part of the issue, reason for the film and stuff is just the way the filter is loaded. If you remove the green cartridge you'd want that foam to completely cover the bottom of that filter cavity. It would have some sort of an oval shape and then water flows up, into your media. You'd be looking at something like this:
If it doesn't make sense please let me know and I'll try to find a better video or photos. If you have any concerns about bacteria in the tank and interrupting the cycle you can take the cartridge that you have now and just set it near the filter in the tank for 7-14 days and it will allow the new sponge to take in some of the bacteria and start colonizing the new media. If the ceramic has been in there a while, there's no real need to do this.
This should help to remove the film as well that you're seeing if this isn't the while biofilm I was mentioning earlier.Just went to the local pet store. They didn’t have any small air stones so I’ll have to get one off of Amazon. But does this look about right? And just to be sure… no charcoal right?
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On 7/21/2022 at 7:48 PM, nabokovfan87 said:
It looks like nitrite is the only one that's having struggles for you. Let me check something.
EDIT: Ok, can you please take some photos of your filter installed, unplug it, show whatever it inside of it, and then just plug it back in?
I am just curious what is causing this bacteria needed not to thrive. If there is some high level of ammonia (not showing up on the testing), it seems to be easily turning into nitrites and then you have the floating plants taking in all the nitrates. The nitrates are showing up on the test (this is good), but it's not something where the levels are of any real concern.The one sponge is cleaner because I just had it under the bottom of the filter where the intake is so it was just vacuumed there. Because I was afraid to touch the filter. But I put it inside after I took it apart to show you.
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Here are some pictures of his tank too. The heater is set at 79 and there’s this new oily looking stuff floating on top of his water.
Help Please!
in General Discussion
Posted · Edited by MommaOlenik
Finally… I think the nightmare is over. After feeding kanaplex via food for a little over two weeks. Then waiting another week or so, I am finally starting to see fin growth AND bubble blowing. He is even getting the blue back on his face 🥹. He got a bad case of fin rot after the cycled crashed. Now, water is good, fins are growing, and Moby is my happy, gentle, and excitable little guy. Thank you all so much for your help, you literally saved his life and my heart!! ♥️
