Tony s

The hard blue drum, or Rubbermaid plastic? I get a slime buildup in my trash cans as well. Very annoying. I just usually use a clean brush and clean it out. But I can lift them into the sink for a final rinse. For larger or heavier drums, you could use hydrogen peroxide straight from the bottle as a disinfectant. The plus side to this is the breakdown into water and oxygen What irritates me, my water is straight ro. And still can get slime on the sides.

Okay. Thanks for the explanation. I’ve done the whole 600level chemistry thing before. But, my goodness, that was 35 years ago.🤣🤣 I’m a bit rusty. Took me a moment to decipher most of that🤣 The problem she’s having is raising the kh to stabilize ph. All for Pygmy Corydoras, which don’t like a high ph at all. They would prefer a ph 6-7. They probably can survive higher, but maybe more difficult if they were wild caught. Adding the baking soda has the side affect of raising the ph beyond the comfort level of pygmies. And pygmies can be a bit sensitive compared to other corys. Suggestions to keep a moderate ph while raising kh would be greatly appreciated. Especially if they’re as cheap as baking soda. 🤣

yeah, one of the reason I prefer the Seachem product to this. If you use both the acid buffer and the alkaline buffer, you can raise your kh while targeting a specific ph. just using one side of the buffer causes your ph to raise. in chemistry that's not really a buffered solution.

for city water that sounds incredibly high. i wonder what the legal limits are? So... How are the little friends this morning? you must be very excited!

yep, that's a mess. possibly if you can get that corroded handle off you might be able to get a socket wrench in there. you'll need a good deepwell to do it. chances of you getting it off are slim to none though. you could break the handle intentionally though. just to get the socket on. and of course, your ceiling is 2 inches above the panel. so even to get to it better you'd end up cutting away a bunch of drywall from 2 directions. they did you dirty possibly the best bet is to completely reconfigure the access panel and/or the valve. depending on how handy you are. or get a contractor to look at it. doesn't look cheap though

yeah, that could be the problem. unfortunately. bettas live between 2-5 years. depending on how they were treated before you got him. no one really knows how old he is or what his treatment was like before. I usually keep anywhere from 2-6 bettas in community tanks. usually from one of the box stores. so they can last me anywhere from a couple of months to 2 1/2 yrs. It honestly sounds like it may be getting old. I have one right now that doesn't swim much but rests on the bottom gravel most of the day. your water and temp look right on for bettas, so nothing you're doing wrong

They make stubby crescent wrenches. Big jaws. Little handles

Yes it’s true. The calcium raises your gh. The carbonate raises your kh. The calcium also raises your ph as it breaks down. It’s why you find higher ph’s in places that have higher hardness. Places that have limestone based soils and aquifers.

I agree. I’ve even gotten in the habit of keeping extra sponges in existing tanks. I’ve actually cycled 2 new tank instantly that way in the last couple of weeks. No ammonia or nitrites to speak of. Yet (Crossing all fingers and toes)

You know, I thought about that. But wasn’t sure it was the exact right kind, or if it was slightly different. Follow the guide. Check if you’re concerned about it. Getting it back to the correct level could speed it up

You could just go to Lowe’s or home depot. They sell whole house water filters that do that. You could just put hose adapters on it if you just want to run it from a hose.

when you get your tank seasoned after a while. Not just cycled, it's a step beyond cycled. it should get easier, and your bacteria should be better able to handle it. but you'd still need to keep it in the back of your mind. fear of nitrogen compounds is what made me dig my well to 130 feet. (well, that and wanting at least 50 gallon per minute capacity) and we're responsible for a lot of the excess nitrogen in our area. thankfully we didn't hit any sulfur pockets on the way down

wow, okay. let me wrap my head around this. nitrites in your tap. In your drinking water. you do know that's poisonous to you too? any chance you have well water. and a lot of animals nearby? and your pygmies will actually do fine in lower ph water.

do you have nitrates yet? usually that bacteria processes about a week or 2 behind the ammonia to nitrite bacteria. but technically you're starting ahead, with nitrites already present

it can get complicated for sure. but since you're starting at zero. you can basically throw out the rest of the math and stick to the ratio when you make new water. just readjust only the water you're adding to the tank. you're getting nitrites from your tap water?

Acid Buffer Alkaline Buffer pH 1 1.3 6.5 1 2.0 7.0 1 2.5 7.5 1 4.0 8.0 let me walk you through it. it's actually pretty easy since you have no kh. if you want a stable ph of 7. I use a tablespoon of alkaline buffer and a half tablespoon of acid buffer. 1 part acid to 2 parts alkaline. the actual measurements don't matter. just the 2 to 1 ratio. you could do 1/2 teaspoon alkaline to 1/4 teaspoon acid. I make a lot of water at one time so you wouldn't want to copy my measurements exactly

I think we're forgetting something here. What kind of fish did you order? different kinds of water for different kinds of fish

keeping my fingers crossed for you. the koi's are one of my favorites. really hoping it turns around. unfortunately, too often it doesn't 😪

not meaning to step over @Colu in anyway. He's got it spot on. I use the Seachem products due to iron bacteria in my well. So, I use reminerilized RO on everything. The Seachem products actually work great for me. But if I may, you'd also want to add the acid buffer with the alkalinity buffer. They have mixing directions on both bottles. I use a 2 to 1 formula of alkalinity to acid buffer. this gets me a constant ph of 7. If you only use the alkalinity buffer, you're only protected from ph crashes. Acid buffer protects you from ph spikes as well. the more you use of each, the higher your kh will rise. so, it takes a bit of trial and error to get to the levels you want. I'd also get your fish in the tank as soon as possible. They are building up ammonia constantly in the bag. I'd do a plop and drop unless they're sensitive species. the reason being the ammonia is relatively contained in the bag, as soon as you open it and add air, it becomes even more toxic. The Aqua Essential is a new one to me. I prefer to use Seachem prime. but follow the bottle directions and it should work the same way.

Mine don't even need the algae exclusively. They do a fine job of cleaning off the invisible biofilm as well

@Pleco Yes, welcome. Just thinking. Since cichlids are so intelligent, you may not be able to judge the species based on him. He might have the equivalent of PTSD and be mad at the whole world

That's kind of what I was thinking. kind of cuts down on the sloshing around and potential for injury. if it sloshes a bit, it just gets bumped into another sloshing bag, instead of hard plastic. you could also keep it dark so they can't see enough to get spooked and jump. As for how else to do it. I'd be hesitant to offer any advice. You know these guys better than anyone else and what they would potentially do given any situation. And they're obviously your babies and incredibly beautiful. So, all I can say is Good Luck with the moves! and get lots of help. I'm sure it will be exhausting. one other thing I might add. Putting them at your parents (in a temporary tote) and taking the tank a week or 2 earlier. that way you could get the tank situated and ready for them without keeping them alive in it at the same time

I cant actually give you a definite answer on that. usually, I treat bettas with fin rot right in their tank. It may be that it does live in the substrate. but it may be that it only infects the betta when it's under stress. lots of diseases work that way. The ones I treat in their tank, I haven't lost a cycle from.

actually a great idea. @Cjbear087 if it's larger than 5 gallons could be much cheaper to treat. all you'd need is a plastic container and an airstone to keep it oxygenated. and your cycle would never be at risk. 5 or 10g probably not making much difference in $, but still protecting your cycle. it's one of the reasons I keep extra spongefilters running in tanks. I can add them to quarratine tanks as needed. or instantly cycle a new tank when desired yeah, that's part of the problem, antibiotic resistance has made it ineffective in treating a lot of diseases That works best for ich. not sure if anything else. Ich is a parasitic disease and part of its life cycle is free swimming. the higher temperature speeds up its life cycle. and the salt doesn't let it get re-established.

maracyn is just the old standard erythromycin. You would be better off with maracyn2. Both have an equal chance of killing your cycle. and if you're not doing an extended course of either, the cycle should be fine