anodyne99

Thanks Whitecloud09! Can you tell me how I would know whether a light is considered high, medium or low on my tank? Of course the manufacturer sold it as "super bright!", and it looks bright to me, but I'm not sure I trust that to be true by anyone else's standards!

I don't have any advice, but I have the same thing happening, lots of runners but the taller plants don't seem to be doing well or are outright fading and being eaten by snails. I have heard that some plants may focus energy on sending out runners before they focus on growing tall, but I don't know whether to trust that. I hope someone will chime in with more experience with this plant. This is my second try, last time I think I gave up too soon.

What a beautiful tank! I am so sorry. Neon tetra disease is just terrible to deal with.

Do you know if it was caused by mycobacteria? If so, the only sure way to eradicate it is to cull the whole tank population and sterilize everything with a strong bleach solution, ethyl alcohol, or iodine. If you use bleach, it has to stay in contact with the objects for at least 20 minutes. Some people have had success preventing it from moving between fish and tanks with UV sterilizers, but other research indicates that the bacteria can heal itself after UV exposure. It's really tough to eliminate, especially in animals already exposed. Snails, shrimp and other types of fish can all contract and/or carry it. "Various disinfectants have been evaluated in our laboratory for their ability to disinfect the water, aquatic surfaces and equipment of an aquarium or aquaculture facility. An effective disinfectant is defined as one whose use results in a 3-log reduction of bacterial growth within 10 minutes of contact time. PVP iodine (100 ppm, 50 ppm), ethyl alcohol (70% and 50%), benzyl-4-chlorophenol/phenylphenol (Lysol®) and sodium chlorite (Clidox-S®) were the most effective disinfectants, each reducing the number of detectable M. marinum to zero within one min of contact time. Sodium hypochlorite (Clorox®) was moderately effective, but required at least 10 min of contact time to reduce bacterial counts and 20 min of contact time to eliminate the organism. Formalin (250 ppm), Chloramine-T (15mg/L), potassium peroxymonosulfate/sodium chloride (1%, Virkon-S®), and two formulations of N-alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride (1:256, Roccal-D Plus®, 1:256, Micronex®) were not effective against M. marinum."

It's a little hard to tell from the photos, but is he also skinny? Sometimes bettas get fin rot, clamped fins, erratic swimming, and slowly increasing general lethargy as a result of a bacterial infection with mycobacterium marinum. It's more common in bettas because they breathe from the surface where this bacteria creates a film. Unfortunately it's not usually responsive to antibiotics, but some people have had success slowing it down with UV sterilizers. If you have any other tanks, definitely sterilize nets and siphons between them. In very rare instances it can cause skin infections in humans, so you want to wear gloves when working in his tank if you have broken skin on your hands or a weakened immune system.

I know this is an old post! If anyone sees this, do you know what size scoop is referenced here? It says 1 TBSP food, but for the Kanaplex and Focus it just says 1 scoop. Is that a scoop that comes with Kanaplex or Focus? Thanks so much, I am treating 3 corys with likely epistylus and hoping to mix this into Repashy.

Since an aquarium is an enclosed box of water and can't ever really mimic the biodiversity and chemistry of a true ecosystem, it seems unlikely that the substances monitored for by test kits are the only relevant variables. Fish emit hormones and shed bacteria and viruses and there are all sorts of plastics in our tanks and water, just so much more going on than the standard API kit can tell you about. I say that as someone who once killed a tank of beloved 7-year-old goldfish with a water change done when my city switched to a different water source due to contamination one summer. I understand that there is some risk to a water change. I prefer to manage that by testing new water before it goes in the tank and maintaining stability by regularly changing out old water with all the accumulated bacteria, hormones etc. for fresh water with the same basic parameters.

I had a small female Hillstream loach in my 25 gallon community with 10 Corydoras Adolfoi and 10 green neon tetra. She has remained tiny and I thought maybe she'd do better in a group. I brought home a male and female just a little bigger than her (they didn't have any quite as tiny) and the male has just been harassing the two females. It's especially bad when there is food in the tank. I have been feeding them with Bacter ae, Hikari algae wafers and Repashy. It's a well established planted tank with lots of biofilm and hiding places. The smaller female (my original fish) is now hiding all the time, and the larger female is just constantly getting pecked whenever he spots her. Should I assume that he is adjusting and establishing his territory, or is he just a jerk and it would be better to return him and give the females some peace? I thought Hillstream loaches were peaceful, except for some possible squabbling among males around food! 😬 Before you ask: yes, I am sure of the sexes.

You definitely want to get him to a separate tank. He could have parasites, he could have mycobacterium, in either case, continuing to keep him with the others is only going to spread disease. I would treat him for parasites separately and see if he improves, if so, treat the whole group. If not, you can try treatments for wasting disease and supportive care in a separate tank where he won't have to compete for food.

I currently have a 24 inch on my Waterbox Mini 25. The light has no trouble reaching the bottom of the tank and I think the light color is just gorgeous. My Ludwigia super-red is especially thriving under it. The only issue I am having is that the tank is about 16 inches deep and I have a sort of triangle of shadow at the front that is especially noticeable when my green neons swim in the upper front quadrant of the tank. This has persisted regardless of how high the light is adjusted up. I've ordered a second 24 inch light that I think will solve the problem and allow me to lower the light in front for my Anubias and Subwassertang while turning it up a bit in the back for my stem plants. I see the coop site recommends 1 light for tanks of similar depth like a 40 breeder. I would suggest that most tanks over 12 inches front to back will probably benefit from 2 lights to avoid the areas of shadow. I think it's well worth it for the color and the build quality.

Thank you so much, I look forward to checking out the information you've shared. I appreciate it!

Last week I had a betta die at 18 months, after a year of dwindling and progressive emaciation, ending with clamped fins and fin rot, then buoyancy issues. Over the course of the last 6 months I tried the med trio, then just Praziquantel, then Kanaplex, and finally plain salt. His fin rot stopped progressing but did not regrow, and otherwise he just continued to get sicker. I know the seller I bought him from later shared that they had an outbreak of m. marinum at their facility. They import from a breeder in Thailand and resell. I'm pretty sure that's what got my betta. He lived in his own tank with a mystery snail, but I have two other community tanks in the same room within 6 feet. I also used the same siphon in multiple tanks before I had ever heard of mycobacterium. I am anxious to do whatever I can to ensure the safety of my other fish. I hate to think of just waiting to see if they succumb. I found Diana Walstad's article in which she recommends dealing with outbreaks by running a UV sterilizer in quarantine tanks and tanks with new fish. However, she doesn't share very specific info regarding their use. It seems she used sterilizers for about 6 months to control her own outbreak, but recommends 2-3 weeks in QT and then an unspecified amount of time once the fish are moved to the display tanks. Does anyone have more detailed info? I understand that UV treatment seems to be the anecdotally supported mitigation strategy that comes up most often. I also keep hearing that the most important thing to do is support immunity, and that UV sterilizers can alter the healthy balance of bacteria in aquaria and thus weaken the fish. It seems like getting the right balance is important. How long is too long and tips you into doing more harm than good? If anyone knows of a well-designed study on the use of UV to mitigate outbreaks of mycobacteria, I would be very grateful if you could share. If you have more detailed anecdotal experience with this to share, that would be welcome too!

Just in case it's helpful in the future, a research lab found iodine to be more effective than both bleach and hydrogen peroxide for eliminating mycobacterium marinum. Apparently there is a lot of misinformation and many old wives tales in circulation about this disease, even among veterinary professionals. Especially concerning is that many people continue to think it's rare in the hobby, when in fact it's been found to be widespread. Iodine might be a safer and more effective choice than Lysol if you have to deal with this in the future. I really hope not, it's so awful. Here is a link to the paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1532045615001246

I have gone through various types of glass and acrylic sheeting lid options. At first I was buying sheets off of the internet and cutting them myself, but I found it too difficult to control the blade to get the precise cuts I wanted. I also found that the 1/8 inch sheets I bought bowed when exposed to the warm water of my aquariums. I ended up finding a plastics store near me that would custom cut 1/4 inch acrylic sheets. They will do cutouts and drill holes for airlines and easy lifting as well. With the 1/4 inch thickness there is no bowing and the insulation is terrific. I do have one custom cut glass lid, but don't like it as well as it's much heavier, more awkward to work with, and there is always the worry that I will bonk it the wrong way and shatter it.

I will try rewashing it and see if it still works. That's a good idea. Maybe a soak in vinegar to cut any oils will help.

I've been using floss to filter out fine particles and every time I change it out I feel a pang of guilt for contributing to micro-plastics in the waste stream. Has anyone experimented with alternatives that are less...plastic? If so I'd love to know how it went for you. What worked or didn't? Have you got any ideas that might work? Please let me know and I'm happy to test 'em out and report back! I'm feeling a bit stumped myself. Thanks for considering!

That's a really good idea. I think dedicating the space will be worth it to reduce my anxiety! Thank you.

Is there any way to stabilize the ph in a situation like this? I live in Portland, where our water is treated with lye to a ph of 8.8, but is totally soft, almost like RO/DI water, and the ph drops to 6.8-7 over the course of a week. If I'm not careful I can crash ph while cycling a new tank. I was advised to add shrimp salts direct to our tap water. Is that crazy for fish? I don't want to end up chasing the original fresh tap ph, but neither do I want it to be so labile!

How do you all store your flakes/pellets/freeze dried food? I accidentally bought an extra canister of flakes recently and wondered how best to store them before and after opening. I know there is super specific guidance for dog and cat foods, but not sure about fish! *bonus question: if you cut a mini block of brine shrimp in half to feed a nano tank, can you return the remaining half to the container? Should you put it in a separate plastic bag or wrap it with tinfoil or something?

Thank you so much. It sounds like you used Prime with success. I will keep the Prazipro in the water for now. I noticed that other formulations of praziquantel don't mention this sulfur issue, which makes me wonder if it isn't really about selling more product. I suppose it could be chemically altered in some way in their specific formulation, but fingers crossed it still works!

I'd just done the recommended large water change with my trusty Prime dechlorinator and added Prazipro to treat my fish when I found this on the Hikari website: "NOTE: We do not recommend using any sulfur or sulfinite-based water conditioners with this product. If your normal water conditioner does not list the ingredients please verify with the maker that it does not contain these ingredients. If you notice any rotten egg smell to the product, it likely does have these ingredients and should be avoided as it could cause the product to be less effective and the dissolved oxygen levels to be negatively impacted." Argh! What should I do now? Prime smells pretty darn sulfurous. Do I change it out immediately? If so, can I restart tomorrow after I've obtained a sulfur-free water conditioner and done a 100% change, or do I need to wait three days? Can I leave it overnight? I don't notice any ill effects on my fish or but perhaps that's because the sulfur has inactivated the praziquantel? Finally, does anyone know of a sulfur free-Prazpro safe water conditioner? Hikari recommends that I buy one of their products (of course) that I've never seen available near me, alas.