NikkiRae

I added a pic

PH:8 Alkalinity: 200 GH: 75 Nitrate: 20 Nitrite: 0 Ammonia: 0 My pearl gourami developed black patches over night. Recent changes include adding a new water lily 4 days ago, mopani wood 2 weeks ago, and trumpet snails last night. Has anyone seen this before? I was thinking black spot disease but I think those typically look like spots whereas this looks like patches. He has been hiding more than usual but I have seen no evidence of bullying. There is a sand bottom and I got the trumpet snails to make sure it gets stirred. Is it possible that there was something in the sand they stirred up?

Thank you. I am starting off low and slow. My plants are healthy but I wanted to see if co2 would give them a little more pep in their step. The anubias are naturally slow growers and I am hoping it might speed them up a little. I plan to up it little by little. What kind of 5 lb tank do you use? I was considering the citric acid method but went with yeast for my first experiment. I'll look into the mead yeast 🙂 That makes me feel a lot better. Thanks.

I recently made a DIY co2 setup for my 55 gallon with yeast and brown sugar. I have been watching it for 2 days before putting it in my tank and it is steadily producing 0.5-1 bubble per minute. This is exactly what I was hoping for but I would like some input from others experience that have used this method in regard to mistakes, epic fails, and successes.

leopard ctenopoma!!! They would go perfectly and are also from the Congo. Your tetra's get to be about 3 inches and the leopard ctenopoma tops out at 6 and is a gentle fish. They are labyrinth fish just like gourami's.

Thanks 😊. I thought quarantining snails sounded dramatic, but was warned about “hitchhikers”. I agree that there is always a risk but in this case it is a very small risk. They are now in my healthy 55g.

I think the branches in the middle part could be strategically placed to make that scenario unlikely, such as a tall tree that goes to the top the canopy hangs down, but anything is possible.

I got some snails and I have heard that they can carry fish diseases in their shells, so it is best to quarantine. I really don't want snails in the quarantine tank I have set up for potential onboarding fish (which I didn't think about before hand). I would like thoughts on the necessity of quarantining snails.

I can picture what you are describing and it sounds so cool and unique!

My sunset honey Gourami's swim against me when I am doing maintenance and my hand is in the tank. I decided to see if they would let me pet them and they did. Then I put my hand in a cup shape and they took turns swimming in and out of my hand. It was really interesting, but not something I decided to make a habit out of because it isn't reomended. I don't think you are going to hurt your fish unless you are being rough, forcing it against its will, or have something toxic on your hands. It is your personal choice.

I have never heard of an instance where someone was hurt by a tiger barb 😀

If you’re not worried about spending a little more $, I don’t think there is anything wrong with the better safe than sorry method.

I buy pool test kits to use if I am only testing for chlorine. That way I’m not wasting expensive test strips.

Well, even though the excessive de-chorinator isn’t gonna hurt anything, and after using bleach, I always go overboard, that doesn’t mean the more the better. Dechlorinated is pretty expensive so it can be a waste of money. I would just use a little more than the recommended amount for your equipment soak and then test the water to see if there’s any amount of chlorine in it. If you detect chlorine, then add some more.

When I use bleach I go over board with the rinsing and decorator because it’s better safe than sorry. You aren’t going to hurt your fish because you added a ton of prime to your de-chlorination soak. Just don’t dump the water straight into the aquarium. I have started using hydrogen peroxide instead of bleach because there is less risk, but bleach is a good choice to sanitize after diseases.

Thank you.

After more thought, I am worried. How do you know when they are melting? Will the other true aquatic plants help prevent a cycle crash by using the melting plants for nutrition?

Thank you 🙂 There is actually a total of 8 Anubias plants in there that you couldn't see because of the grass LOL. Another valid reason to spruce it up a bit. There is also a large exploding Java fern in the back that you can't see. I did trim some of the grass and moved it to the back last night but I'm thinking it needs more. It is sad that you can't see my beautiful Aubias. The only hardscape I like in that tank is the drift wood. I am waiting for warmer weather and then I am going to head to Lake Superior and find some nice pieces. I want it to make it as natural as possible. I would never have known because they are so healthy and have been in there so long. Thank you for the info. I am going to read up on it more.

Thank you everyone. I appreciate the knowledge and feedback.

From the majority of comments I have seen here, with the well established eco system in my 55g, I could go longer without changing the water. Thank you for the info. Takes a lot of stress off of my shoulders. As for my live bearer tank, it has to be cleaned once a week. That's because it is on the smaller end and not planted. I accidentally typed 20 gallons previously but they are in a 10 G. I only have 5 fish in there so it isn't inhumane, but not ideal for fish that poop constantly.

My ph is always on the high end ranging between 7.5 and 8. I have never seen a crash and when I first started keeping fish and had absolutely no idea what I was doing, I would use PH down to try to get it to match the care sheets of my fish. I now know how silly that was. I am thinking since I have never seen a drop in these numbers when I do my weekly testing, that I have never had a bad water situation. As far as hardness, I live on the "iron range" so there is extremely hard water so I have a softener that I have had to adjust because it made the water was ridiculously soft. Thank you for the info!

Don't worry. The fish are fine with water changes. They just hide in the corner because there is a giant tube sucking water out of their tank, and their stuff gets moved around. My pearl gourami will hide longer than the other fish afterward but she is just like that. When I put water back in, the fish play under the new water stream. My true question was if it is necessary. They live in an aquarium with excellent water quality and I do weekly water changes. I was just avoiding it and while looking at the crystal clear water, I wondered if it was really needed if their tank looked so clean.

I’m I. Northern Mn, I have a lot oh rams horns but I appreciate you generosity

They don’t “hate it”. Fish just don’t like you all up in their business. They are like old men and resist change. They don’t get super stressed or anything you can just tell they don’t like it. Writing this out I realize that I am actually a weirdo because I can tell that my fish aren’t “stressed”. But stressed in a way like if a house keeper cleaned your house and decided to put the plates in a different cup board. All water changes are done. I have a 55 gallon with one pearl gourami, two honey gouramis, five glow light tetras, two black phantom tetras, two golden barbs, two red barbs, and one very lonely, ember tetra. I know about shoals and some of the numbers aren’t ideal. And the ember was an accident. Somehow wound up in the bag so I kept him and figured I’d see what happens . In my 20 gallon I have six black phantom tetras. I have my beta in a 10 gallon. I have a few mollies in a 20 gallon. And I have two glow lights and an oto in a 15. Whoops forgot about the 4 danios in the 55

That is a cool thing about the internet. I probably won't skip it. I just don't WANNNNA LOL.