AdamTill

Latex “fumes” aren’t super toxic, but good advice above. Could run carbon temporarily if really worried

Oto babies growing up

Lol, fair. That said, if you’re a fellow software developer (Shopify here) you may like Home Assistant and Node Red (both open source). It makes hardware limitations much simpler to work around with software. As I said, devices that remember state are much simpler, but if I had to choose I still prefer default on. That way it doesn’t turn off my air pumps or filters. I can poll lights every minute and change state based off software for lights. I haven’t heard Cory’s thoughts on the matter, but I have warnings that sound if heaters or filters are off for more than an hour. It sends me both push notifications on mobile and voice alerts by Alexa. Works very well, and saved me at least once after a water change.

People have tried it in riparium setups, and I haven’t heard of long terms success. Doesn’t mean it’s impossible though

Generally needs more light than you can give it indoors

Yeah, some smart devices will do that. It’s why I have more expensive smart bulbs that remember state in bedrooms, so power outages don’t turn on all the lights when they go away. Home Automation setups can be made smart enough to poll state every few mins, and check against expected conditions. Then they correct devices relatively quickly. To be fair, Fluval 3.0s etc do this too (reset on power loss)

I also used a large diaphragm pond pump for over a year. Cheaper but potentially less reliable

Do you use any fertilizer?

Totally recommend the pvc manifold that runs around the room + linear piston pump combo

One of those silly betta hydroponic setups. That poor first fish was doomed but got both my wife and I hooked.

Replace some of it. That said, I’m breeding otos and cories in basically that same water

Gram scale is $10 off Amazon, just get one you can calibrate and spring for a calibration weight. People have made up solutions and used them for months, but Prime specifically has preservatives so do so at your risk. Double and triple doses are used in some cases so you do have some wiggle room

2 horses, 3 cats, and a rabbit we found in the back yard last winter. Feels a bit “ark-y” around here at times lol

Potentially knocking algae back means healthier plants at times too, I believe.

40ppm nitrate won’t be great for but won’t kill healthy otos, but getting them healthy can be a bit of a trick. My experience is actually that a wormer rather than an antibiotic is a big help there. They’re often very starved coming in, and suck up all the waste from other fish that may have been in the same holding tank. As such, they’re prone to gut parasites. Some people also have issues feeding them if they need more food than the tank directly provides.

Blame Seachem, but make sure you’re talking the right Excel. When you say “instead of C02” it makes me think that you’re meaning the algaecide/“liquid Co2” product, but my understanding is that Flourish Excel is the fertilizer product. Otherwise @Jack.of.all.aquariums nailed the reason above Edit: was wrong, flourish is the glut-lite product

Kudos @Coronal Mass Ejection Carl, well spotted. I’m a fan of Safe just because of ease of storage, but I’m fascinated by the thought that it’s not quite the product I thought it was.

Really? News to me. I’ll have to look into that

I personally think it isn’t common knowledge because it’s not a common problem. Otherwise experienced keepers doing the same thing you do would have yelled about it more often. That said worth being aware of in case it plagues you in some future house or with crazy sensitive fish.

Not a trivial thing, either. We had some very expensive goldfish die after being sent to us, and after sending one off to the pathology lab here they credited gas bubble damage from shipment in combination with preexisting gill fluke damage. Made worse of course from the pressure changes in flight.

I think the moral of the story is that if you have a reason to do so, go for it. Just don’t become one of the people that thinks everyone should.

Guessing they mean overstocked. 3ppm nitrite is super toxic, so dose extra prime and change a lot of water until it comes down. Also, don’t underestimate goldfish and their water change needs. Our two breeder orandas needed 90% weekly and 10% daily (auto) to keep nitrates at 20ppm in their 75gal tank. So even if you’re doing two changes, if those are 20% etc changes the tests are showing that’s not enough. If you’re still getting nitrites you have very dirty filters, they’re undersized, or you never finished cycling.

Some people turn aging water into a religion, but it’s really only even useful in a tiny handful of cases. There’s one goldfish vendor in particular that claims that they can “see” whether a client has aged their water appropriately by colour...at least for purposes of honouring warranty claims. The cases where they’re appropriate have been covered here already...well water, stabilizing oxygen or pH, etc. The extreme cases are the ranchu folk who keep small ponds for raising fish without filters, and change the fish from pond to pond every few days (100% water changes with aged water). Can’t argue with their success, but certainly not my style. The closest I came was a 100 gallon tank I filled up daily for my fish room. I could then use it for changes on the other tanks. I added dechlor and aerated it, but even that I wouldn’t call aging. It’s tough to find room for even moderate size tanks to duplicate the water volume.

First, I’d run an airstone in a bucket of tap water for 24 hrs to see if anything changes. Sometimes chems are added to protect piping that are not stable long term. Next, try to see if the changes are long term changes. If they are, I’d consider adapting the fish slowly to the new tap water. I’ve managed RO and remineralizing long term and it’s a LOT of work on weeks where life is getting crazy. If it helps, I’m breeding otos at 8+ with no issue, so most species can adapt. Plants especially.

I know why it’s recommended, I’m just saying it’s not always necessary. It’s not like the fish’s body is unaware of the trauma after all. That said, I also wouldn’t criticize using it.