Biotope Biologist

That is a very vibrant tank you have! I thought about adding them to my brackish setup as I too have read that they have been caught at times in brackish ponds and streams, but I do not know how much salinity they can actually take for extended periods of time. I decided to omit them from my list since they don't seem to be a true estuarine species.

Plecos in my experience prefer mature mats of algae. Any of the surface algaes I would go for a snail crew. My bristlenose specifically usually didn't eat much of the beard algae I let grow, but he did eat driftwood and hikari algae wafers with gusto. Well there you have it! I suppose I had picky eaters on my hands

Like I said you can add carbonate salts to add kH to the tank, but I don't think you need to remove the driftwood or do anything other than what you are doing with weekly water changes. The kH will buff your pH loss through the tannic acid absorption and you will add more kH through water changes. I really think we are getting lost in the weeds here. The wonder shell will not help you as much due to your high gH. Same goes for coral as your hardness will not allow for proper dissolving of the kH into the water. The pH value will not drop significantly unless a strong acid is present. Given the circumstances I do not believe this to be true. I would not worry unless your pH values dip below 6.0.

In a newly cycled tank I would change that much about once every 7 days. When conditions become more stable you can change your water change schedule. Nitrates are good in a new tank and in order to have a healthy bacteria colony, you will need to allow them to break it down. Plants can also utilize nitrates. I do not believe that this is what your issue is though. I have sold lots of glofish (tm) and they are almost never healthy specimens. I would go ahead with the treatment I suggested, follow the instructions for administering them. Neither of these medications will effect water quality, hopefully you can help your glofish (tm) and guppy recover.

From what I have heard (I have no experience personally) rummynose tetra, especially wild caught can be quite sensitive to transport and water quality. Not saying the latter is true here in this case. But you shouldn't be experiencing this loss of life with such robust fish species as the guppy. I would suspect your fish store may be getting poor quality shipments.

Hmm sunken abdominal cavity and clamped fins is for sure a sign of stress. Dropsy is almost always a sign of a bacterial infection in the gut and can be an indication that the water quality is poor. How often exactly are you changing water? And how much? Where did you buy the fish from and did you notice if they had received a fresh shipment? Melafix is often recommended for external body damage, not internal infections or parasites. Pimenta extract and paracleanse would be more effective at treating the conditions you describe.

I'm talking about wood and plants yes. Although mainly the wood. As it breaks down it slowly releases tannic acid. It's a weak acid so it won't crash your system, but especially being in a small tank it has more of an effect on your pH and kH. But again I wouldn't be to terribly alarmed. If you feel so inclined to add more buffer you can buy carbonate salts, but I would suspect weekly water changes will be adequate.

In my experience, smaller tanks tend to have larger water chemistry shifts. It makes sense if you think about it. A small change in pH isn't a huge deal. If I am reading your test strips right (this is hard since camera and lighting) looks like your pH is sitting at closer to 6.8 in your other tanks and maybe 6.5 in the 5 gallon. This is why water chemists use titrations (API master kit) test strips tend to be unreliable. Like the others have said you have an acid in your tank. The kH is serving to buffer this thus why your levels are so low. you would be surprised how much organic matter effects pH and kH values. Although being a weak acid it will attempt to drop your pH over time to about 6.0. I still wouldn't be hugely concerned fish can tolerate these shifts quite well.

That's awesome! In Bellingham, WA the water treatment center was so proud of their water quality they would send test results in the mail every other week. They used to have some of the best water in the nation. I do remember testing people's well water from about 10 miles north and it being very different based on where the well sat. In Washington every where that isn't a city is farmland so you can get some wild readings.

Red tiger lotus are by far the easiest red plant to grow. They are really not all that fussy although if I remember correctly they do like their iron. You can trim the surface leaves if you want it to stay short and bushy

I have started growing my Red Mangrove seedlings and after only a couple days I have new leaf spikes. They are growing in refugium live sand from Two Little Fishies and Fiji pink aragonite sand to about 6" depth. Once they get a little taller I will give them 10" depth. I also have bought seawater from a fish store's sumps. I specifically asked if I could get some gross fishy water to give the roots some nitrates and other nutrients. Current SG is at about 1.018. Aquarium specs 60 gallon fill: -Acrylic 1/4" thickness -18"x24"x48" -10" tall brown acrylic planter sheet (this will be used to give the mangrove more depth and hopefully keep fish from digging in anoxic sand/mud) -Weld-on 4 -3 chamber 20 gallon sump (freshwater/saltwater/brackish) -submersible heater cable -SG will vary from 1.005-1.015 Fish Depending on availability: -Figure 8 puffer-Tetraodon biocellatus (ideally a bonded pair) - Zebra blenny- Omobranchus zebra or 6 bumblebee goby-Brachygobias sp. -2-3 Freshwater Demoiselle- Neopomacentrus taeniurus -6 Diamond killifish- Adinia xenica -6-12 wild-type molly-Poecilia sphenops -Purple spaghetti eel-Moringua raitaborua (species ranked as vulnerable, may omit) Plants/macro algae -Red mangrove -Chaeto algae -Vallisneria -Moneywort This biotope will attempt to look like a mangrove estuary, while replicating natural tidal shifts and river discharge. The aquarium style is a peninsula style designed to be viewed from all angles. With almost all of these fish needing territories I will incorporate live rock and faux coral heads throughout the aquarium to break up the line of site and give lots and lots of caves. The sand in the main display will be 6" deep with heater cable running through it to establish convection. I will utilize black worms and some marine worms such as Nereididae to not only be food but aerate the sand. I will have to buy some of these fish online which I have never done in the aquarium trade. Is there a company that does a good job with fish health? Also if anyone has any suggestions/opinions I would love to here them I am still in planning stages while I wait for the mangroves to grow out a bit more.

Exactly my thinking. Ammonia burn is obvious though. Fish respirate heavily towards the surface of the tank their gills turn bright red, eventually they sort of lay on the bottom and die. Even then it still usually takes a couple days unless the ammonia is sitting at 4-7ppm. I still have alot of questions. If you could get a water test done that would help. Also where did you buy the goldfish and dojo loach? Did you notice if it was a fish delivery day or not? I don't think you're stupid or anything and this forum is alot friendlier than any facebook community. I think you were just unlucky.

While technically true Ich-X only treats gram positive bacteria, not gram negative. So it should only be used as an antibacterial in a targeted manner, as a general antibacterial it isn't that great

Ich-X will not prevent the majority of bacterial infections nor will it cure them. Ich-X is a general anti-parasitic and the formalin in it should not be used to treat bacterial infections. The scales of your fish will go back to normal when the fish recovers. If the fish does not respond to paracleanse (this may take up to 2 weeks) you most likely have a bacterial infection and I would recommend Pimenta extract. I do not see any contraindications for it with sensitive species such as shrimp but check the container to be sure.

I am almost certain that it is stress induced by water changes. Also large water changes like that can cause the bacteria colonies to crash if there is not enough waste to "feed" on. There are many factors to consider that could cause this. The other thing of note here is water turnover has a law of diminishing returns to it. At a certain point filter volume and surface area become far more important and turning over water doesn't do anything to further improve conditions for your fish.

Sometimes they will regain sight in the damaged eye just depends on if it is actually infected or if it's healing. Although I couldn't imagine the eyesight of that breed being very good to begin with.

Ich-X does not kill ich protozoa it only stops the reproduction of adults and kills the free swimming stage. Parasites are very particular about the conditions they like. It is kind of a wonder they even made it this far in the evolutionary chain. You can use paracleanse if you are so inclined, but I personally wouldn't or you can just give your fish medicated fish food for a few days. This will target any worms in the gut and digestive tract. Both chemicals in paracleanse are antihelminthic.

Sorry to here about that. I always have told people even way back when, when I worked at pet store chain in college. The bacterial kickstarter products are all complete gimmicks. They don't actually cycle the tank like it says they will. Although it is weird that your fish died in a night? I still have a bunch of questions, but I think it would be easier if you walked us through step by step exactly what you did from buying the aquarium to buying the fish. Every gory detail would be helpful, then we can help you get on track to having an aquarium that all your friends envy ☺️

The Betta splendens seem to be the only "aggressive" species out of that genus. Whether or not that is because they were bred that way is up for debate. The above mentioned Betta species are very timid. Especially Betta albimarginata. But these are all just suggestions at the end of the day it's not our aquascape. To answer the question though even though dwarf cichlids are tamer than some of their larger counterparts they just never seem to do well with delicate species. I shouldn't say never it depends on the personality of the fish.

The temperature differential will not be impacted significantly. I don't know the exact humidity value to allow the least amount of evaporation offhand. But you are correct higher humidity will lead to less evaporative cooling. You may be able to retain a degree or 3 but I couldn't imagine it being any better than that. Hopefully you insulated the room incredibly well so you minimize heat loss. If you have a door you will want rubber trim. But you will also want a vent to make sure that the air doesn't become stale. I assume you are essentially trying to create a greenhouse?

Well first off hello and welcome. Second, the reaction to the situation was a bit overkill. Vacuuming the rocks and cleaning the sponge and the massive initial water change followed by to frequent of water changes is the issue. This caused both a shock to your system and your fish. Your bacteria population very likely could have handled the extra load without much intervention other than removing the excess shrimp with a net. Now what I would do is switch back to weekly water changes of however much you were doing. The issue with the water changes being too frequent is that your bacteria does not have enough time to establish itself and remove the excess so you are constantly starting and restarting the "cycle." Let the system do what it's supposed to do. Human nature is always to interfere when we see a problem, but sometimes it's best to sit back and let everything work itself out. Keep up with the ich treatments for as long as the medication indicates even if you see the treatment working. Also unrelated but bottled bacteria is a gimmick, they provide little if any benefit to established aquariums.

Water has an incredibly high heat capacity. The short answer is your water will never be the temperature of the room. It will always be a few degrees lower than the surrounding room. If you want I can explain this phenomenon in more detail.

Acrylic tanks are easiest to build at that size because when you build the tank you are buying glue that is chemically bonding the aquarium. You have to sand the acrylic edges for bonding, here in Washington we have Tap Plastics, which is a chain. These guys have been incredible for me. You just give them the dimensions. Select in the menu that you need the edges sanded and everything will be ready for bonding. Be prepared to shell out a good amount of money. Acrylic ain't cheap especially at 1/4" thickness or larger if you plan on going 200. I have a custom 60 gallon peninsula tank in the works 18Hx24Wx48L (90 gallons if filled completely). Cost of materials including a mangrove planter is $558. Still $1500 cheaper than the cheapest peninsula I can find. No one had the dimensions I wanted either. Glass aquariums rely on the adhesive strength you use since the glass panels cannot be chemically bonded. This also means you must brace the aquarium. This is usually done with a plastic frame. As for stands I prefer welded aluminum so I can hide all my stuff if I am doing custom. If I can find an oak or maple cabinet that fits my dimensions from a thrift store I will usually go that route.

Hey all the suggestions here are great. If your landlord is so willing they can even give you a carbon copy of the blueprints for your specific unit. This was the case when I had for a time had a 128 gallon acrylic tank. The tank and stand alone weighed 450 pounds and in total wet weight was around 2000 pounds. Which is 1 U.S ton. We set it up against a structural piece of concrete on the second floor. My apartments were built in the 1970's. The tank got downsized almost immediately though as I had an emergency bearded dragon adoption 🙃

Have you ID'ed the parasite? Found it. I would go ahead and medicate the fish food so the metronidazole can more effectively attack the internal parasites. It appears to be a general antiparasitic so it will have no effect on your plants or sensitive species.