Cyndi

@Colu Thank you so much for your response! I don't think its a water quality issue, but I can't prove it because someone walked off with my test kit. I'm with you and leaning towards a bacterial infection, and if I'd started treating him when he initially started exhibiting redness, maybe I could have saved him. Such a shame, such a beautiful fish.

Update: I had to put him down as he began to have trouble maintaining an upright position and he still had red streaks in his fins. Makes me think it was an overall infection. Think it was a humane solution. Still curious as to cause, as this is my first Angel fish - and of course I'm super Bummed 😪

Help Please! Here Is Finn a 1-2 year old Platinum Angel. He was living In a community planted 75 Gallon kept at 80 degrees at Mostly Mutts Animal Rescue. 1) He first began exhibiting redness around his face and fins this past Friday 11/10. He also showed increased territoriality. I thought maybe he was trying to spawn due to weather changes. 2) On Tuesday I observed the Mollies picking on him. He was listing to one side and they would not leave his slime coat alone. I thought they were paying him back for driving them out of his territory. I immediately put him in a breeder net until I could take him home. 3) On Wednesday evening, I observed these weird patches on his slime coat. He also had weird dots that were connected by filaments of some kind. I immediately dosed with Ich-X because It can be good for fungus and Maracyn for a secondary infection. 4) This morning he showed much Improvement, being that the dots with filaments are gone & the redness has cleared up. However, the patches are still there. This picture was taken this morning 11/15. 5) Does anyone have Insight as to what is going on - and the possible prognosis for recovery? Thank you so much!

Thank you so much for the automated quiz - I didn't think I was that much of a Nerm, but my score is 92! I actually had to call in engineers to modify my house because my 75 gallon aquarium revealed a fault. When the house was built, the plumber cut the main beam instead of putting in elbows. Here I come 20+ years later and the weight of my 75 gallon caused huge cracks to form around the door frames and such. Yeah, so that had to be fixed - at least it gave me 10 points!

This was fun to watch - and you didn't seem upset by the BBA at all! Also, having guppy fry as food is a good use of guppies - I've been wondering what on earth I'm going to do with my army of Mutt babies - from only 1 mom too!! I think I'm going to take some and see what happens in my Shellie (similus) tank 🙂

Great! In this case I'm sure it would be ok to follow your heart and dose whenever you feel like 😊

Hi @NickD! As you can see, the use of Liquid Carbon in the aquarium is a hot topic! That being said, I do use AQ CO-OP Easy Carbon as a spot treatment for stubborn algae. I feel like it gives me a good assist when I'm trying to balance a tank that simply will not balance. So in answer to your question, I think you are safe not to dose Liquid Carbon until you see you have an algae problem. Then, I would fill a syringe and spot dose the problem area with a full days dosage. Just remember that Easy Carbon (or API C02) does nothing to combat long term algae causes - which are: an imbalance of Light, Nutrients, and Carbon Dioxide. However, this does not negate in any way @Lennie's comments. In fact, there is an interesting discussion in a video on Green Aqua's channel in which one of the famous aquascapers (don't remember who) mentioned a study in which it was found that tanks that were routinely dosed with liquid carbon fared worse over the long term than non -dosed tanks. Balaz was incredulous as they dose liquid carbon with an auto-doser. So there ya go. 🙂

Hi @Phoenixfishroom this thread seems fairly new - Maybe this thread would be a good place to get your opinion? If not, I apologize and I can make a new thread. I am currently cycling / seasoning a brand new 20 g long for multis RIGHT NOW! I'd had my heart set on Multis, but you say you like similis better. Having never kept either, I'm curious as to why you like similis better? This tank is at my desk at work, so I'll post a pic later today.

In my region (Southeast USA) I think It would get too hot for neons. Water in a tub easily gets around 80 degrees. But maybe Cardinal tetra which look like neons but can tolerate hotter temps? Also, I love the look of neons in blackwater setups. I think this shows them off to their best advantage - can't wait to see pics!

Instagram is surely the thief of joy!

One way I keep from getting overwhelmed with too many tanks is that I insist that ALL my tanks be kept in pristine show-quality condition. Since I can't fulfill that goal with the 7 tanks I'm responsible for, it keeps me reined in. It's amazing how I keep thinking - I could get just one more.... what about Shellies..... etc. In other news, I think you should totally get another tank- yours meets the goal! It's amazing! Plus, don't dis "easy" plants. This isn't a competition to see who can torture themselves the most. A beautiful tank is a beautiful tank!

Hi Sergio, I'm so sorry about the loss of your pet betta. We never know how old they are when we get them from the store - maybe he was older than you thought? I was also thinking of two other scenarios: Do you have a heater? Even though they can live at cooler temps, my bettas do consistently better at least 79 -80 degrees. And the other thing is, could you possibly get a 5 gallon tank for him? It will be easier to keep a consistent temp and water parameters. I've kept a betta in a 2.5 gallon and it was a challenge (And come to think of it, that betta died prematurely). You obviously love your Fish Friends and I wish you all the best. It always hurts to lose fish - especially when you don't know why - Best of Luck to you! Cyndi

Ok so I was already able to help someone else with this info! So thank you very much. I'm also going to beef up my school - somehow. WANTED: Green LAser Cories - Good luck I know

Look at those Bristly Bristles! Happy Plecos!!

I ♥️ Pythons! Only thing is, it might be too strong for your application. For my smaller tanks (20 and under) I use any brand hand held version so I don't accidently remove substrate or fish (YIKES). PS : Beautiful planted tank BTW! I recognize that piece of driftwood and I like how you've got live plants growing all over it!

Hi @GisheryGoodness! I have some negative feelings about Fluval Stratum. You can follow my saga in the post below. Your results might vary. I do have some experience in changing out substrate. I've done it several times. Go for it! Whenever I do massive changes like this I always make sure to add extra good bacteria like Seachem Stability or Seed or Fritz's stuff (I haven't used it but I've heard its good). That way I don't have to worry about losing my cycle. However, I agree with my fellow plant enthusiasts that AQ COOP root tabs in gravel are an excellent way to grow easy plants. I would start with that. After a while, you might want to switch. I use Eco-Complete (which is basically lava rock) and Fluval Flourite Black. Both of these need root tabs. The difference is that these products hold on to the nutrients, while in gravel, the nutrients leach out much quicker.

Thank you for that info -if I catch the next one in time, I'll try it. - I am wondering if egg binding has to do with bad luck or is it related to not having enough corys in the school or food or what??

Hi everyone, I'm not going to post a pic of the dead fish - just the tank - so don't worry! But I just lost one of my prized green laser cory cats. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a female loaded with eggs. I know birds can get egg bound, but can fish? A quick search on the internet yielded no results. I have two more green lasers of unknown gender in a 90 G tank. I've tried to purchase more to beef up the school, but they are hard to find (and expensive 😞 ). I make sure they get bottom feeder food every day. I've had them about 6 months. The other fish include: praecox rainbowfish, Cochu Tetra, cherry barbs and one Electric Blue Acara, ect. No other casualties noted. Temp is around 77 Weekly water changes AQ COOP Test strips : 0 Ammonia / 0-10 Nitrates / 0 Nitrites

@Odd DuckOk that sounds like a very sensible solution. I will keep you posted. @Torreyive never done a public aquarium before and most of the time I feel people ignore the tank when I’m not working on it. (If I’m feeling lonely, I just stick my arms in the tank and I have loads of attention!) I hadn’t even thought to check the heater ~ thanks for the tip! Also, I think a bigger sign is in order I could always show the shelter manager how to flip the timer light so that the outlet comes on- people are so cute! It’s probably kids who really like fish - Instead of adding a lock like my husband suggested, I’ll try to think of a way to accommodate them🤩

June 8 2022 Hi Everyone! I need some advice ASAP: On monday, I did a 50 % water change (75 gallon tank). Everything seemed normal, but the day Shelter Manager, H., discovered that someone had turned on the blue light in an attempt to view the tank (We added a sign saying the lights are on a timer). No problem, but it proves someone was fiddling with stuff. Maybe they did something else? Like feeding them maybe???? 😬 Today, Wednesday, at about 3:30 I notice the fish gasping at the surface and generally laboring to breathe. I immediately added an air stone from another tank, added Fritz dechlorinator to deal with a possible ammonia spike, and some Seachem Seed for good measure. I didn't want to do another WC, as I'm trying to conserve water. By 7 pm, things seemed to have stabilized and fish were normal. AQ COOP test strips showed very low nitrate (10 ppm) and no nitrite. I will test for ammonia tomorrow (note to self: Buy the Aquarium Co-op Ammonia test strips already!) Question: Should I do a water change tomorrow? I know that the Fritz detoxified any ammonia, but will it become toxic again? Just a reminder that this tank is in an animal shelter, so funds can be a little tight and I don't want to be wasteful - so anyway - any advice would be helpful! For fun, I've included a pic of the tank right after Mondays WC🙂 Thank you for all the good support I've gotten here - you guys are the best!!

No, I’m making CO2 with yeast - since it’s only supposed to last 5 weeks (running constantly) I’d think your tank would last a few months! I’ve never had co2 and I wanted to test to see if it’s so great and- yeah - I feel like I’m getting good growth- some co2 appears to be better than none. I think one problem will be maintaining co2 after a water change - it’s probably going to take days to build back up

I think my plan now is to watch the plants and for any development in algae. I'm actually seeing algae begin to resolve on some of my anubias. I'm also watching for plant growth. I believe I've seen some, but it could be wishful thinking. At any rate, if all goes well in the algae department, I'll turn the lights up a bit later this week. The CO2 is not bubbling quite as much, so I need to tweak the recipe so it doesn't burn itself out.

@nabokovfan87 I really appreciate your insights - AND the wealth of info and detail. I think you're right that capping is not a solution - I still have 25 ppm with no dosing. When I first added the Stratum and for months afterward, I was doing massive WC's - Which is quite a burden on a 90 gallon tank. I have no idea what the nitrates were because my API liquid test kit would never register them. But the massive BBA and beautiful algae were testament to things being way off balance. I wish I had thought to turn down the lights! I guess I thought I needed to get PAR down to the bottom of the tank. The new iteration has plants planted on much higher hills, so I hope that helps the PAR situation. I'm surprised about Bentley's super low nitrates. So many variables... Finally, after MONTHS of WC with no results, I knew I had to take drastic action. I need to confess that I got the tank under control by completely draining and letting it sit dry for a month. Sometimes you have to nuke it from orbit. Today - and this seems to be turning into a Tank Journal, I added DIY CO2 and a drop checker (I'd purchased the AQ COOP diffuser months ago). For fun, here's a pic of the awesome bubbles!

Yeah you don’t have to water it!