Flumpweesel

So tea drunk, parameters checked. Shrimp tank - water great Main tank and Isolation tank all good but nitrates above 50 (both as expected given their position before I left) No obvious casualties across all tanks☺️ Water change completed on isolation tank main tank can wait till weekend as I have some changes to make in there. Isolation tank is no longer tube lonely krib prison as I have plopped my rather tubby lady betta in there. I know this could be a mistake I'll keep a close eye. But the Betta needed to move out of the tiny shrimp tank and the last time I tried it in the community tank it did not cope well with the chaos. Anyway so far so good

But first there is always tea (or coffee I'm bi-beverage)

I clean my filter on a different day than I change water so under the tap goes everything. Admittedly that is a canister filter so it is cleaned far less frequently than I water change

Good to hear from you and it that was very considerate of the fire service and sweet response to the fish tank. Amazed you sound so chipper (I'm sure there have been many tears) no matter how grim things are your always winning if you are telling the story. Take care

Nice to hear a good result. If you enjoy shrimp they could be a good addition to the tank as the are great cleaners and don't produce much waste so won't shock your cycle . Root tabs go easy and just under the plants that need them (Anubias and Java fern don't need them) Well done glad all your hard work paid off. Your plants look healthy so I wouldn't worry too much you could always leave your water changes for longer (monitoring of course) to let the nitrate build naturally and reduce your work load

@TheSwissAquaristtypical isn't it. Fish learn lots of things and teach each other. My goldfish knew me and would sit nearest to me the tank if it felt insecure or if some attention was overdue. Anyway it taught the other goldfish the same habit and the peppered corys. The goldfish are gone now but the offspring of those corys still sit in the same spot if I'm late feeding and I noticed a new cory I'd picked up was joining in as well. Only the peppered do it though the other corys haven't clocked into it

Right back from 6 days on a London theatre binge. So before I unpack it's put the kettle on and do a tank head count and check parameters.🤞

Just a thought but if I remember rightly from the beginning of this threat (or it might have been a different one) you are away for 3 weeks. If no-one takes you up on the offer (I don't have enough tanks space to separate live bearers so I can't step up sorry and couldn't be much further away from Kent.) You could set up a quick pond /tub and leave it outside with and hope nature looks after it's own, you might come back to failure but they might make it. Something to think about anyway not sure how it fares in the humane scale that depends on survival I suppose.

Everything in the hobby is either about waiting or developing elaborate ways to reduce waiting. I'm in the bolt slate or wedge with rocks group.

Is this the tanks first cycle? It can take quite a few weeks to sort I normally leave them for 4 to 6 weeks unless using stuff from existing tanks to shortcut things.

Not sure but maybe drop the tank temp down a bit to slow the fishes metabolism down. Smarter than I might say if this is a good or a bad idea

I had limited success with the vacation blocks the jelly like ones just let fish gorge, and I'm not sure what goes on with those time release dissolving ones. A week isn't an massive issue for most things I suppose if they extend insist you are given access to check and feed the tank a good feed will buy you some more time

Glad to hear your tap water has improved if there are no fish you don't need to detoxify the ammonia, plants like it and it is what the beneficial bacteria feed on. I'd be tempted to use some bottled water if things spike again it's a smaller tank so you could easily buy water for a 20% change. It would probably work out cheaper than using big doses of prime. If you have nothing to eat that mulm then I'd give it a good vac make sure you don't have to much detritus in there raising the numbers again for you

You often have to blanch the veg so it isn't too tough to be eaten

Mould can be lethal so glad you go that sorted you'll probably both start to feel a bit better once it's had a good chance to clear things up. Living with mould can just wear down a body over time. Hopefully once you know what you are dealing with on the water side. I'm very surprised by how many people on here have wells they are pretty unusual in the UK

I wondered if that would catch anyone.😝

I've been in London this week and the weather has been pretty good. I've been mainly traveling on the underground though so haven't seen much of the sun.

So I've slept on this problem now and have you considered UV sterilisation, that's what my water authority did to remove the bio-contamination on our supply (once the source had been identified and stopped). I know it could be pricey long term but worth a consideration for the tank at least.

Well if there is plenty of food in sure you'll have 20 soon anyway.

I generally leave potted plants in their pots until I see new growth then I decide where to put them at my next water change

Just be aware that you can't disinfect this tank if you get something in there that doesn't get cleared with the meds.If something kills the fish how will you be sure it's not lurking in there waiting for a new host. Some meds will damage you beneficial bacteria (antibiotics are not that selective) and others can have issues for plants (salts). So it might not work out on the long run but to use because it's there empty and you have new fish yes go for it.

Other homemade CO2 systems might be safer. Something like this maybe

I think water fouling is the issue if they either won't eat it or they struggle to digest it. And it will depend on the types and sizes of tank inhibitors. I have struggled to get fish to near most veg so it mainly feeds the snails when I try. Make sure anything you try can be easily retrieved if they don't like it. And don't use left overs as their main diet as it will lack a lot of nutrients found in decent died food especially if it's on the older side. I believe bigger fish enjoy meaty treats and raw fish scraps are probably ok to a point but again oils or bits left to rot are going put pressure on the biological filtration.

If it hasn't been bothering the fish don't panic, possibly avoid large water changes so the tank can keep up with things. We had an issue on our mains water a few years ago so we had to boil but the said no threat to fish (I again did minimal water changes until all clear as it went on for a couple of months so no way I was boiling for that). You could get water from a friend if you wanted to be extra safe until you know what you're dealing with.

Why do we think something is leaching? I would water change to get the ammonia down. And do you have live plants, pathos could probably go a long way in helping you here. What size tank are you working on and who is living in it? This could be a stocking out over feeding issue as well. If you are taking about a smaller tank you could set up a conditioning tub using plants to reduce the ammonia from the tap and use that for water changes if you can't have plants in the tank.