Zac

Hey all, The past 3 or so days I’ve had a small nitrite spike according to the API test kit. The reedings were between 0 and .25. Like a dark blue, but not quite purple yet. It’s been pretty consistent and hasn’t been getting any worse. The odd thing is I never saw any ammonia at all. One day they were both at 0, then the next day nitrites were between 0 and .25. My nitrates are around 20ish (the oranges are hard to read on the kit😅). Anyways…here’s what I’ve been doing since I noticed the spike: -Did a 20% water change 2 days ago and have been adding prime daily. -Yesterday added a dose of fritzyme (1/4 cup per 10 gallons. My tank is 30. I added 2 full 1/4 cups and then a half of the other because my tank probably holds 25 after all the decor) -one medium sized feeding per day I haven’t noticed any improvement. I plan on doing another 20%-25% water change tomorrow. I did dose Maracyn last Sunday, but I didn’t notice the nitrite spike until 3 days or so after I administered the antibiotics. I’m thinking that could be the cause. I didn’t do a full 5-day treatment, I only treated once and let it sit in the tank and let the fish absorb the meds for a few days Thoughts?

It turns out my nitrites are actually .25. Ammonia is 0. Yesterday nitrites were at 0 but I could tell something was off. My gourami is acting a little more skittish and swimming a little more erratically. Nothing crazy though. I’m guessing the antibiotics I added are disrupting the cycle. I added prime to the tank and I think I’m going to check tomorrow to see if it went down. This is what I get for not having a quarantine tank😅

Hey all, I posted a photo of my opaline gourami. There’s a strange mark that almost looks like a bump on his head. Could this be the start of hole in the head? I hope it’s not. I am currently treating the tank for secondary bacterial infections from ich. Maracyn has made a massive improvement to many of the fish. A couple are still sick. I’m trying the Co-op method where I let the meds sit for a week before I treat again and it’s been about 4 days since I put maracyn in. I did notice the base of the gouramis pectoral fins were bright red a day or so ago and they seem much better. My ammonia and nitrites are 0 and nitrates are around 20-30ppm. The tank also has ich X in it, some paracleanse, and low salt because I had no idea what I was dealing with a few days ago and I will admit…I was slightly panicky😅 Now, I’m fairly confident it started as ich and progressed to a bacterial infection because of the bloom I had. Most of the fish are improving I’m heasitant to treat again because I don’t want the bacterial bloom to come back. I’d like to wait the full week before treating again if needed. Anyways…hopefully that mark is nothing to be worried about. I could just be paranoid lol. He’s acting perfectly fine otherwise

Some fish are naturally weaker than others and take longer to recover or don’t recover at all. I’d say just keep parameters stable. If you want you can move the sick fish to the tank with the male to recover more you definitely could

It could be stress from the spike as well as the crash in GH and pH. Did you notice any shimmying in the skinny guppies? Almost like they’re slithering like a snake while swimming?

I’m assuming I’d have to replace the salt after every water change correct? So if I do a 25% water change I’d ad a quarter of the salt back right? Will the salt damage my valisneria since it’s a more sensitive plant?

Hey all, I’ve been dealing with ich in my tank for about a week or more. I’ve dosed 6-7 times with ich X and there’s still ich. The majority of the fish are active and eating fine. The only symptom I see is flashing once in a while and that’s only some of the fish. A couple of them are skinny. The vast majority seem fine other than some white spots. I know it’s not epistylis because there’s no spots on the eyes. You can see the ich on the fish in the back of the photo. On either Saturday or Sunday, I finished a third treatment in a row with ich X. I decided to let it sit in the tank for a few days and see if that would help (I have a small bacterial bloom and doing water changes every day made it worse). I just dosed ich X again today and raised the temperature to 80°. I didn’t do a water change before hand. I’m running out of meds though because the tank is a 29 gallon. My water parameters are stable. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 20-30ppm nitrates. I don’t want to add salt since I have plants. I don’t believe dosing extra ich X without a water change will harm the plants or my fish. What advice do you guys have?

I appreciate the input. It’s fine seachem black sand so I imagine it would be okay

Hey all, As you can see by the photos, my tank has a small layer of detritus in it. This tank has been up for almost 2 years. I enjoy it personally. My water is clean (0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 20-30ppm nitrates). I like the natural look and the benefits it gives the plants when it seeps into the sand. The fish seem to enjoy digging through it and finding little goodies to eat. My question is, will I have any issue keeping Khuli loaches if I have this detritus? (I can’t add any right now because I have some ich in the tank.) My thought is no but I’ve also heard that it can pose an increased risk for infection for Khuli loaches and other bottom dwellers. Is this something I’d need to be worried about if I end up getting some khuli loaches?

Hey all, Today I noticed the silicone on my aquarium has some bubbles in it. One of the bubbles was quite large and easily tore off from the rest of the silicone. Luckily it was on the side so the seal is still in tact. Should I be concerned about it leaking soon? I’ve attached an image.

I spent like 15 minutes sitting at my LFS putting together pieces until I got something I liked😂

Just wanted to share my remodeled planted tank. Eventually that Val will get nice and thick in the corner and the crypts will form a nice carpet. I think it turned out well 🙂

Here’s the best pic I could get of one of the fish. Most of them are super active still. Even this one. Looks like ich to me

Hey all, I have ich in my tank. It’s not a super bad outbreak but it’s definitely present. I was dosing ich X for 3 days and doing the 1/3 water changes per the instructions. I was dosing 10mL in my 29 gallon aquarium. Since the instructions made it very important to not OD I was dosing as if I was treating 20 gallons (which probably wasn’t enough). I did a water change and put in 12.5mL. I also raised my tank temp to 80°F. It’s been about 3-4 days and no improvements, but also not really getting any worse. I also dosed paraclense in case it wasn’t ich. I plan on leaving everything for a week. I just had a severe bacterial bloom from ripping out all my plants and replacing them with new (dumb mistake) so I don’t want to do more water changes if I don’t have to since there’s still a little bit of bloom left. Do you guys have any suggestions on anything else I can do?

Just a curiosity, Would nitrate tests be unreliable if you test while medication is in a tank?

What do you use now for algae control? I don’t have the money for a standard CO2 setup at the moment. My worry is that my tank isn’t “balanced” and that algae will grow when I stop using it

What went wrong with it? Did you give up on the tank or the carbon?

I’ll have to discontinue use and keep the healthy ones and they should hopefully do fine. Would they return to normal over time? Aka non stunted growth

Hey all, For those with Val that dose easy carbon or excel, what dosage do you use? I dose 2ml of easy carbon every other day for a medium-high light aquarium (30 gal). I’ve recently been having a lot of Val melt and I’m trying to determine if it’s lack of nutrients or too much easy carbon. Some of my Val is doing great and some is melting a lot. I’m thinking about dosing 1ml every other day instead of 2ml Thoughts?

How often did you do water changes? I do mine roughly every week

Hey all, I posted about this a while ago but I wanted to do a quick follow up since I didn’t get too much feedback. I have pregnant female guppies flashing. The male is not flashing. I’m pretty sure the females are around 3-4 weeks pregnant but I can’t tell. I’d say they’ve been flashing around 4-5 days now. Nitrates are 25, ammonia and nitrite at 0. Now I’ve been told that flashing can be a symptom that a female guppy is ready to give birth. They’re showing no other signs of disease. I can’t treat with salt since I have plants and shrimp. Should I throw in a course of general cure? Or wait until after they give birth to see if the flashing subsides?

I use root tabs as well from seachem and they still have a deficiency. I have a lot of fast growing plants in my tank

I don’t think the nitrates are from feeding as I only have 4 guppies and some amanos at the moment, but they will definitely go up when the guppies give birth. I also began dosing 5ml of easy green every 3 days and I’m monitoring nitrates so they don’t go above 50. So far they seem to be staying around 25. I started dosing potassium because I believe that will probably solve my issues because I’m not seeing any other deficiencies in the plants. Will my plants repair themselves once adequate potassium levels have been reached? I’d hate to rip out all my pogo and restart it. The stems and roots are healthy.

Hey all, I’ve noticed a couple of my female guppies are flashing and over the past couple days it seems to have gotten worse. Other than flashing they so no other symptoms of external parasites or gill flukes. They’re energetic, love to eat, etc. Tank conditions are normal. I have another male and female who aren’t flashing. Maybe it’s due to the guppy’s pregnancy because it’s stressful for them? I’m considering treating the tank with general cure just in case. The fish have been in this tank for three weeks at a temp of 78 so I’d think any disease would have presented itself by now. Maybe they are sick? Thoughts?

Hey all, Some of my plants have pinholes which I’m suspecting is potassium deficiency. I’m currently dosing 4ml easy green in a 30 gallon. Before I start supplementing potassium, I’m considering adding an extra mL of easy green because my nitrates are only around 20ish according to aquarium co-op test strips. Along with that, I want to increase water changes because I have rather hard water so that may help with potassium increase. Thoughts?