BAT

Hi All, I have had a slow but consistent die off in my emperor blue tetras. I got them a year ago. They are in a tank with 15 other tetras. Around Thanksgiving an old Cory died. And I found the remnants of another fish. Then every 1-2 weeks I would find another body remnant. Any ideas why only the blue emperors would die?

Got it. Thanks! there was a smell! so can a pocket that is released kill fish instantly?

What is substrate perling? i wonder if some gas pockets were released bc a few other fish started swimming upside down and then I put in an air stone and kept adding fresh water and they seemed to right themselves. I do wonder if there was an ammonia blip. I didn’t see the dead Cory until I was cleaning so didn’t test for ammonia. And it is not on the AC main strip.

I vacuumed the substrate just like Cory does in that video. That’s how I learned. He is so good.

I started cleaning the mulm from the tank this morning - and there is a lot! I was going this bc my family was complaining the tank smelled. Turns out that I later found a dead Cory. Might have been dead a day. Eyes looked sunken and water logged. Now he was AT LEAST 5 years old. then as I was cleaning I noted two other fish (also from the older 5+ clan of black neon tetras) swimming upside down. They subsequently died. the water parameters were fine. Unchanged. This is a 3 year established tank. I was wondering if I dredge up a lot of mulm if it can kill fish?

What do people think of small glass pebbles made for aquarium as substrate?

thanks to everyone for such great ideas!!!!

Hi Nerms, I want to change up this tank. See pic. I unearthed the plants for a recent move and then decided I liked the look. Hence why they are floating. And I must say that the plants seem to be thriving and the fish seem to like the cover. any suggestions for gravel color change? Also should I get smooth gravel for the Cory to root in? They have seemed OK w this gravel. thanks!

But if you have high GH doesnt that mean you have high calcium in the water already - and so make it difficult to dissolve more calcium via crushed coral?

Probably 10 medium to large and 10 tiny snails, 20 tetras, 2 logs, a small sign, lots of plants, in a 20 gallon

Thank you all! The crushed coral is helping a bit, so I am going to keep doing that. I am going to put some in the filter after my next filter clean. I just started using Seachem Buffer so will see how that goes as well. I think the acidity may be coming from the mulm and debris in the gravel? I let the tank go a little wild (due to less attention) and am working to get it under control again. Interestingly enough - the plants have loved it LOL

Hi Nerms, I am thinking of switching out my gravel for two reasons. One I am tired of it. Two, it needs a deep cleaning. Any idea how to do this so as to ensure I don’t collapse the tank bacterial load and dont drive myself nuts with mixed gravel?

Hi All, I have hard water (off the charts on GH test strips). the pH is 6.8 and I would like to raise it because my snails shells are pitting. I added some crushed coral and that seemed to help a litte. My question is - given the high GH, will crushed coral be effective? I thought I read somewhere that crushed coral might be less effective in hard water.

Hi Fellow Nerms! It has been a while since I posted, but I am back. I wanted to share that in August our betta Cutie died. The fish store thought it was old age or a tumor. He had been having a lot of trouble keeping upright for a long time. But he still had his vigor until the end. Anyway, he was the reason I joined the forum, so I feel like it is fitting to memorialize him here. Thank you all for your help and support while I was caring for him. Attached is a pic of him from his younger days.

Hi Nerms! I ordered myself a brine shrimp hatchery from AC with some birthday money. Any tips and tricks for a newbie before I begin? I ordered the hatchery plus all the recommended supplies from AC.